Page 5 of Choosing You

I spot a group of students hanging out under one of the trees. They’re stumbling around like they’re drunk, which they probably are since it’s Friday night. Other than that, the campus seems pretty empty. School doesn’t start for four more days so a lot of people haven’t moved in yet. Ryan made us leave early in case we had car trouble along the way. Unfortunately for me we didn’t and now I’m stuck being one of the first people on campus.

Ryan parks in front of Carlson Hall, the place I’ll be living for the next four years. “Well, this is it. What do you think? Pretty fancy, huh?”

“It’s just a bunch of old buildings. It’s not that fancy.” I try to sound calm but inside my stomach is a churning bundle of nerves. I don’t know what I expected, but this is not it. The campus seems small and intimate. I don’t do small and intimate. I prefer big and detached.

As I look around and take it all in, I’m already feeling claustrophobic.

CHAPTERTHREE

“Are you getting out or what?”Ryan is holding my door open. “Let’s go find your RA and see where your room is.”

I step out of the car, suddenly feeling like I might throw up. Where is this coming from? I’m stronger than this. Way stronger. I take a deep breath, hoping the feeling is just carsickness from driving through those winding roads.

The inside of the residence hall smells old and musty, like a museum, making the sick feeling in my stomach creep up into my throat. I keep an eye out for a bathroom just in case I get sick.

Dark wooden doors with numbers on them line the hallway. We stop at one that has an RA sign on it. Ryan knocks on the door and a tall thin girl with long black hair and olive skin answers.

She looks at me and smiles. “Hi, are you moving in?” She has a slight foreign accent, but I can’t tell where it’s from.

“Yeah, I’m Jade Taylor. And this is Ryan, but he’s not moving in. He just drove me here.”

“Great, nice to meet you both. I’m Jasmine. Welcome to Moorhurst. Let me grab your key.” She turns back and takes a key from a box on her desk, then grabs a large folder sitting next to it. “This is your housing information packet.” She hands me the folder. “Go through it and if you have any questions, just let me know. Follow me. I’ll show you your room.”

She leads us to the very end of the hall, right by the stairwell. She opens the door, then hands me the key. “The rooms are small but you’ll get used to it.”

I scan the room. It’s not that small. But I guess if you’re used to living in a mansion, like the other students are, then it probably seems like a closet. The room has white walls that look freshly painted, light wood floors, and a window covered with beige curtains. There’s a twin bed, a tall wooden dresser, and a small desk with a chair. A giant basket is sitting on the desk.

“That’s a welcome gift from the Kensingtons,” Jasmine says.

I go over and unwrap the cellophane around the basket. It’s overflowing with an assortment of items stamped with the Moorhurst logo; a t-shirt, hooded sweatshirt, keychain, coffee mug, plastic cup, shorts, sweatpants, socks, and other items. There’s even a cover for the cell phone I don’t own.

“Looks like they bought out the whole campus bookstore,” Ryan comments.

“Well, I’ll let you get settled,” Jasmine says. “If you need anything, just stop by.”

She leaves and I shut the door and sit on the thin bare mattress on the bed.

Ryan stands there surveying the room. “I don’t think it’s that small. And you hardly have any stuff so you’ll have plenty of room.” He sits next to me. “Jasmine seems cool, right?”

“I don’t know her well enough to say. But from her name alone, she doesn’t seem that cool. She’s named after a cartoon princess. That speaks volumes about her personality.”

“What did I say about judging people?”

“I’m just saying that I doubt we’ll be friends. I don’t get along with people like her. I doubt I’ll get along with anyone here which is fine with me.”

“Cut that shit out right now. You’re never going to make friends with that I-don’t-care-about-anything-or-anyone attitude. Besides you can’t keep that act going for four years. You’re not at all like that. You know that, right?”

“I have no interest in being friends with any of these people. I’m here to get an education. That’s it.”

Ryan turns to me, his lecture face on. “You can’t go four years without any friends. Not everyone here is a stuck up snob. And just because people are rich doesn’t mean they aren’t good people. You need to get out and do stuff. Interact with other students. Go to football games. Go to some parties. That’s what people do in college. Well, I don’t, but I’m the exception to the rule.”

“You know I don’t like parties, Ryan.”

“Yes, I know. But you don’t have to drink. Just go there and hang out. And if it gets out of hand, just leave.”

“It always gets out of hand. If it didn’t, I wouldn’t be here.”

He stands up and faces me. “Dammit, Jade. You keep saying you want to forget your past and then you keep bringing it up. You’re not your mother. You don’t drink. You don’t do drugs. You don’t do any of the stuff she did.”

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