Discovering Licapta

5 (pt. ii)

THE SERIOUS EXPRESSION Audrick is wearing when he sees Émile and I sitting in front of the cold hearth in the hotel lobby remains stoic as he crosses the patterned carpet to meet us.

"Good morning," I say, offering him a smile as I rise to my feet.

Now that I've had some sleep, a shower, and gotten some food into my system, I'm feeling the excitement begin to build in my abdomen. It's a rather strange feeling of anticipation intermingled with nervousness, but at the moment the excitement I feel for the adventure ahead is winning.

"Good morning," Audrick returns, his blue eyes finding my grey ones before he turns to face Émile, giving him a curt nod.

"What's the plan for today?" I wonder aloud, eager to get the administrative stuff out of the way so I can begin settling into the foreign city.

Audrick's rosy lips curl into a crooked smile, his serious facade finally faltering. "I'll explain all in the car."

As we drive to the university, Audrick lays out the day's agenda. Since classes officially started last week, Émile and I will be given our class schedules later today. But first Audrick's going to show us around campus and where we'll each be rooming for the term.

About thirty minutes after leaving downtown, we're driving through a tall, yellow stone archway with the words LICAPTA UNIVERSITY engraved across the arch. Bright green grass covers the ground on either side of the long road we continue along and lush green oak and eucalyptus trees litter the grassy field, providing a playground for the squirrels that roam the greenery. Every so often, one of the little creatures will run out onto the road to cross to the other side, barely dodging the speedy cyclists zooming about campus.

It's not much longer before Audrick's SUV pulls into a parking spot outside a long, soft yellow building. That's one thing I've noticed that astounds me about this school: all the buildings in the main part of campus match, their smooth stucco exterior painted soft yellows and oranges, like the hues of one of those rare, gentle sunsets. It's aesthetically pleasing, especially in comparison to all the schools back home, which are grey and cold in appearance, and a lot of the newer, more expensive ones are made of glass. It rains a lot in Seattle too, so the city often feels like one large grey cloud for most of the year.

Once the engine silences, the three of us climb out of Audrick's Mercedes. We walk around the perimeter of the rectangular building until we reach a grassy courtyard that houses the entrance to not only the yellow building but also two more identical ones situated to form a square. Outside each of the buildings is a sign with the name of the residences: Residence 1-A, Residence 1-B, and in front of the one we parked by is Residence 1-C. We enter Residence 1-C, and Audrick leads the way down the white-washed hallway while Émile and I trail behind.

The sounds of laughter and talking among students penetrate the thin blue doors, and I pick up on snippets of conversations about schoolwork, winter holidays, and gossip as we continue down the empty hallway. Just before the bend at the far end of the hall, Audrick stops in front of one of the doors and knocks twice before turning back around to face us, his gaze landing on Émile.

"This is your room."

Before Émile can respond, a series of loud thumps sound inside the room, causing all three sets of eyes to dart toward the closed door.

"Shit," someone inside curses.

I give Émile a sidelong glance, which he returns with a wary expression. A moment later, his eyes return to the door, which swings open to reveal a shirtless brown-haired boy sporting only a pair of red sports shorts. As his green-eyed gaze passes over the three of us, he runs a hand through his tousled brown locks.