"Here we are!" My mom squeals as we pull into the campus. It looks just like as great in person as it did in the brochures and online. The buildings are old and elegant at the same time. The size of the campus is intimidating but hopefully after a few weeks, I will feel at home. The orientation is short and I sit alone, my usual forte. A seemingly nice middle ages woman gives me my dorm key and sends me on my way. I already feel more freedom that I have in the last eighteen years.
"I want to see your dorm room before I go honey. I just can't believe you are in college! My only daughter, a college student, living on her own. I just can't believe it." She whines and wipes her eyes, careful to not mess up her makeup. Noah follows us, carrying my bags as we navigate through the corridor.
"It's B22.. we are in the C hall." I tell them. Luckily, I see a large B painted on the wall. "Down here," I instruct and they follow. Good thing I only brought a few clothes, a blanket, and some of my favorite books along so Noah doesn't have too much to carry.
"B22," my mom huffs. She wore way too high of heels for the long walk we just endured. I slide the key into the old wooden door, it creaks open and my mom gasps. The room is small, with two tiny beds and two desks. My eyes travel to the reason my mom gasped. One side of the room is covered in music posters, mostly bands I have never heard of, the faces on them covered in piercings and tattoos. The girl lying across the bed has bright red hair, eyes lined with that looks like inches of black eye liner, and her arms are covered in tattoos.
"Hey," she says and offers a smile. Her smile is quite intriguing, much to my surprise. "I'm Steph," she says and sits up.
"H..hey.. I'm Tessa." I choke. She laughs a little and stands up.
"Welcome to WSU, where the dorms are tiny and the parties are huge."
Her head falls back into a fit of laughter. My mom's mouth hangs wide open and Noah shifts uncomfortably. Steph walks over, closing the gap between us and hugs me. I am taken aback by her affection, but I hug her back. There is a knock at the door as Noah drops my bags onto the floor.
"Come in!" My new roommate yells. The door opens and two boys walk inside. Boys inside the female dorms on the first day? Maybe WSU was a bad decision. My mom looks like she is going to pass out any minute.
"Hey, you Steph's roomie?" The blonde boy asks. He doesn't have as many tattoos as the other boy, but he has them.
"Um…yea. My name is Tessa." I manage to say.
"I'm Niall, you will love it here," he says with a smile. His smile is warm and inviting despite the harsh appearance.
"I'm ready," Steph says and grabs her purse from the bed. My eyes shift to the brown haired boy. His hair is a mop of curls on his head, pushed back off of his forehead and he has metal in his eyebrow and lip. My eyes move down his black t-shirt to his arms which are covered in tattoos as well. I expect him to introduce himself, but he doesn't. He definitely isn't as friendly as his blonde friend.
"See you around Tessa." Niall says and the three of them exit the room.
"You are getting a new dorm!" My mother yells as soon as the door closes.
"No, I can't. It's fine mom, I'm sure she won't be around anyway."
"Absolutely not, we are going to switch now. You will not be in a room with someone who allows guys in her room, those punks at that!" She says.
"Mom… please… let's just see how it goes. Please." I bed and she sighs.
"Fine," she spits, much to my surprise.