I was hoping to dig into my suitcases and unpack, but what do you say when you’re the new girl? Get the heck off my luggage? So we chatted for a bit, then she finally left and I unpacked, made my bed, threw my purple star bedcover on. I hung my uniform which was a little wrinkly, and tried to ignore my grumbling belly.
Thankfully, Alicia showed me around the dorm and made us spicy ramen noodles with eggs, which was actually quite good. She served it with quinoa, and almond milk. “The food in the common kitchen is fully stocked every week by RAMS,” she told me. “This little old lady comes in every Monday, which is why the cupboards are a little bare right now. She’s coming tomorrow.”
I slurped my tasty noodles – I was starved. “Very cool.”
“Yeah.” She scowled. “It’s all healthy yogi crap. RAMS believes in the whole ‘your body is your temple’ thing.”
“I could eat anything right now,” I told her between eager bites. “All I had today was cereal this morning and a small tin of Pringles.”
“Trust me, this healthy stuff gets old… even the cafeteria food is the same. That’s why we all sneak in junk food.”
Following dinner, we stayed up late binge watchingPretty Little Liars, and I finally went to bed at around midnight. I buried myself under the covers, but was still wide awake. Within five minutes, Alicia was already snoring lightly. Still completely wired, I pulled out my journal and my night light, and settled Pompom by my side, knowing I wasn’t going to get a wink of sleep.
Alicia shook me awake.I wanted to die, and she was as perky as a flight attendant, already showered and dressed. “Time to get up, new girl,” she cheered. “First day of school.”
I wanted to slap her in the face. In my defense, I’d only gotten three hours of sleep, if that. She dragged me out of bed, pulling at my arm. “It’s already eight o’clock… you don’t want to be late on your first day.”
I could barely stand up, still so exhausted.
“Oh my god… you look like hell. How much sleep did you get?”
“Uh… I couldn’t sleep… I was too wired. I wrote in my journal. Three hours… maybe.”
She shook her head, not impressed with me at all. She reminded me of myself when I try to drag Kylie out of bed in the morning. “Emergency session… right now!”
“What?!”
She reached for the pink tackle box on her desk. “Stay right there,” she barked as she rummaged through the contents of her box; powders, small pills, liquid potions; all very colorful. She grabbed a plastic pill bottle filled with pink powder. “And do not go back to bed. I’ll be right back.”
It was all I could do to keep my eyes open as I waited for her, but thankfully she was quick. She came back with a glass of pink juice.
She handed me the small glass. “Drink this.”
I stood frozen, glass in hand. “I’m not usually one to consume food or drink if I don’t know what it is.”
“Trust me. It doesn’t taste that bad. Just gulp it down.”
I did. The sweet taste nauseated me a little.
“Now lay back on the bed and close your eyes,” she ordered and I did, struggling not to fall asleep again.
She brushed the hair off my forehead, and pressed her fingers at my temples “Just breathe.” Her touch was nice as she hovered her hands over my body, pressing at certain points. My senses became aware. I felt the energy she was giving me; small jolts of electricity. I felt my body coming alive under her touch.
“Done,” she said quietly.
I opened my eyes and felt completely awake, fully energized. “Holy crap balls! You’re better than coffee!”
She smiled wide. “I know,” she smirked. “That was a first time freebie but just so you know, I charge twenty dollars a pop for that.”
“Oh… really?!!”
She spun and waved her hand around. “Well, how else do you think I can afford all this stuff?”
I smiled up at her, glad to be stuck with her for the year.
She pulled me from the bed. “Now let’s get that god awful uniform on.”
I felt so funny in my uniform, like an extra in a movie or something, like I didn’t quite belong. But I liked that it was brand new, like a blank page, a story waiting to be told. I wore my hair in a simple ponytail, and just a dab of makeup. Alicia wore her hair up in buns at either side of her head, princess Leia style. I noticed for the first time that she had a series of hoop rings on her left ear, six of them.
