Horse Star

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359.

That's my room number. The students are all mixed around. They could be double Seniors; a Senior and a Freshmen; Double Sophmore; a Junior and a Senior; a Sophomore and a Freshmen. Pick a combination, it could be it. I wonder what my roommate will be like. Or if I even have one.

Students don't get to change dorms or dorm room. They live in the same dorm room until graduation. I took in a breath, hesitantly putting the key in the hole and turning it until I heard the soft, quiet click of the lock. I pulled the key out, grabbing the door handle, twisting it open.

In the room was two Twin XL beds, two dark oak dressers, and two walk-in closets. The beds were in the back, left corner of the room. One of the beds was set like the top half of a bunk bed, running along the side of the wall. The bottom bed was lined up with the back wall. It was pushed under the higher bed, all the way to the right wall.

A dresser was under the taller bed as well, parallel to the ground bed. Another dresser was parallel with the legs of the bunk bed. The drawers were facing the front wall or the wall to my left.

{This is the bed layout}

On the other side of the room was the walk in closets. Against the back wall on the right was a desk with a purple laptop that had volleyball stickers all over the top of it. There was a stack of books, folders, and papers on one side, and the other side had a cup of #2 pencils, lead pencils, clicking pens, and red, blue, and green cap removal pens. On the floor was an open, purple bookbag.

If I walk to my left a few feet, another desk, a bare one, stood. The desk chairs were made of black leather. Between the walk in closet doors was another door. A bathroom maybe.

I was so focused on checking out the room, I didn't notice the bright, red ginger laying on the bottom bed, watching me. She smiled when I finally took notice to her. Her hair was way past her hips, down to her knees. Her eyes were a gentle, calming blue, and her skin was fair. Overall, she was a beautiful girl.

"You must be my new roommate. I'm Amarante Murphy, 17, and a Junior. But you can just call me Amara. What's your name, newbie?"

"Sam. Sam Eethel. I'm 15 and a Freshmen."

"Welcome to the Academy."

"Yeah," I murmured. I walked to the empty desk, gently setting my empty book bag on it. My fingers traced the solid, oak wood delicately. For some reason, the way Abi used to brushed her fingers over my arms crossed my mind. I sighed.

"Oh, yeah. This is for you," Amarante said, grabbing the yellow envelope that was beside her and placed it in my hands. I gave her a skeptical glance while opening it. I pulled out a thin packet of papers. On top was a sheet with every available class. "All you gotta do is fill this out and I'll take it to the office. This is due Wednesday, so they have enough time to sort classes."

I sat down in my black chair, still not looking at any of the next pages. I carefully removed the top page from the rest, sitting the rest of the packet on the desk. There were so many classes to pick from.

"Are there required classes?" I questioned, looking up at my upperclassman.

"Let's see...you can have up to 10 classes. For a Freshmen you have to take Reading, English, Algebra, and a type of Science. These are all of the required classes needed to graduate. Plus you only need to take each class once or not even take it throughout your four years. Except for English and reading. Math just advances each year. 8 hours of school. 7 1/2 for your 10 classes and 1/2 for lunch. That gives 45 minutes per class."

"Too many numbers. Give my head a minute to organize that info." I rubbed my temples.

"Tomorrow, we'll go shopping. There's no way you have all of your stuff in your duffle bag. Plus, you'll need school supplies." She tapped the packet of papers on the desk. I peeked at them. They were lists of what to get for each subject. "Then you can make your schedule when we get back."

"I have to be out in the field at 10 to find my horse."

"Technically, you have to be out there at sunrise wich is around seven, and be out there 'til 11. You have lunch and chill, and then you go back at 1 to hunt until 6 or 7."

"That's almost 10 hours of looking." Maybe mostly everyone will find their horse tomorrow. Abi, Ella, and Cally found theirs. I hope I can find mine soon.

"I found mine on my first day," Amara commented. "I won't lie and say I knew how the other kids who didn't find theirs felt. But everyone found theirs by the fourth day. We had to have an extended day because we still had a big chunk of students who didn't find their horse."

"When will we start training?" I asked. She hummed in response.

"I think Friday. It's actually a training camp for every student so the newbies can get acquainted with their upperclassmen. They've already met their roommates, but I can't say for certain that all of them are match with an upperclassmen. The Training Camp ends on Monday."

"Explains why we start school next Tuesday," I whispered. She nodded.

"Tomorrow, we also have to get you a computer. It will be your own personal one, so don't worry about what you put on it. Oh, and it's a tradition passed down from upperclassmen to upperclassmen that they pay for their new roommates stuff. That's how it's always been with the students that lived in our dorm room. So when I graduate, and you get a new roommate, make sure to continue to pass this tradition down."

"I can't ask you to do that," I said.

"I'm not breaking the tradition, and neither will you. I know you'll keep it alive. I trust you."