Exaltation

Chapter 4

"The room looks fantastic," Mom says, beaming. I step back towards her and take in the freshly-decorated dorm room in front of me.

She's right— it looks great. A lot like my room at home, actually, but more mature. I have my new pink checked bedspread on my bed, which I lofted a little bit, and my favorite books line the top shelf of my desk. My eyes wander over some of the authors: Murakami, Bryson, Rifka-Brunt, Sedaris. There's a flower tapestry on the wall next to the bed, some posters above the desk, and a few strings of Christmas lights snaking around my side of the room.

"It's perfect," I agree, placing my hands on my hips. Mom wraps an arm around my shoulder and we lean back against the door.

"I wonder when your roommate—"

She's cut short when the door bursts open and we both stumble forward.

"Oh my god, I am SO sorry!" The culprit says. I push my glasses back up my nose and turn around to see who it is.

Fortunately, it's just my roommate, Kris. We've never met before, but we followed each other on Instagram when we first got the roommate assignments and emailed back and forth a few times. She had seemed okay during those first few interactions, but in person, she looks really, really... well, cool. Despite her objectively pretty looks complete with blonde hair and blue eyes, she also immediately feels genuine.

"It's totally okay," I say, laughing a bit. I look over at Mom, who's also smiling.

"Truly no problem at all. I'm Sarah, and this is my daughter, Sophie. I assume you already knew that, though," Mom says, reaching out her hand. Kris drops one her bags to the ground and eagerly takes my mother's hand in hers.

"Well, I still feel bad about how we all had to meet," she replies. Her eyes sweep over the room and she beams. "Oh my god, you've already unpacked! It looks so good, Sophie," she says, stepping towards me.

"Thanks! Let me know if you want me to do anything differently, or if I'm infringing on your side at all—"

"Oh, don't do anything differently, and I can already tell you that you aren't. This place is going to be the best dorm room ever by the time I've had my way with my side of the room," she says excitedly. I smile at her.

"Do you need any help unpacking? Getting your things up from your car?" Mom asks. Kris shakes her head.

"Thanks but no thanks— Dad should be up any minute with the rest of my stuff. Listen, Sophie, I have this super cool lamp we can use as lighting in here, if you'd be cool with that," she says, turning towards me again. I shrug, still smiling.

"Sounds good to me. I can't wait to see how it looks when it's all done."

Thank God, I think. This is exactly what I need. A totally pretty, totally normal roommate, on my totally pretty, totally normal college campus, far, far away from home.

*

A few hours after our parents leave, there's a knock on our door. I open it, surprised to see the faces of two girls on the other side of it.

"Hey!" One says, sticking out her hand. "I'm Ellie, and this is my roommate Margot. We live next-door."

"Oh, hey," I reply, shaking her hand, then Margot's. "I'm Sophie, and this is my roommate, Kris," I say, gesturing towards Kris, who's still busy moving her clothes from her suitcase to her dresser.

"Hello ladies! Do you want to come in?" She asks. I open the door a little further and the two step inside.

"Geeze," Margot breathes. "Your place looks amazing."

She's right. It does look fantastic. Kris is almost done unpacking, and her side of the room looks even better than my own. The Christmas lights and her lamp bathe everything in this soft, beautiful glow.

"Thanks," Kris and I respond in unison. We glance over at each other, laughing.

"Anyways, we were wondering if you guys were going out tonight, and if you are, if you wanted to go with us," Ellie asks. I grin.

"I would love that," I say excitedly. "What time are you guys heading out?"

"A few hours from now. My older brother went here, so I know where we should go and what time. Also, if you want to get ready a little early and come over to our room, I have plenty of wine to go around," Ellie offers.

"Yes please," I drawl. I look back at Kris, who's still folding clothes and stuffing them in her drawers.

"Kris, are you coming too?" I ask. She shakes her head.

"Maybe next weekend. I really want to finish unpacking tonight," she replies.

"That's no problem. There's always next time. Anyway, Sophie, just come on over whenever you're ready," Margot says, smiling. "See you soon!"

Then the two of them leave, the door shutting behind them. I head over to my closet, already working on selecting my first outfit. I need to make the perfect first impression on everyone I'm going to meet. I have to make sure that nobody, absolutely nobody, figures out anything. Sure, the pressure of keeping everything in has already started to get to me. But that's okay. This is how it should be, I say to myself as I slide on a pair of high-waisted shorts and a red tank top. This is how it should be.