West Hills

Chapter 4

When the driver left, I pocketed the card and headed into the fourth building. As I entered the air conditioned building, I was greeted by a very nice and "plush" feeling lobby. Yes. I said "plush". Everything looked and probably felt soft and comfortable except the dark blue walls and blinding white ceiling (probably the fact that the lights in the ceiling were intensely bright). There was a fair amount of empty space even with the couches and TVs. On the wall towards the elevator and the stairs, there was a desk with a lady behind it and a computer. She seemed deep into what she was doing. That is until I walked up to the desk.

"Hi!" She said in a way too perky of a voice.

"Hello," I replied, "My name is Mark Dean and I...."

She interrupted me, " Welcome Mark Dean! Your room is 604 on the third floor! Enjoy your time here at West Hills!"

"Thanks!" I replied in the happiest tone I could I muster. When I walked towards the elevator, I noticed she was already immediately engrossed in her computer. Her attitude was suspicious. I couldn't trust her now. Not after what the nameless driver had said to me.

When I arrived in my room, I had the foremost luck that there was no roommate yet. I was greeted by an empty room with a nice small "commons" area and three rooms branching off that. Two doors on the left wall. One on the right. I went to the lonely room and found out it to be the bathroom. That gave me the thought of the other two being the bedrooms. I looked at both bedrooms and found them entirely similar with nothing different. I was thinking that before I found a board loose in the second room. It was there when I decided that underneath the board would be my stash. With that thought, this room would be mine.

Time passed as I unpacked my belongings and waited for my roommate to arrive. But, he never arrived. While I was sitting down, watching a documentary about pandas, a voice boomed in the room. "ALL STUDENTS PLEASE HEAD DOWN TO THE GYM FOR THE WEST HILLS INTRODUCTION!" it boomed. Then I realized that the announcement was coming from a small box built in a wall near the door. I would have to check that. I didn't want to follow the driver's words, but I also wanted to know what to watch out for. After pausing the documentary, I was heading out the door when I also spotted a pair of keys on a small table under the "box".

I grabbed the keys, headed out the door, and locked the door behind me.