Versus
Chapter 5 - Part 1

Emma knew the schedule here would take a little getting used to. Breakfast was served from 7-8:25 am. All first-period classes started at 8:30 am so eating early was strongly encouraged. Eir Hall seated just over two hundred, so those not early may have to wait for a seat. Emma didn’t like the sound of eating standing up. She decided to try to get there first.

“You up?”

“No.” Aala laughed.

“Wanna grab breakfast?”

“Uh, yeah!”

Both sat up and gave a look around their new surroundings. They woke up feeling like it had all been a dream, so they just took a second to realize that this room, their new friendship, and oddly comfortable atmosphere were all real. Emma kicked back her sheets in a playful defiant theatrical performance and slid onto the floor.

“Us college girls gotta eat.”

“College girls!” Aala performed some dance moves, celebrating that they were indeed finally college girls.

The two finished getting ready and sleepily walked down the hall side by side. Packs on their backs, phones in their pockets, and sleep in their eyes. They gave each other a side glance from time to time just to giggle at one another. They were a sight to behold. Both with striking features, but this morning was an obvious carefree day. Messy buns piled on top of their heads and oversized sweatshirts on with black leggings. They looked like they planned to match. Truth was, they just both had a lot of comfortable clothing and it all looked very similar to today’s outfits.

Both were seated with a tray of food in Eir when voices began saying their names.

“What’s up?”

“You left us.” Said someone with a disappointed tone.

They both looked to see Abby and Kelly passing by to head into the food line.

“We sleepwalk!”

“Yeah, you can’t blame us. We’re freshmen running on little sleep.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Abby turned back and stuck her tongue out at them.

“It will NEVER happen again,” Emma swore with a pouty lip for their amusement.

The four ate breakfast, talked about how much they loved their rooms and the bathrooms, and the hall. It was oddly unanimous that there was a comfortable belonging here.

They hastened their last bites of breakfast, noticing the time and mimicking that no one dared be late for their first day of class.

Rushing out of the benches, Kelly looked down at Emma’s class schedule.

“We have three classes together!”

“Oh, I’m so glad, which ones?” Emma asked, rushing with her tray to the conveyer belt.

“Oh my gosh, we have the first one together.” Kelly celebrated taking another glance as Emma held the schedule out towards her.

“AWWW!” The others playfully protested.

Rushing out the doors, into the unknown world of college life, they all made vows on quickly replaceing each other after the last class.

Emma and Kelly walked closely together to their very first class. They were equally thankful to have one of their newest friends to start this adventure with. Emma noticed while in class that Kelly was the most attentive and studious student in the class. She was disciplined. She liked that about Kelly. She had this switch. Super serious student, then “click” she would complete a task and there clicked in the other Kelly, warm and crazy fun.

Emma’s last class for the day was nearly over. She, unfortunately, had no one that she knew well to end her first day with.

She was anxiously watching the clock because, well, first days are tiring. Not boring. Just new and kind of overwhelming. She was feeling the need for a Mom talk and a nap, to be honest. But when she glanced at the clock, for the final time, she noticed someone looking at her through the small window of the door. OK, for the sake of argument, he was looking in her direction and this appeared to be at her. She was going to look over her shoulder, or to either side to see if there was someone else near her, but he turned and walked away. It must have been a coincidence. She argued to herself to not let herself get all weirded out. Her transition here has had a few hiccups, but she was certain that most everywhere truly could.

The rest of the evening was quite dull. A good dull. The kind you want when you’re tired. No emergencies. A much-needed, slow night.

Entering the hall to her dorm, hallmates were smiling at one another. Sweet hellos, some high fives even. The same ecstatic peace on their faces because the first dreaded, very long day, had been completed. Maybe that’s why everyone seemed like people she’d known for a year, versus a day. She couldn’t help but smile to herself.

The four new best friends slowly began filtering into Emma and Aala’s room. They were all agreeing on heading to Eir hall to eat and call it an early night.

Kelly was the last one in. She was winded. Clearly not letting another day of running pass her by.

“Show off.” Abby teased. “I’ll do better next week,” Abby promised.

The three were in a discussion about getting a workout schedule together soon, when Emma’s mom called. Emma waved the other three to go on without her. She updated her mom on her hectic first day.

“Yay me!” She exaggerated to her mom while explaining the assignments already given for the week. She felt better just having that moment to vent to her mom. Not that anything here was overly difficult. Her mom just always had the most upbeat outlook and no matter the day, her mom could make it just that little bit better.

She said her goodbyes and rushed to meet up with her friends in Eir. Passing them in the hallway, she looked at her watch and was surprised at how long she had been on the phone with her mom.

“Sorry I missed you guys.”

“We seriously ate fast. We’re all so exhausted it was like watching teenage boys eat. We barely chewed. You missed nothing.” Abby exaggerated.

They all laughed at how exact that comparison was. They all offered to walk back with Emma to Eir but she insisted that they go rest and only stressed how quick she would be anyway.

She waved them on and noticed Abby touch the column, in passing, like out of superstition. “She sure does have her quirks”, Emma thought. As curious as she was, she stopped asking Abby to clarify things. Abby was Abby.

Emma was really feeling exhausted. Her plan was to eat quickly and go to sleep. If Aala needed to do homework, she would just do what she would do at home when her mom was still up. She’d put on her sleep mask and some night sounds through her earbuds and sleep like a baby even if her roommate needed to stay up for a while.

A tight schedule didn’t allow much time for eating off-campus, so it was just a rare thing for anyone to do. It seemed frowned upon even. It was understood that studies were crucial, and the food was the best on-campus anyway, so no one even wanted to leave.

The dining hall felt a bit like Hogwarts looked on the big screen. It had gorgeous dark wood paneling and hanging lights. The lights didn’t float, unfortunately. They actually hung from long, rustic chains. It gave the appearance that its design was to encourage eating and studying here. The tables were long and deep. A stranger could sit across from you without invading your privacy. EVER. You could easily spread out your food and books without getting in anyone else’s way. That’s what Emma loved about here during her first visit. So many designs, like the cafeteria, felt formal and inviting. It felt like someone might serve you while wearing white gloves, but that never happened. Too bad.

Today’s special is chicken tenders and fries or a large side salad. Emma walked over to the salad bar and began preparing a salad with an overload of ranch dressing. She decided that the extra would be for dipping her chicken tenders. She apparently was taking too much time making sure that she didn’t drip the ranch everywhere when she heard an exaggerated finger tapping just behind her. “That’s pretty rude.” She thought to herself and decided not to turn and look because her facial expressions tend to deliver a too honest depiction of her mood. In this case, her annoyance. She bit her tongue and made a quick “Uh huh” sound. She knew that her response wasn’t considered a true word as she didn’t feel it was deserved. But her way of just saying “I heard you.”