What Is Home?

College

*Two months later*

*College move in day*

Jamie POV:

"Welp, that's the rest of it." My dad stated as he placed his hands on his hips and looked around the room. All of my things had now successfully been moved into the dorm room that I would be sharing with Gianna. 

Trying to pack for this was nearly impossible. How do I choose what shirts and pants to bring when I only have such limited space? It's like trying to pack up your entire life into just a couple of boxes. It's impossible.

UMaine is 2 hours away from my home in Portland. This is going to be the furthest that I've ever been from my family for an extended period of time. I don't know how I'm going to manage. Thankfully Gianna is here with me.

"Yeah I guess it is." I replied.

"Come here." My dad whispered, tears brimming his eyes as he pulled me into a tight hug. I tugged him back just as tightly, probably needing this hug more than he did. "I'm so proud of you." He whispered.

"Thanks dad." I mumbled into his chest. "I love you."

"I love you too honey." My dad whispered back as he released me from the hug. "If you ever need anything or want to come home for the weekend, just call me or mom and we'll come get you right away." 

"Thanks dad. I'll see you soon?" I replied.

"Yes of course." He replied. He then walked towards the door, giving me a small wave before walking out. I was only alone of a couple of minutes before Gianna came back into the room.

"Hey wanna go next door and meet our neighbors?" She asked. 

"Yeah of course!" I replied happily as I hopped up from my small twin sized bed and followed Gianna out of our room. 

Gianna and I lucked out and got a suit style room. This means that we have a slightly bigger dorm room with a bathroom that we share with the room next door. Since Gianna and I are both on the soccer team, the girls next door to us are also on the soccer team.

I know one of the girls names is Natalie, because Gi and I have spoken to her over the phone before we moved in here. She's a physical therapy major and she's originally from Wisconsin.

  The other girl though, I have no clue who she is. She hasn't texted Gi or me and she also hasn't reached out to her roommate. I tried to check our team roster online but it hasn't been updated yet since our first game isn't for another three weeks.

When we got to room 108A, Gianna knocked on the door. A couple of seconds later, a girl open the door with a huge smile on her face. She was wearing blue UMaine soccer sweatpants and a white crop top. I already knew from facetiming her that this was Natalie, but this was our first time ever meeting in person.

"Oh my god I'm so happy to see you guys!" She shrieked as she took turns pulling Gianna and I into hugs.

"It's so good to finally meet you in person." Gianna said with a laugh.

"I know right! I can already tell that we are going to be best friends." Natalie replied. "Why don't you guys come on in?" She suggested.

"Sure!" I replied with a smile. Natalie then stepped back and made room for us to walk into her dorm. I hardly knew Natalie but from what I already know of her from talking to her on the phone, this room screams her name. 

There were small fairy lights placed on the wall above her headboard. They all had small polaroid pictures of her friends and family tapped to them. She also had a couple of posters on the wall, including a poster of Billie Eilish's song "Birds Of A Feather" from her new album "Hit Me Hard And Soft". There was also a poster of Kelly O'Hara, who Natalie has told us several times was her favorite US Women's National Team player. Unsurprisingly, she plays defense because Kelly O'Hara is her inspiration.