The Professor

Chapter One

"Ugh, you're first day of college!" my mother swoons dramatically as she clasps her hands together.  We're walking through campus with my boxes of stuff for my dorm room and I roll my eyes at her obnoxious behavior.

"Mother, please stop being so dramatic. It's embarrassing." I tell her.  

She scoffs.

"Quit being so sensitive. You're moving away from home, two hours to be exact. Let a mother cope."

I see her dab her tissue under her eyes out of my peripheral vision and I take a deep breath. I know I know no one here yet, but it's embarrassing to know that people are looking over at my mother being the typical college mom who cries her eyes out the day her daughter moves into college. As annoying and embarrassing as it is, I try to not be too rude. I know how hard this day is for her and as glad as I am to finally be getting some freedom, i'd like to get that in happiness. Not sadness.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sad myself to be leaving home but more of me is excited for college. It's a new place which means new people and a clean slate. I've been waiting on this day for what feels like forever. I remember when my mother was waving the letter from Stanford University in her hands when I got home from school last year. I applied to Stanford and UCLA but Stanford has always been my number one choice. When I saw the letter in her hands, my heart started to pump violently. I was scared and anxious to open it. Of course when I read the first word that happened to be "congratulations," I didn't bother reading the rest. My mother and I had a celebration of our own in the kitchen until my father and Christopher got home later that evening.

It's weird that that day was seven months ago yet it feels like yesterday.

When we finally make it to my dorm hall, a blonde girl who looks like a student walks up to me with a clipboard in her hand.

"Hello, I'm Sarah Beth, one of the RA's for Keegan Dorm this year. What's your name?" her voice is very perky and friendly, almost like she's trying too much.

"Claire Holbrook." I tell her.

Sarah Beth looks down the first sheet of paper before flipping it over on the clipboard. She does the same with the second page and starts to skim the third before she stops halfway down. "Look at that, you're on my floor," she says, looking up at me with an overjoyous smile. "You're going to be in room 308 with Jessica East. Let me get you your key."

She walks through a door that leads to the dorm's front desk and grabs a key off the back wall. I take a second to observe the lobby. There's white, marble tile on the floor in front of the check in desk that reminds me of the doctor's office I used to go to. Over to the left where the lounge/study area is, there's carpet with an awkward shade of red and green couches sitting all around with a few coffee tables scattered between the couches. There's a few high top tables big enough for three chairs and a sitting area with a flat screen tv on the wall, with a ping pong table in the center of the room. Beside the front desk, there's an area with a vending machine and a sign that reads LAUNDRY. 

When Sarah Beth brings me the key and hands it to me, she says, "You can go ahead and take your stuff to your room. We have an elevator just down the hall or a set of stairs. We do have a floor meeting tonight at seven so make sure you're there for that. It's going to be in the floor lounge." She smiles.

My family and I gather the boxes we brought with us this trip and head down the hall to the elevator. When we get to the third floor, we follow the signs to the left that takes us to the hall where room 308 is. Opening the door, I step into a tiny room that consists of a sink, two beds, two desks, two closets, and a refrigerator with a microwave sitting on top of it. The room is small but perfect size for just two people.

Standing on the side closest to the window is a pretty blonde girl untangling a string of lights. I'm assuming this is Jessica, my roommate. 

I quickly take in the sight of her side of the room. She's all unpacked. Her bed is made in a grey and white quatrefoil pattern, and her desk is full of vibrant colored picture frames and small desk signs with cheesy phrases. Her wall has hanging pictures of her and her friends and cute wall sayings that match the ones on her desk. She's definitely one of those girls.

Jessica turns around and stops untangling the lights in her hand. She sets them on the bed while looking at me with a smile and walks to me with her arms stretched out wide.

"You must be Claire," She says confidently before hugging me. "I'm Jessica, your roommate." She's still smiling.

"Yeah, I am, nice to meet you. And this is my mom, dad, and brother, Christopher." I say, introducing her to my family. She smiles and waves to them, earning a pleased look from my brother who I roll my eyes at. Chris will be a senior in college this year at California State. He's single and in a fraternity and judging by the looks of Jessica, she's definitely the kind he would hit on.

"Don't mind us, Jessica. We're just dropping off Claire's things and we'll get out of your hair." My mother chimes in.  Jessica waves her comment off with her hand.

"My mother was a sob fest this afternoon so don't feel rushed to leave. Take as long as you need. I'm actually just on my way out. I was going to go explore the campus a little bit so i'll leave you guys to it." 

Before leaving the room, Jessica stops abruptly and turns to look back to me. "There's a little social gathering tonight at the quad. I wanted to go to it and meet some people if you wanted to come with me, Claire."

I nod my head. "Yeah that sounds like fun. Let me unpack and change before we go."

She gives me a weird look with a smile. "Trust me, you've got plenty of time. It was nice to meet you all!"

Jessica leaves and my family makes one more trip to our car to get all my boxes. They help me unload and set stuff up while doing their best to stay out of the way. Once everything is all done, the awkward silence of the goodbye's being delayed sits in the room. My mother cries and hugs me for what feels like five minutes, and my father ruffles my hair and says, "If you need anything, call." 

He's always been a man of few words when it comes to goodbyes.

When my parents finally leave, i'm left in the room by myself until Jessica gets back. I decide to read. Wuthering Heights, one of my favorites.

Jessica returns about an hour later and greets me with a smile. She walks straight to her closet and starts looking through her clothes.

"What are you wearing tonight to this social gathering?" I ask her, closing my book and setting it back in it's place on the shelf.  She turns to me with an amused grin on her face and laughs.

"It's not a social gathering. Well, it is but it's not on the quad."

I look at her confused. "What is it and where is it then?"

"It's a party," she says with a proud smile. "And at a frat house. One of the girls I went to school with is dating a guy in the fraternity and there's a big party tonight. If you don't want to come it's totally fine, it's going to be fun though."

I think about it for a second. I never partied in high school. I worked on my school work, played on the volleyball team, and worked at a bookstore. Nothing too wild. Partying never appealed to me since I was working on trying to get here, at Stanford.

After contemplating the option some, I come to the conclusion that college is a new experience for me which means trying new things. If I go tonight and don't like it, then I don't have to go to another party again. I just have to try it once.

Jessica is holding up a white crop top with sheer sleeves in her hand when I look at her and say, "Count me in."