The Physics of Falling: Study Buddies #1

Chapter One

The air trembled with the sound of hundreds of little plastic suitcase wheels grinding against the asphalt. It was move-in day at the historic Benedict University in Pennsylvania, and crowds of freshmen were lugging their belongings into the dormitory.

Sidney stood next to Mrs. Elliot's car, surveying the view. Forney Hall was an ancient brick dorm building situated on a hill overlooking the rest of campus. The tiny spread of buildings looked quite manageable from her vantage point in the Forney Parking lot. Surely she couldn't get lost on a campus that only had ten buildings? Nevertheless, Sidney's stomach did a few flips at the thought of the new world she was about to enter. She would have remained rooted to that spot of hot pavement with her white-knuckled grip clasping the neck of her black trash bag full of clothes, but Mrs. Elliot was a busy woman.

"Do you need help, Sidney?" She called from the front seat of the old charcoal Buick. She hadn't bothered to get out, so Sidney doubted the woman was sincere in her offer.

"I'm fine Mrs. Elliot."

"Well, good luck, hon. I'm sure you'll do just fine."

Sidney reached into the trunk of the car to pull out her pillow, the tightly rolled quilt bundle, and her backpack before Mrs. Elliot got too impatient and sped off. As soon as the trunk snapped shut, the woman glanced over her shoulder, offered a quick wave, and drove away.

"Bye, Mrs. Elliot," Sidney said to the empty space.

Carrying all her worldly belongings, Sidney made her way to the main entrance of Forney Hall. Tables of orientation packs were lined up in the foyer. Manning each table were groups of cheerful college students wearing bright shirts that declared them to be resident assistants. Resident assistants, or R.A's, Sidney had learned, were upperclassmen who supervised the dorm. They were charged with keeping an eye on everyone and enforcing the many dorm rules.

She stepped up to a table. "Hi, I'm Sidney Moreau." The sentence was so timidly spoken, it came out like a question, and her cheeks reddened at her apparent nervousness. A petite blond R.A. smiled up at her. "Welcome, Sidney. Find your name on the clipboard and you'll see your room assignment. Go ahead and sign next to the room number for me so we know you showed up. I'm Karen, I'm the girls' R.A. on the second floor."

Sidney scanned for her name on the long list in front of her, nervously skipping over it several times. Of course, the list was in alphabetic order, but Sidney was practically shaking with anxiety.

Her name was printed next to Room 201. Sidney smiled. "Looks like I'm one of your residents."

"Cool, you've got the best floor!" Karen's smile was so sincere, Sidney felt a little strength seep back into her knees. "We're having a floor meeting tonight at seven, so be sure you get back from dinner before then. If you need anything just let me know." Karen seemed really sweet. Peppiness just oozed off of her in a way that was more reassuring than annoying. At least I'll have a nice R.A, Sidney thought, as she took her room key, an orientation packet, and a little "goody" bag.

"If you need help with the rest of your stuff, just ask one of the guy R.A.'s. They do the heavy lifting on move-in day," Karen offered.

"Oh, uh, thanks." Sidney glanced down at her trash bag. "I think I'm good."

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Sidney unlocked the door to 201 and stepped into her new home. It was awesome. The tiny room was spartanly furnished, but the previous owner had painted it a pleasant light blue, and a large window overlooking the green campus grounds made the small quarters feel more airy. It was perfect. Sidney's eyes welled as she gazed at the little room. She had waited years to get here and, finally, in this quiet moment with no one else around, it was sinking in. Sidney was a college student. She wished her mom could've seen this.

As she walked through the room, her reflection caught her eye from a low hanging mirror on one wall. At least one of the previous inhabitants had been as short as Sidney, whose pale face was perfectly level with the glass. Sidney pulled her chestnut brown hair back into her usual ponytail and straightened her glasses. They were always crooked lately. She'd have to find a way to fix them.

She chose the bed closest to the door and set her things on it. It was a narrow, teal colored, plastic-covered mattress set in a wooden frame. Two wooden dressers sat at either side of the room next to two matching desks. Each desk was outfitted with a chair and lamp. That was all.

Sidney could hear the sounds of people moving through the halls, banging doors and lugging heavy objects around. She wondered when her own roommate would show up.

There was nothing to do but unpack, so Sidney savored the activity with slow, purposeful movements. She unfurled the quilt roll, which she had expertly rolled her sheets into, and proceeded to make her bed. She frowned as she skimmed the surface with her hand, smoothing the fabric. The thin quilt did little to soften the plastic mattress. Sidney recalled the list the school had sent out at the beginning of the summer, regarding suggested items to pack. Many items, including the recommended mattress pad, had seemed pretty unnecessary back then. Not that she would've bought one even if she'd known she would be sleeping on cold, squeaky plastic, but at least the suggestion made sense now.

Sidney carefully removed each item of clothing from her trash bag, folded it and then put it away in the dresser. It all fit in one drawer. Her two towels were placed in the second drawer. Sidney put the trash bag in the third drawer, to save. She unzipped her back pack and pulled out her new notebooks, pens, pencils, and her little calendar. Under those, Sidney had packed a Wal-Mart bag full of shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, tampons, a stick of deodorant, and a pair of flip flops for the showers. She placed the unpacked Wal-Mart bag in a desk drawer and then sat down with a giddy grin to arrange her school supplies.

School supplies were Sidney's happy place. She loved to open up new packs of pens and organize notebooks and folders. When that was done, she looked around anxiously. It was 3:00. Too early to head to the cafeteria. Sidney glanced over the room and noticed the forgotten goody bag. She upturned it on the desk to explore the contents. The bag contained various free samples. There was a miniature stick of deodorant, a free Kotex pad, Chapstick, and ... several little foil squares. Condoms!

The door opened just as Sidney was holding the shiny packets up to her surprised face, and that's how Shayna Davis first saw her. The tall girl stood in the doorway, her eyebrows raised as high as they could possibly go. For a moment, Sidney and Shayna simply stared at each other. Then, they burst out laughing.

"Hi," Sidney said, with an embarrassed laugh, "I'm Sidney Moreau."

"I'm Shayna. Nice to meet you, roomie," the girl grinned broadly and pulled Sidney into an unexpected hug. "My parents are carrying in the rest of my stuff." Shayna glanced meaningfully at the condoms. Sidney's face reddened and she put them back in the goody bag just before Shayna's dad walked in balancing a TV and a purple wire mesh trash can. Shayna and Sidney looked at each other and lost their composure in more peals of laughter.