Crimson Academy

TWO

We finally got down the long driveway to the Academy, to find a group of boxy buildings that I had first observed when I came for orientation at the beginning of summer.

There were eight in total. Three were dedicated to housing the students, twenty five to a building, roughly two to a dorm.

The other five varied in size, the smallest being the mess hall, and the biggest the actual school, packed tight with classrooms. The other three consisted of a small gym, another a theatre sort of place where they put on plays, and the last built for playing music, with special acoustics and such.

My dad parked and we got out. I grabbed my tote of clothes and we made our way to my dorm.

We found room 25 easy enough. It was on the top floor, and tucked in a corner.

Taped to the door was a piece of folded notebook paper. I plucked it off, and opened it up. Inside in some scratchy looking handwriting, it said:

Dear whomever this may concern, you are the lucky one in twenty-five who has scored a solitary dorm. Any questions or concerns, please contact the student resources office in the main building. Thank you.

I smiled. I'd dodged the biggest bullet. Having a roomate was the only thing I'd really been worried about. I didn't want to deal with the awkward meeting, and then them not liking me. I also didn't want to have to share bathroom time with someone, or deal with another's gross habits.

"What's it say?" My dad asked as he shifted from one leg to the other.

I cleared my throat that was dry from the hot Oklahoman sun.

"I get to live in a solitary dorm."

My dad nodded.

I fished my key from my jeans pocket and unlocked the door.

Upon opening it, I was hit with a rush of cooled air. It was almost enough to make a guy moan.

I entered the room with my dad behind me.

"Good God it feels good in here." He remarked.

"Yeah." I replied.

After this we went back to the car and unloaded more of my things, bringing them into the room.

By the time we got all the stuff into my dorm both my dad and I were beat dead, and dripping buckets of sweat. It probably wouldn't have been so bad had it not been for the extreme heat and humidity outside. It made your clothes stick to you, and your breath catch in your throat. It was God awful.

Once all inside, we collapsed on the couch that had been provided with the room. As I sat cooling off, I took in what the place looked like.

The walls were brick, painted white and the floor was made of a wine colored tile. There was a single window that looked out to the ground below, facing away from the dorm circle, giving me a nice view of the wooded area behind the school where the small reflecting pond was. From it hung drab blue curtains that were drawn and kept out the hot sunshine.

A few more minutes of silence passed, before my dad sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Well, let's get you unpacked son."

I drug myself off of the comfy couch covered in black vinyl, and then began the unpacking process.

I took on my clothes while my dad pushed the two twin beds in the room together, and made up my bed.

When I finished, I went and put my shampoo and body soap into the shower.

My dad and I tackled putting up the small amount of dishes I'd brought, and stocked my cabinets with the food I'd brought as well.