Living in Dorm 16

Chapter Two: Back to School

            An urgent hand shook me awake.  I lifted my heavy eyelids and slowly sat up in my seat.  Looking out the window, I gasped in awe of Chrysanthemum Academy.  It was absolutely... majestic, for lack of a better term.  The high towers overlooked every inch of the school.  The buildings were as vast as the fields back in the countryside.  The entire school itself was practically spotless, not one thing seemed out of place.  Not to mention the students, in their crisp school uniforms and carrying navy blue book bags.  I looked at my casual jeans, t-shirt, and a hoodie, and wondered if the school forgot to send me the memo about wearing our uniforms.  Then I remembered that we got our uniforms at the main office.

            “Hey, hon,” my aunt Susie said, pulling me out of my thoughts, “enough daydreaming.  You'd better hurry or you might be late for your orientation.”

            As soon as I made sense of the time, I hopped out of the car and hauled my luggage out of the trunk.  After blowing a swift kiss to my aunt, I made a beeline for the main office.

            In my haste, I accidentally collided into another student.  With my cat-like reflexes, I managed to stay on my feet, but the other person wasn't as fortunate.  Before he fell to the ground, I grabbed his hand while keeping my luggage standing with my foot.  I felt like Peter Parker catching Mary Jane and still managing to catch her lunch tray.  I'll admit it, I was as much of a dork as Will and Alex.

            Pulling the stranger to his feet, he brushed invisible dust of his white shirt.  Looking up at me, he said, “Thanks for catching me.  I've always been a huge klutz.”

            “No problem,” I assured him, “and yea, I'm a klutz, too.  But it was my fault you fell, I should've looked where I was going,” I added sheepishly.

            He laughed, and his smile was absolutely adorable... wait, what am I thinking?  I just met this guy.

            “No problem here, either, then.  Did you need help getting somewhere?” he asked.

            I debated whether or not to accept his help, after I nearly launched him to the ground, and, being selfish, decided to take it.

            “Actually, I needed help finding the main office to get my school uniform.  This map said it should be somewhere around here, but I can't find it.” I pushed the map closer for him to see.

            With a chuckle, he took the map from me, turned it around, and placed it back in my hands.  “You were looking at the map upside down.  Meaning,” he pointed at a small building on the opposite of my location, “the main office is here.” he concluded with a grin.

            I groaned, hoping it would hide my utter humiliation.

            The stranger glanced at his clock and added, “Oh, and you'd better hurry, orientation's going to start soon.”

            Swiftly, I broke into a run in the opposite direction and shouted, “Thanks!” over my shoulder.  I turned for a second just in time to see the stranger give a boyish wave with his back toward me.  For some crazy reason, I blushed, then turned to look in front of me, only to crash face-first into a tree.  I guess my Spider-Senses were broken.

*****

            Out of breath, I rested my hands on my knees in front of the doors of the main office.  Propping the door open with my foot, I hustled in, causing more noise than intended.  Huffing and puffing, I approached the front desk.