As soon as the door opened it was insane. The whole room was in chaos. People were singing, practicing scripts, and doing so many different types of projects. It was loud and oh it was messy. Disorder is something that was foreign to me, the government has eliminated it with this new system, with the exception of here I suppose. Upon entering the room Madame Sheel, who had escorted us to the dorm, yelled for everyone to be silent. Within seconds everything stopped. No one made a sound, no one moved. Honestly, it was a bit creepy.
"Everyone these are the newest members of your dorm. Welcome them, and help them figure out how it is to live here." She shot a stern look around the room. " This is Almara and Cecil. Girls this is Jula, she is head Arts and she will help you get settled in. As you were." With that she turned on her heel and marched out the room. As soon as she was gone we were mobbed by all the other girls.
So many names:
Hally
Sue
Liz
Klina
Strend
Thali
and on
and on
and on.
All of them wanting to know what it was that put us in with them. Apparently the newbies usually knew why they were here. Not us. Neither of us had ever even experienced with anything artist. Nothing at all. I think we hoped that someone would just tell us why we were here.
We weren't given that luxury. Neither of us knew anything about this stuff. We were average girls, wanting an average life; the exact opposite of the people we were here with. They breathed for extravagance, bold, bright and colorful. To be noticed was their only goal. In a way it was beautiful, but really it was almost pathetic. Especially to those of us outside of "the culture",
We were given the day to settle in. As if we had anything to settle. At the rear of the dorm we found one room with two beds inside. It had a beautiful view and the door would only open for us, courtesy of our necklaces. On the beds were plain charcoal grey bedspreads. In the closet we found some basic clothes. On the wall was a note pinned there for us. It read:
Welcome girls. We are well aware that this room is not furnished in a way that will please you. Nor are the clothes as fashionable as you would probably desire. As you do well in your work we will reward you with Points. These can be shared to purchase something big for your room, or you may use them for your personal use to get things you need or want. Small items you purchase will arrive at the bottom of your closet the following morning. Large items will be moved in for you at the requested time. Should there be a problem you may return an item by placing it in the bottom of the closet, we will refund a portion of the Points used at the time of return. Should something break, put it as to return it and a mended version should be given to you, if that is not possible a notice will be sent. To keep track of or make purchases use the screens closest to your closet. As new comers you have been given 70 Points. The screen you touch first will remember you and can not be swapped. Use your Points wisely. You must purchase anything and everything you need that is not currently in this room. ~Staff
I turned to Cecil," So which bed and closet do you want?"
