[Calen Burchfield]

College. The place where dreams usually come true. Or this is what I've been taught so far. My mother often says that it can open lots of doors or slam them straight into your face. As much as I'd like to believe her, I'd rather start planning every single move.

Starting from packing the last things. My bedroom has since become a storage room due to all those boxes. And, yes, half of them are filled with textbooks and household stuff. Probably I'll spend most of my time studying and won't even be able to clean up properly.

Oh, if only things were easier... Who are you kidding, Calen? College is supposed to be a challenge. How the hell can it be easy?

My thoughts keep driving me mad even when I finish packing and ask Mom and Dad to help me loading all the bags and boxes in their car. Mine is too small to stuff even a quarter of my belongings. This means that either we drive separately and meet at the campus or I go with them, therefore being stuck to going everywhere on foot.

Snap out of it, Calen! There's no more time to waste!

Without further ado, I go and load the heavy boxes and bags in Mom and Dad's car, only bringing my backpack, a suitcase and my red O-bag (my absolute favorite) with me.

"I guess we'll met again at campus, Calen," says Dad as he takes place in the driver's seat. "Drive safely. And don't text, okay?" I roll my eyes as he says this. Why does he have to embarrass me? I mean, texting and driving is so not me... I'm not that irresponsible, right?

As Mom and Dad leave the valet, I get on my own car, start Google Maps and then follow suit.

***

The campus is huge. It's probably one of the biggest place I've ever been, besides Disney World, of course. (Yeah, I went there when I was thirteen, and I would have enjoyed myself fully if I hadn't had to go with that idiot of Dru Birdwell. Honestly, I don't even feel like talking about him.)

Back to what I was talking about before. As I said, the campus is so big that it could contain my high school in its entirety. What if I get lost on day one? Is there anyone here ready to give me instructions? Okay, Calen, snap out of this bullshit.

Mom and Dad help me to move all my stuff to my assigned room in the girls' dorm. Room 462. It's on the fourth floor, which means that, by the time we're done with this task, I'll probably have lost two or three kilos. (I know, I'm exaggerating, but moving boxes up and down the stairs is fucking tiresome.)

When we're finally done, I slump on a mattress (it can't be called a proper bed yet) as Mom calls me out, "Don't you think you should start unpacking some of your stuff?" I, however, ignore her. My arms ache badly, my shoulders are sore out of lifting boxes and I can't feel my legs.

As she pats my knees, though, I sit down and force myself to pay attention to her. "What do you want, now?" I groan. "It's too early to unpack bags. And I'm supposed to go to the hall in the main building, or maybe the Aula Magna, for the greeting or stuff like that."

Mom groans back. "That's just a piece of advice, darling," she points out. "But, at least, please go and freshen up a little bit. You look really tired." Thank God you finally understood, Mom! Do you really think I'm ready to do more chores after driving for, guess what, four hours?

Not wanting to cause an argument, I unzip my suitcase, pick some clean clothes and my beauty case before I go and look for the restroom. That is, until I accidentally bump on another girl on my way to the toilet. "Sorry," I mutter, but I don't turn back.

The other girl, on the other hand, still doesn't relent and chases after me. "Wait! Where are you going?" As I hear her ask this question, I turn to her and answer, "To the restroom. Anyway, do you know where it is?"

She shakes her head. "Sorry, I don't know. By the way, we're supposed to go to the Aula Magna. The dean is going to have her speech and then there's the campus tour-" I glance at her as she cuts herself off. She tends to speak very quickly, which leaves me confused at first.

"Okay," I just mutter, after which I rush back to my room and leave my stuff behind. The other girl follows me, much to my confusion. Is she going to be my roommate? Anyway, she introduces herself, "My name is Alaina. What's yours?"

I fail to repress a stutter. "C-Calen. So, we're roommates, I guess," I state, leaving her confused, as well. Maybe she expected to meet someone a lot more cheerful and outgoing, something I'm not. But, hey, who am I to judge people for their personalities without knowing them?

Stop it, Calen! She's being friendly, so don't nag and just be polite.

Okay, perhaps my conscience is right. I should be happy to have already met my roommate. Hopefully, we'll even be friends in a matter of, maybe, a few weeks. The thought of finally having a confidant is guiding me to the Aula Magna, even though I'm struggling to keep up with Alaina's brisk pace. Wow, she's really fast!

As we leave the dorm building, I realize that I have to fully rely on Alaina to find the Aula Magna. That is, until I find out that she doesn't know where it is either. "I guess we have to ask around," she points out, much to my dismay; still, I brush off my disappointment and give her one of the most fake smiles I've ever shown. Well, excluding those I usually give to that idiot.

Okay, enough talking about him!

At last, thanks to some older students, we find our way to the Aula Magna. It turns out we lost about half of the dean's speech. Crap!

Alaina, however, just shrugs this matter off. "It's not much of a big deal, to be honest. My brother came here six years ago, and the dean gave freshmen the same kind of speech," she explains, trying to keep her voice low, only to earn several pairs of glaring eyes pointed straight at her.

She's definitely the kind of girl who'd get me in trouble, but, hey, this isn't supposed to be a big deal, right? Okay, it actually is.

One of the pairs of glaring eyes belongs to none other than the master idiot that made my life miserable in high school. Dru Birdwell.

Moreover, he isn't alone. His vain, self-centered and arrogant girlfriend, Leah Marchant, is also here, joining him in his pathetic glare fest. I don't know why the hell they're holding a grudge against Alaina, but I'm more than certain that at least one of them knows her.

What's certain, by the way, is that because of this I missed the whole speech. But, again, as Alaina said, it's not that important. The part that matters is that, as people are slowly leaving the Aula Magna, the four of us are staying behind, glaring at each other and trying to ignore each other.