“Uh, yeah. He must have heard the car coming and stepped out. I, um, had a flat tire in front of that place once, and he helped me change it.”
Gio probably doesn’t realize it, but when he lies, he has a tell. He always tugs on one of his ears when he’s not telling the truth, and sure enough, it’s happening now, so I know he’s lying to me. I’m just not sure why. It makes me a little sad, because we’ve gone from telling each other everything to both of us blatantly hiding things from one another. I can’t imagine what the next year apart is going to do to our relationship. He’ll probably replace me with his roommate or someone he meets in his classes, and I will have lost both my best friends.
“Oh, okay.” Chewing on my lip, I look out the window as we leave my hometown. There’s a stretch of forest between us and the outer suburbs of the city. The college is nestled amongst it on the outskirts, which is why it doesn’t take all that long for us to get there. When he pulls into the college entrance, there are cars coming and going and people everywhere.
The scene before me is sensory overload. The first thing I notice is the massive university sign with the school’s logo. The entire structure is made from steel and brick, and they have even placed colorful flowers in front to drive home the welcoming feeling. It’s definitely an attention grabber. The landscape looks like it’s out of a magazine, with perfectly manicured trees and bushes. From what I can see, it’s a decent-sized campus based on the number of buildings. What has caught my attention the most, however, is how many people there are. I see students pushing carts full of their belongings, and representatives from the school greeting families as they arrive. There’s no other way to describe it than organized chaos.
There are more freshmen than I thought there would be, and they are all doing the same thing as Gio and getting settled in.
The car crawls along as families cross the road in front of us, dragging suitcases and carrying boxes. Gio finds a space just as someone vacates it and quickly pulls in.
“That’s my dorm there.” He points to a dark brick building about three hundred feet away. I grimace as I remember all the boxes he has stacked on the backseat, and I’m sure the trunk is full too.
“Oh well, I guess it could be worse. It could be hours away.” I sigh and open the door, climbing out and popping the seat forward so I can grab the first box. Gio does the same on the other side, and shortly after we’re walking the path to his room. People continue to mill about. I see a couple of girls look Gio up and down with appreciation. My brother is going to end up getting so much pussy here. Fuck, I hope his roommate can deal with it. I hope he got someone as outgoing and gregarious as him, and not some studious bookworm who is going to end up pulling his hair out at my brother’s antics.
Someone’s parent holds the door to the dorm open for us, and I smile my thanks as we slip past. The lobby is filled with a seating area for group gatherings. There’s a large screen TV with some people sitting on the sofas in front of it, with a couple more seating areas scattered around.
There’s a front desk with a wall of mailboxes to the side, manned by a preppy-looking dude. He’s wearing a pink polo shirt with the collar popped and a pair of khaki cargos. His hair is neatly combed, and he shoots us a smile worthy of a toothpaste commercial. I struggle to contain my snort as Gio steps up to it. With his ripped jeans, tight shirt, and tousled hair, he’s almost the complete opposite of the guy at the desk. Gio and I set our boxes down, and I groan with relief. I’m not sure what I’m carrying, but it feels like the box is filled with rocks.
“Hi, and welcome to Excelsior Dorm. I’m Greg, and I’m the resident assistant. If you give me your name and dorm number, I’ll be able to point you in the right direction.” I look around the space again, and sure enough, there’s a wall of elevators and nothing else. I’m not sure what kind of people he’s dealt with in the past, but if they needed to be shown which way to go, should they really be in college?
“Hey, man. Gio Russo, and I’m in dorm seven-six-nine.”
Greg’s eyes widen, and he purses his lips. “Oh, on the top floor in one of the executive dorms. Wow, they aren’t usually allocated to first years,” he remarks, and Gio shrugs.
“I guess I have good connections.”
Greg marks off something on a sheet on the desk. “Okay then, you’ll be sharing with two others, and they are both here. Just go to the bank of elevators, hit the seven on the panel, and then swipe this card.” He slides a fancy embossed key card over to Gio on top of a packet of information. “This packet has all the maps and details of your meal plan in case you didn’t bring the original they sent to you. There’s also a pile of pamphlets on the clubs you can join. There’s a student services fair being held in the main open space next to the cafeteria today and tomorrow if you want to sign up for anything.”
I grab the pile of extracurricular activities and scan the pamphlets. “Oh look, Gio, you could join the Glee Club!” I wave it in front of him, and he snorts and pushes it down. I giggle as I comb through the other options. In front of us, Greg huffs. Oops, maybe he’s in the Glee Club.
“Great, thanks,” Gio mutters, grabbing the rest of his things and popping them on top of his box before picking it up. I smile at Greg before following his lead, dumping all the pamphlets on my box of rocks and hurrying after Gio who is already halfway to the elevators.
“Wow, bro, thanks for waiting,” I grumble as I catch up just as the doors open and a family pours out. The father has his arm around a mother who looks like she’s been crying, followed by a boy who looks to be a high school freshman. They are nothing like our family at all.
We step in and the doors slide closed behind us. “Whoa, luckily we’re not that kind of family. It could get messy.”
“What kind of family do you mean?” Gio sounds curious as he places his box on the ground, presses the button for the floor, and swipes his card.
“The overemotional, quick to react family.”
The elevator starts to move as Gio picks up his box again. “Hmm, you might be surprised,” he mutters, and I snort.
“Yeah right, could you imagine Penelope doing that? She might wrinkle her Botox.”
His mouth lifts in a grin as he imagines our stepmother showing any kind of emotion.
I lean my box on the rail and roll my shoulders. “What did you pack in this box?” I grumble, and Gio smirks.
“My hand weights.”
“God, you’re such an ass. You knew exactly what was in here, didn’t you?” The doors open as the elevator comes to a stop. We step out into a lavish foyer, and I forget how heavy my box is. “Holy shit, this is like a fancy hotel or something.”
Unlike the narrow, beige hall I had expected, this foyer is a wide-open space with another comfy seating area overlooking a large picture window. There are only two doors off this space.
I whistle. “It looks like there are only two rooms up here. Talk about fancy shit. How did you score one of these?”
“Dad pulled a few strings. He apparently has an in with the dean.” Gio looks at the numbers next to the two doors and swipes his card through the one on the right. It clicks quietly, and he pushes the handle down and swings it open with his hip while still managing to hold the box in his hand.
