Chapter 2: Move-In Day:

As my dad pulled his truck onto the campus of South Redwood University, my heart began to race. I had only been on one tour here before and I didn’t remember much at all. I knew the main entrance for the Campus Square and where my dorm hall was, but nothing else. 

“Where are we supposed to go?” He asked me while squinting his eyes and turning his head to look at me in the rear view mirror. 

I had no answer. 

“It looks like all the cars are parked over there.” I pointed to a big parking lot across the street from the Square. 

We pulled in and got out of the truck. I led my parents to the main entrance of the Square where I knew we could get a little bit of direction. Tables decked in red and black lined the hallway with older, very intimidating, students in neon green shirts sitting behind them. I could only gaze around in amazement of the new surroundings that I would soon be calling home. 

“Are you here for freshman orientation?” A girl with black hair and big glasses sitting behind the first table asked. 

I was only able to stutter, “Uh, yeah. I don’t really know where I’m going, I’ve only been here once.” 

“Alright, well perfect. You came to the right place to get started. What’s your name?” 

I was shocked that I was lucky enough to stumble into the right place at the right time. I’ve always had a way of being lucky about those sorts of things. 

“Casey. Bennett.” I waited as she dug through some papers. Why did I pause like that? That made me sound really stupid, I thought. 

“Okay, Casey. Here’s your name tag. You’re going to be getting a lot of important paperwork and even some cool Snakes merch so be sure to grab one of these bags before you head to the next table.” She put her hand on a stack of cheap plastic drawstring bags that said “South Redwood University Snakes” on them. 

I grabbed on and continued on. 

“Well that’s pretty cool!” My mom said, “Now you have a spare backpack if you ever need one!” Sure, I’m an optimistic person, but not nearly as optimistic as my mom. Nobody ever uses these types of bags once they get them home. I doubt the thin material could  hold my laptop even if I wanted to use it. 

At the next table they were giving out room and mail keys. On the paper that the girl at the last table had given me it said I was in Borris Hall, fourth floor, room 457. I knew that I had a roommate, I had received an email about it, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t find her on any social media networks. The email said her name is Grace Josephs. Grace Josephs is the kind of name a hyper-religious family gives their pure, sweet, innocent daughter. I could only hope that she was at least nice enough to be my first friend here, but her name wasn’t very promising. 

I retrieved my room and mail keys and was told I needed to step against the wall to take a picture for my ID. 

“Are you a resident?” The man in a security uniform asked me. 

“Yes, I’ll be living in Borris Hall. On the fourth floor. Room 45…” 

“Slow down, girl. I don’t need all of that information. I just need to know which building this piece of plastic is going to let you into.” He laughed it off, but I was embarrassed. 

As I was cooling myself off from my embarrassment he printed my ID and handed it to me on a red and black lanyard. 

“The student orientation meeting starts in two hours down there in the square,” He pointed down the stairs to his right. “So you better go start unpacking your things. Good luck!” 

At least he was nice to me after I showed him how nervous I really am. 

“So whatcha gotta do now?” My dad asked, shuffling his legs. 

He tends to get anxious if he stands around too long. 

“The security guard who made my ID told me it's time to unpack. I have a meeting in two hours.” 

The three of us made our way to Borris hall, which wasn't even that far. South Redwood made all the freshman room in the same hall and it was located the closest to the Square. I assumed that was so that they would have more time to get to classes within the first week if they ever get lost. 

“Well,” I sighed, “This is it. Mom and I can wait here if you want to pull the truck up to the font, dad.” 

“Alright, I’ll be right back then.” 

Upon him leaving,  a guy with blonde curly hair and freakishly large blue eyes noticed my mom and I standing on the sidewalk. He grabbed a big red cart with wheels on it and made his way over. 

“Are you a freshman?” He asked me. 

“Uh, yeah. My room is in this hall. We’re waiting for my dad to bring the truck around so I can unpack my things.” 

“Perfect, I’m Sean. I’m helping freshmen move their things into their rooms for orientation.” He rested his arm on the cart. 

“I’m Casey. Are you a freshman too?” I asked him.

“No.” He paused. “I’m a junior, but I like to volunteer around campus. It makes me look better when I represent different clubs.” 

I started to wonder what different clubs the SRU offered when the big, red, Chevy truck pulled up to the sidewalk. 

“That’s him.” I confirmed. 

My dad hopped out of the truck and looked at Sean. 

“You here to make things easier on me, son?” 

“That’s my job for the day.” He replied. Then they both started loading the gray totes from the back of the truck onto the red cart. 

After the cart was full Sean turned to me and said,

“This should be easy. We’ll probably only need to make two trips.”

I wondered If I hadn't brought as much as the other students. I couldn’t think of anything I was missing. From the second I knew, only a week ago, that I would be attending SRU this year, I had begun packing and checking everything multiple times. When you go to school three hours away from your house you can’t afford to forget things at home. 

We entered Borris Hall and to my surprise there was an elevator directly to the left. 

“What floor are you on?” Sean asked me. 

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“I’m on the fourth floor. Room 457.”

“Awesome! That’s actually really close to this elevator. We made the right choice.” He laughed. 

We reached the fourth floor and I came to a sudden realization that I was about to meet Grace for the first time. 

After getting off the elevator Sean told me I needed to swipe my new ID card to get into the door for the fourth floor, and I did. The light on the sensor blinks green and the door is unlocked. Ha ha fancy, I thought. 

He wasn't kidding when he said my room was close to the elevator. I was only two doors down on the left side of the hallway. Two little signs on the door said “Casey’ and “Grace.” 

“Aww that's so cute!” My mom chirped. 

“Now it’s time to use your key to open the door.” Sean laughed. 

“Oh! Yeah, of course!” I dug around in the drawstring bag and pulled out my key. 

I twisted it in the lock, but the door still wouldn’t open. 

“I can’t seem to get it.” I said with a hint of annoyance at myself. 

“Let me try.” Sean said, 

He was also unsuccessful at getting the key to work in the door, but just then the knob started to wiggle and the door opened from the inside. I was so focused on the lock that I was still looking down when the door opened and the first thing I saw of my new roommate was a pair of black skinny jeans with rips up the legs. I looked up quickly. 

“Hey! I’m Casey!” I blurted out in a rush to make a good first impression. 

Oh my god that sounded so dumb, I thought to myself. 

“Hey, I’m Grace.” She replied. 

She was about my height with just about the same build as me. She had brown hair with blonde highlights tied back into a messy bun. Brown eyes and glasses, just like me. To match the ripped black jeans she had on a Metallica shirt. The only thing that really set us apart from looking similar was our hair and facial features.

I thought to myself: Alright, Metallica! I can work with that. Maybe she won’t be as bad as I thought. 

Grace held the door so Sean could bring the cart into the room. I followed,  and then my parents. 

Grace's parents introduced themselves as Jim and Martie and they all quickly started making small talk about “their babies being SO GROWN UP.” I could tell my mom just LOVED this conversation. As for me, I decided the best bet was to stay quiet and start unpacking. 

Every so often someone would ask me or Grace a question and we would respond politely. We even kinda joined in on the small talk after a while, agreeing on certain things our parents said. 

The first hour went by really quickly and I realized I was just about done with the essential unpacking. 

“I NEED A PICTURE OF YOU ON YOUR NEW BED SO I CAN POST IT ON FACEBOOK LATER!” My mom exclaimed out of nowhere. 

I rolled my eyes at Grace and we both smiled. I complied, as I always did for her. 

We all talked a little more before Grace finally made the stab that we would have to get to the orientation meeting soon. 

Silence fell in Borris 457. This was the part I wasn’t excited for. 

I’m not normally a super emotional person, and neither is my dad, but my mom is a whole different story. 

“Why don’t we walk you guys out and just leave for the meeting afterwards?” I suggested. 

Everyone seemed to think it was a good idea because before I knew it we were all in the elevator again like one big, completely stranger, family. 

Outside of Borris, my mom took more pictures. Then we all decided it was Time. 

“I’m gonna miss you so much honey!” My mom sobbed as she hugged me. 

I looked to my dad for help. 

“I’m gonna miss you too, Casey Case.” He said while giving me a half hug around my mom. 

“It’s going to be okay guys, I’m really not that far, and you can call me whenever you want.” This seemed to comfort my mom enough that she could finally pull away from me. 

“You should get going though. You have a long drive ahead of you.” 

“You’re right, Case, we should go.” My dad agreed, but my mom looked sad again. 

Luckily Grace’s dad jumped in and said,

“We’re going to go too, honey. We’ll see you next weekend, alright?”

She must live pretty close, I thought. 

The parents finally both left for their cars and Grace looked at me. 

“Ready to go kick some orientation ass?” She smirked.

I replied, almost naturally, “Hell yeah!” 

 

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