The Reason it Happened

Chapter 1

I closed the door to my silver bug and ventured back to the campus that I hadn't seen in over 3 months. The ride felt longer this time around, but I couldn't hide from all the stress I was feeling.

 I had to prepare for work, unpack, and pick up my school books this weekend. Not to mention I wouldn't see my roommates for another couple days, which meant solitude for a while. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing. As I pulled into the parking lot by the housing office I noticed that they have planted new, ugly, exotic looking trees. The bizarre trees foreshadow how I suspect my semester will be: odd.

As I walk into the West Minnus Student Housing Office, I see my old roommate Sofía. She has been working here over the summer and living in the apartments over the break. She has long brown hair to match her brown eyes. She is usually either always happy or tired, but by far the hardest working person I know. Today she is happy, I think it's because she sees me. I walk up to her to give her a hug and say "hi". She gives me my key and I walk back to my car to park it into the designated parking lot. 

I chose an affordable, but inconvenient lot to avoid paying 200 dollars a semester for a parking spot. I realized how much of my stuff I brought when I struggled to carry everything to my apartment. I am a firm believer in no second trips.

I opened the doors to Willowbrooke, the building I was going to live in, and walked to my apartment on the first floor. Soon I was in front of the door 108. I used my key card and waited for the little green light to appear. I walked in and placed my stuff in what appeared to be a living room.

 I explored the place I would call home for the next year. Oddly enough, the apartment was far more spacious than I imagined. The living room was open and the bedroom was wide unlike the narrow corridors in the dormitory suites I lived in my freshman year. The best part of the apartment was the kitchen, something that the dorms lacked. It came with a four burner stove, an oven. A sink and a refrigerator. We could have homemade food now instead of the food included in the meal plan. Although, I will miss the convenience of Gio's cafeteria. 

 I continued to look around and noticed that the pantry was huge. I also made a note of all the cabinet space in the room. Over the summer my roommates and I purchased almost everything we could think of from multiple cutting boards to a pasta strainer, you name it and we probably had it. We figured it was easier to split it now, and not worry about it later.

I brought my stuff to my room and claimed my bed. I preferred the right side of the room, the door being on the left side. The bed itself was the same mattress as the kind I slept on last year. The only difference is that bed lofted much higher in the suites. I was never a fan of having my bed lofted and preferred having it closer to the ground. 

I realized I hadn't checked out the bathroom yet. I walked across the hall and entered the surprisingly large room. I immediately fell in love with the mirror at first glance. It spread across the wall of the bathroom and on two sides of the room there were two smaller mirrors that I noticed opened up for more storage. In front of the mirror there were two sinks and under that two cabinets and more drawers. Directly behind me there was a door and it opened to the shower/ bathtub. The room was small, but it provided enough space. In the room there were four hangers on the wall for towels and toiletries, one for each of us. 

 I exited the shower room and opened the door to the left of the mirror. In this room was a toilet, it was a much smaller room than the shower, but provided privacy. Overall, I was very satisfied with the bathroom because we could all be here at the same time getting ready for class in the morning and still have privacy.

I returned to my empty bedroom and I found a paper that said "Dear resident" listing some rules for up keeping the apartment and glanced at some rules that mentioned quiet hours. It was signed Harper Simon, and I figured she must be my new RA. I signed the sheet Solange May Wilkins, confirming that I read it and made a mental note to drop this off at her room later. I also noticed there was no free t-shirt to welcome me back as a resident in student housing. Yet another unpleasant by-product of being a sophomore.