Dorm room 304 - Mower Hall

Chapter II

It had taken about thirty minutes to get from Albert Hall to Mower Hall. Somehow, it felt different over there. They had entered the central part of the hallway, where there was a common room of some sort. A place students could hang, play games or even study if that was what they preferred. Because de term hadn't officially started, just one boy was sitting behind a chess set. However, no one was sitting across from him.

'Do you think he is the room advisor?' Charlie whispered to Lore, watching as the boy moved a chess piece and then turned around the board, so he could take the opponent's side. He seemed a bit strange, but that really didn't say anything, did it?

'I'll ask him,' Lore whispered back. She walked over to the boy and scraped her throat, but he didn't respond. It seemed she needed to verbally use her voice to get his attention.

'Excuse me, do you know where I can find the RA? I'm moving in today.' With a friendly smile around her lips, she awaited the boy's response. He failed to look up from his chess set. Lore still wondered why it seemed like he was playing alone. The boy however did point at one of the doors. 'Domino is in there. Room 360.'

'Domino?' Charlie her eyebrows were furrowed. 'What kind of a name is that? Who would name his child after a dumb game?'

'I go by Mino, most of the time,' a voice said behind them. Caught in the act, even though it was Charlie who had commented on the name and not Lore herself, she slowly turned around. Domino, or Mino, was a tall young man who had dark-toned skin, like Lore herself. However, his hair was curly and sprung all around his head, while hers was sleek.

'I didn't mean anything by that... I was just wondering.' Charlie didn't fool anyone. That was why she would never be able to be a drama major. It was obvious she had been making fun of his name.

'I think it's pretty cool!' Lore quickly said. 'Is it after the game, dominoes? Did you know that when someone loses, they have to declare the winner a Domino?' Lore asked. Suddenly, she realized that he probably knew everything that there was to know about his name and it now just seemed like she was bragging with her knowledge of random things.

'I did, yeah,' Domino answered, but he did it with a small smile. 'So I take it one of you is Lore Arnas? Our new resident?'

'That would be me!' Lore put up her hand, forgetting she was in fact carrying two boxes full of her stuff and almost dropping them. Quickly, she grabbed hold of them. Domino, or Mino, shot forwards and also grabbed the box, making sure her belongings wouldn't be scattered all over the floor.

'Easy there. Let me help you settle in your new room and then I'll give you a small tour of the hall.'

'Oh great! Here, you take these then!' Charlie handed her box over to Mino and she turned to Lore. 'Text me, okay? Have fun!'

Before Lore could answer, her best friend had already left the hallway and had gone outside. Well, that was one way to say goodbye to your former roommate, she supposed.

She followed Mino down the hall, all the way to room 304. It was actually the door in the corner on the left. On the door, someone had stuck a small whiteboard and it had a bunch of random doodles on it instead of the current occupier of the room.

Mino knocked on the door. 'Jazzy? Are you in there?'

'Yeah, come in! Let me just clean up a bit!' Even though the female resident had noted that she needed a few seconds to gather some of her stuff, Mino didn't hesitate and opened up the room immediately.

Jazzy was a tall, slim girl who had her hair tied up in a bandana. In that bandana, she had conveniently slid a few paintbrushes. Her hands were covered in paint, as well as the old t-shirt she was wearing. She was obviously the creative type. Something Lore, in no way, was.

'Hiya! You must be my new roommate. I'm sorry about the mess. I know I promised Mino to clean everything up before you would arrive and I will, really! I just got a bit carried away, you see.' She rambled. When she realized, she put her hands in front of her mouth. 'Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't even introduce myself. I'm Jazzy, and you are?'

'I'm Lore.' Jazzy seemed very different from Charlie. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but Lore wasn't sure it would be a good thing either.

'I'll just put this down here,' Mino said. 'Lore, you can come by my room to get the keys. I'll leave you to unpack your things and get settled in, but I'll be just down the hall. It's room 360.'

'Alright, thanks!' He sure gave her a warm welcome. Mino smiled and nodded and then he left the room, leaving the two of them alone.

Just like that, she had a new dorm and a new roommate. Like her time in Albert Hall had never existed.

-

So, we've come to the end of chapter two!  What do you guys think about the people from Mower Hall? Any thoughts on Jazzy, Mino or perhaps the boy playing a game of chess against himself?

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Love,

Bowiese