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All I’d really done was stumbled across some Black Metal on YouTube. Though Dad acted like I’d already turned to the dark side, and he needed to remind me of who I was. Or, at least, who he expected me to be.
What would he do if he found out I was even talking to the son of Judas Graves? Let alone all the truly filthy thoughts swirling around in my head. It would hurt like being stabbed but I had to stay away from him. To treat like the enemy daddy always insisted that he was.
In the distance I heard my phone dinging. It was the campus alert system sending me a new message. Hauling myself to a standing position, I lolloped back into the bedroom and checked the message.COVID-19 UPDATE!Until further notice new dorm regulations will be in place. Students currently in cluster housing are to be dispersed into dorm housing with a maximum of two students allowed in any given unit at any time. Actions are being taken so that coursework can be done online.Well, this sucked. I had barely started school and now everything was changing, right before my eyes.Chapter Six - AugustusYou never know what you have until you lose it. I’d been appreciative of Amelia’s help in unpacking but never really knew how much of a help she had been until I had to do it again, all by myself. Less than three weeks after doing it the first time.
I always knew it might happen. That something would transpire and I would get expelled. Though, thankfully, that wasn’t what was going on. I was just being moved and, frankly, I wasn’t sad to go. I had no idea what was awaiting me at my new place but at least there would be someone else there. Cold as it might sound, anyone would probably be better than the six jackasses I’d been sharing with.
Keira was the only reasonable one. It could have just been my mighty male bravado, but I was fairly certain she was sweet on me. Wouldn’t have been the first time. Though it would have been the first time a girl who was already attached had set her eye my way. Nothing could happen. Despite the rumors, things were made quite clear by several of the Seven Tenets and another person’s partner was strictly off limits unless agreed on by all parties well in advance.
Getting the flag down was the easy part. Gravity helping as much as anything. The difficult thing was stacking and moving the records which weighed a bloody ton. One of the solid downsides to vinyls. Yet, I persisted, getting my three boxes and a backpack by the door in good time. Incurring only a one-Advil backache. A new record I was pretty sure.
Everything set just so, precision being near the top of my list of priorities, I stepped out into the gathering clouds, Autumn finally deciding to show itself, and turned in the direction of the housing office.
Happiness really is mostly a state of mind. Though there are some places, so soul-crushingly depressing, it is like they were designed to kill any happiness that might potentially take root. Airports are one. As well as most DMV offices. Highway Motels also have a history of this. Though the one place I would never expect to find such ardently dedicated killjoys was among the university employees in charge of giving out keys.
There was more to it than that, I was sure. They certainly seemed to be typing enough to give the illusion of working, but then again so did most bank employees. It must be a trick they learn during training.
Taking my place in line with the miserable wraiths, I turned up “Square Hammer” on my first-generation iPod and did my best to stay complacent. No one has control over their circumstances. The mark of maturity is how one faces them.
The process was surprisingly easy once I actually got to the desk. Merely a matter of giving my name and trading my keys from the ones for the cluster house to the ones needed for my new apartment dwelling.
All the boneheads from the cluster were at some kind of sporting event. Leaving me the lovely task of carrying the load across campus to the fancy-pants apartment units overlooking the bay. It only took three trips, the backpack on my back for the third. At least the room was on the first floor. A small mercy for which I was still grateful. We didn’t really believe in ‘blessings’ in the usual sense but good fortune was still something to be noted. No matter what its source.
The smells filled my nostrils as soon as I was through the door. No one seemed to be home. I wondered if I should have knocked first. The officials had put out notices to everyone but it was still nice to give some warning. It was technically my place too, but I didn’t want to be walking in on anyone. Personal space and security are really important.
