Move-In Day
“Crystal Press?”
“Um, it’s – uh – it’s Christen actually” Christen nervously corrects the girl with beautiful blonde braided hair sitting at the check-in table in front of her. The girl looks down at the check-in sheet again and smiles once she returns her gaze to Christen.
“Sorry about that, Christen. I’m a bit of a night owl so my brain isn’t the greatest in the morning. You’re in room 318, right?” The girl asks as she begins gathering the various informative pamphlets and handouts on the table for Christen to ‘read’ and inevitably throw out later. Christen nods as she accepts the Residence Life goody bag the girl just finished preparing for her.
“Yeah I just finished moving in like half an hour ago” Christen exhales while recalling the exhausting past few hours she’d spent hauling more stuff than she knew she had up several flights of stairs.
“Oooh sounds like you got caught in the second section rush. Well at least you got the hard part over with. Trust me that’s the worst part of Move-In Day” the girl reassures her with an understanding smile. “I’m Becky, I’ll be your Resident Assistant for the year. It’s nice to meet you, Christen” the no-longer-nameless blonde introduces as she offers her hand to Christen. Yeah, she looks like a Becky Christen thinks to herself.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Becky” Christen returns while joining Becky’s hand with her own and shaking it. Becky flashes Christen another friendly smile and nods approvingly.
“Great, well you’re all checked-in and ready to go now. The floor meeting starts in about 15 minutes in the lounge. Just go down the hallway and hang a left and I’ll see you in there in a few minutes” Becky enthusiastically instructs. Christen nods and begins to walk away but then stops and faces Becky again when she remembers a message she was supposed to deliver.
“Oh wait, I almost forgot” Christen blurts out, regaining Becky’s attention. “My roommate, Kelley, told me that she isn’t going to get here until later tonight so she won’t make the meeting.” Well, more like Kelley texted Christen telling her she most definitely would not be able to attend the meeting. Christen has never technically spoken to Kelley before. They both opted for a random roommate so their only communication before today was through a handful of texts and a few friend requests so they could stalk each other on social media. Other than that, Christen doesn’t really know what to expect from her roommate.
“That’s fine” Becky says as she starts preparing check-in information for the guy with a buzz cut now standing in front of her table. “Just have her come see me when she gets here and I’ll catch her up then.”
“Will do” Christen replies as she turns once again and makes her way through the crowd of people in the hallway and to the lounge.
Once she arrives in the doorway, Christen suddenly feels overwhelmed with the amount of people gathering in the room. Most are slung across the furniture or seated on the floor conversing or joking around with those surrounding them. Christen suddenly feels very isolated. Of course I’m the only one whose roommate isn’t here Christen thinks as she tentatively finds her way to an empty seat in the back of the room. It’s not that Christen doesn’t like people, it’s just that experiencing so many new people all at once can be a bit draining.
As she waits for the meeting to start, Christen scans the area to try to get an idea of the types of personalities she’ll be sharing a floor with this year. In one corner is a herd of muscly guys loudly arguing about some football game from the night before. They are all almost identically dressed in in some variation of ‘Bro Tanks’ and cargo shorts. How anyone finds that the least bit attractive is beyond Christen.
In the center of the room Christen observes a bunch of relaxed-looking individuals. They talk about music and art but their eyes seem to glaze over as they do. Christen suspects ‘herbal supplements’ have something to do with that. Not that she’s by any means surprised, this is college after all.
Then just beyond that group, her eyes land upon two athletically built girls having an animated conversation. One has short brown hair and talks with very lively hand gestures, and the other has wavy, long hazel-colored hair and perfectly tanned skin. Christen’s attention quickly focuses on the second girl as she clutches her stomach, laughing at her shorter friend’s antics. As she laughs, the girl’s eyes crinkle and she flashes the most vibrant smile Christen has ever witnessed. Christen is so intrigued by this girl that she doesn’t even notice Becky enter the room.
“Alright everyone, ready to start the meeting?” Becky booms across the room, jolting Christen from her current trance. Christen’s eyes dart to the front of the lounge, suddenly feeling like she’s been caught staring. A few murmurs escape the crowd but no one seems to be acknowledging Becky’s question. “Ok, I guess I’ll take that nonresponse as a yes!” Becky jokes, trying to break the ice. “So first we’ll go over a few floor rules and expectations and then we’ll get on to the fun stuff.” Christen shifts in here seat, getting ready to hunker down before Becky begins her long, university-required presentation.
After what felt like an eternity of lecturing and awkward get-to-know-your-neighbors activities, Christen makes her way back to her assigned room. As she walks, Christen’s mind wanders back to the meeting. I mean, I get it’s a liability thing, but were all those rules really necessary? We are all adults after all. Not a millisecond later, Christen passes a room full of freshmen guys – or boys rather – blasting Fetty Wap from their subwoofers and shooting each other with nerf darts. Ok, yeah, I get it now, definitely necessary Christen muses as she shakes her head.
Soon Christen arrives in front of a door with ‘318’ sloppily spray-painted on it. Just below are two hastily decorated name cards; one with Christen’s name and one with Kelly’s. Christen takes a second to inspect her name written in pink glitter gel. Probably to help people remember our names when they want to gossip about us in the hallway later. Christen knows it’s a childish thought, but also most likely an accurate one. Gossip and drama only come with the territory when you practically live on top of hundreds of other people.
Finally, Christen uses the key from her lanyard to unlock the door and allow herself into her home for the next 8-or-so months. One half of the room is filled with suitcases and boxes while the other sits empty and untouched. Christen sighs as she thinks about all the works she still has to do to unpack. I think Becky lied, this might be the worst part of Move-in Day…I don’t even know which box has my bedding in it. Great. And I still have to get my books later. Double Great. Christen groans as she begins opening a cardboard box only to find plastic dishes, a tool box, and at least two or three extension cords. Yay college.
About two hours and many command strips later, Christen puts the finishing touches on her side of the room. Even though the space is inhumanely small, really it’s practically a glorified walk-in closet, Christen believes she did a decent job of making the room feel a little bit homey. She hums to herself as she mounts pictures from back home on the white-washed brick wall. Just as she is about to hang a picture of herself and her two sisters, Channing and Tyler, from their family vacation to the Bahamas last year, Christen’s phone buzzes. Christen sets down the picture and grabs her phone from its place on her neatly made bed. She sees she has one new text message from her roommate.
Kelley: Hey roomie! I just made it to the building but since I’m so late I don’t have my key yet. Do you think you could meet me downstairs and let me in?
Christen lets out an exhausted sigh. She’s excited to meet her roommate but this day has completely taken its toll on her energy levels. To be able to sit down for more than five minutes at a time seems like a luxury.
Christen: Sure! I’ll be down in a few. I’ll meet you by the Main Lobby doors.
Kelley: THANK YOU SO MUCH!! You’re already the best roommate ever :)
Christen slips her flip-flops onto her feet and double-checks that she has her keys before she locks the door and leaves the room. As she shuffles down the hallway, she passes the room full of the boys from earlier and sees that they have already pinned up pictures of Sports Illustrated models onto their walls. This is going to be a fun year Christen sarcastically thinks as she hits the button for the elevator. To her surprise, the elevator doors open almost immediately and Christen squeezes herself into the group of students on their way down to the ground floor. In no time the elevator dings and the students occupying the cramped space file out in separate directions.
Christen walks towards the Main Lobby, but as she approaches, the excited feeling in her body gradually turns to nervousness. What if we don’t hit it off and end up not liking each other? What if she’s actually really weird? You know, stalker-y & smells my hair while I’m sleeping, weird. I mean she looked normal in all of her pictures, but most people do, right? Or what if she’s mean? Like, she seems like she’s nice but the second I say the wrong thing she starts making my life a living hell. I can’t live with mean. I’ve heard way too many roommate horror stories, what the hell was I thinking deciding to go random roommate? Ugh, I should’ve researched! I should’ve prepared more! I should’ve –
“Christen?!” a small freckle-faced girl exclaims in front of her. In all of her worrying, Christen had not realized she made it to the Main Lobby in such a short amount of time. She quickly snaps away from her thoughts and offers the girl a polite smile.
“Uh, yeah, and you must be Kelley” Christen sheepishly greets. The girl nods enthusiastically and flashes Christen a wide smile. Before Christen can register what’s happening, Kelley launches herself at Christen and engulfs her in her small, yet surprisingly strong, arms.
“It’s good to finally meet you, roomie!” Kelley squeals as she’s practically bursting at the seams with excitement. Christen can’t help but be amused, she’s never met anyone quite as exuberant as Kelley before.
“It’s nice to meet you too” Christen chuckles as Kelley finally releases her from her vice-like grip. Even though Christen has only known the girl for a minute, she can already feel all of her worries put to rest. Something inside of Christen tells her that she and Kelley are going to get along just fine.
“Sorry for the ambush” Kelley says still smiling just as widely as before, “I’m kind of a hugger.” Christen nods and returns the smile.
“It’s fine, my Nana is the same way” Christen coolly replies. At this Kelley lets out a hearty laugh, drawing the attention of most of the students within earshot of the Main Lobby.
“You’re too funny, Pressy. I’m glad I remind you of your Nana. What a compliment!” Kelley chuckles as she claps a hand on Christen’s shoulder. Pressy? Is that a nickname? I can’t remember the last time I had a nickname. Except that one time in the fourth grade when I sprained my ankle and everyone called me ‘Bigfoot’. Christen internally cringes at that memory. But this time seems different, I kinda like it.
“Well my Nana does drive a ’69 Camaro and has won the SoCal golden knitting needle for the past 5 years running” Christen admits with a shrug. Kelley erupts in laughter again, this time earning a few glares from surrounding students, obviously unamused by Kelley’s boisterous outbursts.
“Then I consider it an honor to be compared to such a woman. Sounds like she’s winning at life” Kelley acknowledges as she calms down from her fit of giggles. Christen laughs in return and nods in agreement. Then Kelley lets out a heavy sigh. “Well, as much as I’d like to stay and gab, I should really start moving my stuff in from the car. They only let you park out front for like 45 minutes.”
“I can help you carry stuff in if you want” Christen offers. Now that she’s met Kelley, Christen wants to spend more time with her to get to know her roommate even better. Also, she doesn’t really like the idea of going back to the room and having to deal with the awkward introductory conversations with people on her floor by herself. Kelley’s warm smile reaches her eyes as she takes a look at Christen.
“Pressy, I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship” Kelley declares as she slings an arm around Christen’s shoulders. As the two venture over to Kelley’s car, Christen can’t stop the triumphant smile that spreads across her face. She just made her first friend at college. Her first friend while living on her own for the first time ever. The first of many firsts upon the horizon of this new chapter of Christen’s life. You can do this…Pressy.