“Yeah. Seems like there are more than the last two years, so it’s really gonna be popping this year.”
Sienna’s cell phone rings, and she answers it on the first ring. “Hi, baby.”
I hate hearing only one side of a conversation, so I look around the room at my fellow students. This is really different from home. I thought I went to a pretty multicultural school at home. At Longfellow High, we’ve got Black, white, Latino, and a few Asians sprinkled in. But here there are people who really look like they come from other countries. Hotties from all over the world. Nice!
It’s finally my turn in line. There’s a bubbly girl sitting at the table, cheesing up at me. I can’t help but smile back.
“Hi! I’m Felicity Barrow. Welcome to Columbia University.”
“Hi. I’m Gia Stokes.”
Felicity scans her page and smiles. “Guess what, Gia?”
“Umm, I don’t know. What?”
“I’m your RA.”
She says this with such excitement that I’m thinking RA stands for “really awesome”!
I ask, “And RA is short for…?”
“Resident adviser. It means I’m your fun ambassador for the summer, and I’ll help you with any issues you might have.”
“So you’re like a camp counselor?”
Sienna whispers, “More like warden.”
Felicity giggles. “I guess it is something like a camp counselor! We’re going to have a great time.”
She gives me a huge stack of papers and tells me I’m in dormitory A. It’s a coed dorm! How cool is that? My mom will most probably have a coronary if she finds out about this, so we’re just not going to tell her.
“Now, you go stand in the line at the rear to take your ID photo,” Felicity explains. “When you’re done with that, you’ll receive your key card for your dorm.”
I groan on the inside when I glance back at the photo ID line. It’s super long, and I’m tired of dragging this luggage. But I’m not gonna let it get me too twisted, because why? I’m in New York City, baby!
After a really long and exaggerated sigh, I walk over to stand in line. Rashad walks up at the same time. Niiiice. “What dormitory are you in, Princess?” he asks.
“Dormitory A.”
“Me too. I’m looking forward to having pillow fights with you.”
I laugh out loud. “Seriously? Dude, I don’t pillow fight, but I will annihilate you in some Xbox.”
“You play Halo or something?” Rashad asks.
“Uh, no. Do I look like I play shoot-’em-up games? I’m a Rock Band girl.”
Rashad bursts into a flurry of giggles. “Man, you are funny.”
“Thank you.”
It’s funny watching people pose for their ID photos. One girl just tried to give that “I’m a supermodel” tight-eyed glare. Fail. Then, a boy who probably has a 4.0 GPA attempts a hardcore hip-hop-artist nod. Epic fail!
When it’s my turn, I’m feeling the pressure of the photo too. As I sit on the little round stool, I hope I don’t look like a nerdbomb in my picture.
Just as the photographer tells me to get ready, I look up and see Rashad smiling at me extra hard. I totally lose focus and end up not smiling but making what I’m sure is some completely goofy expression. “Can I get a do-over?” I ask the photographer.
“Sorry. It’s one and done. We’ve got a long line.”
Rashad clutches his stomach, doubles over, and laughs.
“Nice pic, Gia.”
I narrow my eyes and drag my suitcase over to the ID table. I wait until Rashad is about to take his picture, then blurt out, “That’s why you look like Simba from The Lion King!”
Rashad opens his mouth in shock just as the flash goes off. Ha! That’s what he gets for rumbling with the princess.
After Rashad picks his picture up from the table, he shows it to me. “Are you satisfied?” he asks. “You’ve got me looking foolish.”
I nod. “Yep, absolutely satisfied. Mine actually turned out cute.”
“Do you really think I look like Simba?”
“No.”
He sighs. “Good.”
“More like Mufasa.”
“Hater.”
“All day, every day.”
We both fall out laughing and head outside, where I meet up with Ricky and Sienna. Rashad goes off with a group of his friends.
“See you later, Princess!”
“Not if I see you first!”
Ricky gives me a blank stare. “Seriously, Gia?”
“What?”
Ricky shakes his head and asks, “What dorm are y’all in?”
“Dormitory A,” Sienna replies.
“Me too! Sweet!”
Sienna says, “I think they pretty much try to group us by age, which is cool because we do not want a lot of freshmen up in our bidness.”
Ricky and I pull out our handy-dandy campus maps from the registration packets. Sienna laughs.
“Put them things away!” she says. “Follow me.”
“The itinerary says there’s a barbeque thing later,” I say. “Is that usually fun?”
Sienna nods. “Yeah, it’s cool. It’s where you get to scope out all the hotties and pick your summer crush. Unless you already have one.”
Why did she look at me when she said that? I haven’t demonstrated anything to Sienna to let her know about Ricky and I, other than a little bit of mean mugging in the van. So what is she talking about?
Okay, am I over thinking this or what? Maybe it was just a simple statement, with no deeper meaning at all.
“So you’re gonna go to your room and change for the barbeque?” Ricky asks.
“Yeah, but you don’t have to wait for me, because I don’t know how long it will take me to get dressed. I’ll meet you there.”
Ricky looks stunned by my response. It doesn’t have anything to do with Rashad, although I know he thinks it does. I want to meet my roommate and take my time getting dressed.
Now, if I happen to run into Rashad on my way over to the barbeque, it’s all good.
What? Don’t give me a blank stare. Ricky is the one who started this “no-crush summer” mess. It’s all his fault.
Sienna drops me off at my suite. “I’m right upstairs in room four-oh-nine-B. You can call from room to room by dialing seven first and then the room number.”
“Get the heck out of here! Like in a hotel?”
She nods. “Yep. They have maids who come in every day to clean the rooms too.”
“Shut up!”
Sienna laughs and leaves me to go to her room. I open the door to my suite with a swanky little key card. Already, I’m adding Columbia to my college list. I could get used to this.
The first thing I notice when I step into my bedroom is a strong coconut scent. It’s