TIFFIN

2

Hey everyone!! I picked Sorry For Party Rocking because I imagined it was what Annie would be listening to and I thought it fit in with the chaos. Hope you listen along. :)
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It was surprisingly quiet when we walked in. I laughed as I realized how ridiculous that was. It wasn't like my roommate was going to be blasting music. If I was lucky, she would share the same philosophy I did. 

The room was simple with two small poster beds and desks. It was cramped, but I could work with it. What took me aback wasn't the room itself, but a girl standing on her bed, ripping down a large movie poster. As I observed a bit more, I saw that her boxes were thrown about the room carelessly. 

What was going on?

I looked back down at my sheet searching for the person the dean said I would be rooming with. My mom and dad, however, proceeded inside, slamming down my suitcases so hard my roommate was forced to look up.

She grinned, now noticing us, jumping off her bed. I grew uncomfortable as she represented everything I should detest from her revealing sports bra to her indecent daisy dukes.  

My mother eyed the girl with a sour look on her face, looking like she wanted to ask what planet she was from. What she had on was pretty atrocious. 

"Who are you?" She asked. She didn't look happy. Neither did my father. I furrowed my brows in confusion. I thought they had done a sweep of all the rooms in the dorm. 

"Annie," the girl finally responded making me think Lolita was a more fitting name. "What's yours?" 

My mother forced a smile. Barely. 
"I'm Elouise. This is my husband Charlie and my daughter, Kristina."

"Awesome," Annie spit with a big chunk of gum in her mouth. Could you be any ruder? 

I stepped forward, knowing my parents were at a loss for words. "Quick question. I talked to the dean a few days ago and he said my roommate had top marks-" 

Annie snorted. "Yeah. I do."

"Oh," I replied, upset with the outcome. 
"Technically I'm not your roommate anymore." She went on. 

My head snapped up at this. "What?" 

"He didn't tell you?" Annie looked up at the ceiling laughing like this was the funniest thing in the world. "I got top marks and I'm transferring into the sorority on campus."

I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. Well, that was a relief. But who was my roommate going to be?

My mother shook her head feverishly not liking the sound of any of this. My father looked down at Annie from an upturned nose. 

"The dean told us you were her set roommate. I don't know what we're supposed to do about it. I see it was a last-minute decision."

Annie grinned, despite the cold shoulders she was receiving. "No worries! There was another freshman looking for a room and she should be here any minute!"

Looking back at my parents, I knew they were stressing and regretting their decision to give me a longer leash. I already knew what they were going to do. They were going to pull the plug and make me go to the community college. No. I didn't want that!

Before they could drag me by my shirt, we all heard a commotion behind us at the door. A much more conservatively dressed girl stumbled in, her brown hair thrown in a loose bun. Her boxes fell over, creating a pile on the floor. 

"I-I'm sorry," She stuttered. "Am I in the wrong room?"

"Nope!" Annie screamed, trying to fit as many boxes as she could in her arms, "You're just in time!"

As she nearly rushed out the door, my new roommate smiled, extending her hand. "Hi. I'm Josephine."

My father willingly shook her hand. "Pleased to meet you, dear."

We all helped her with her belongings and set up the room the way we wanted it.

Later on, after my parents had bid me farewell and made me promise to stay in contact with them and had left for the first time in my life, I sat on my bed practicing discussion prompts for each class. Josephine sat, spinning around in her office chair she had brought along.

She eventually interrupted me. 

"Are you nervous or something?"

I looked up, annoyed. "What?"

"You're going over things like you're nervous about how to talk to people- I mean, I'm nervous too."

"No, I'm not. It's my prompts... I have to focus."

Josephine sighed. "I really don't want to bother you... and I know you probably know a lot more about this stuff... but I was hoping I could have someone come with me to the bonfire tonight."

I raised my eyebrows. Since when did they have bonfires on campus?

Suddenly I thought about my parents' warnings about parties and the mention of the sorority...

"Parties aren't my thing-"

Josephine giggled. "Oh, it's not a party. It's an orientation of sorts. Everyone on campus will be there and it will be fun."

I wasn't sure if it was because I was getting bored sitting around or if it was the thought of meeting others like me, but I agreed.

I hope you liked this chapter. It's not the best bui tried :)