Legacy Row was now moved to be on the Grounds and no longer an extension or the back street of the school, but another path that showed rows of colorful houses ranging from shotgun to townhomes pushed together. There was no single street buta maze of paved walking pathways that was shaded by a canopy of Spanish moss trees. The lamp posts were posted every other corner or so and as we began walking, you could see students with their luggage by the steps leading up to the door.
“This looks like we’re on another planet!” Isis beamed with excitement. “It’s like a maze of homes!”
“Everyone here is a legacy?” I questioned, noticing first year students not wearing any form of majority white in their uniform which was the mark of a legacy student. “Where do you drive or park your car?”
“You don’t…they are encouraging you to walk,” Souxie said as she looked around. “Everyone will have access to this area unlike the old Legacy Row…this is now on the Grounds where the school can keep an eye on things…After what happened last year…”
“So why not keep us all together like last time? I don’t understand?” I pouted. “I want to stay here.”
“Need to pay attention in class and maybe you will,” Quan said with a dignified tone before adding, “it’s probably a rebrand from the murders. It’s nothing new. Drew Collins is always shifting and changing, you just need to adjust and deal with it.”
Some of the houses were small shotgun style that were close together while others were three story townhomes with the balcony just around the corner. We stopped in the center of it all where you could go either direction but ended up moving out the way when students began rolling their suitcases down the sidewalks.
“Excuse me! Thank youuuuu!” A girl yelled out as she pushed her pile of things down the way.
“If you don’t have housing in Legacy Row, please move aside so students can move in!”
There were others still trying to find their address and when we came to the very end where all the mailboxes were, it had to be three sections of just metal boxes with locks.
“Let’s gooo! Keep it moving!” Someone yelled out with a whistle as a group of shirtless men in maroon shorts and white sneakers were jogging in and out of the way of people. I glanced at my vibrating phone to see a text from my boyfriend asking if I moved into my housing yet. He was expecting all of us to have our own house, and our own room. I made so many damn plans to sneak him in so we could kick it and…now?
We came to stand in front of the two-story light blue town house with the white balcony wrapped around the corner to connect to the dark blue matching home. They shared a balcony and wall. Both homes had identical window placements and wooden steps with the metal railing leading up to a single black door. Maggie was the first to step up with the skeleton key.
“I don’t know…I kinda like this,” Isis said as she looked around in awe. “It kinda looks like the Woodlands a little bit. I hate that we’re so far apart, but we can make it work. We can just come here after class.”
As soon as Maggie stepped inside, it was the size of a hallway that led to the kitchen, and living room. There was a welcome packet titled Legacy Park with Danielle and Maggie’s name on it on the counter and another pair of skeleton keys. There’s a set of stairs at the front door that leads to the two bedrooms. Everything felt so narrow as we all climbed up the steps one behind the other until we were in the small hallway that was split with a bedroom in the back, dark, and hidden and one in the front towards light. There was a single bathroom in the middle and as we cut the lights on to take a peek, I found myselfbecoming irritated. More at myself than anybody else because what the fuck man…This should have been me.
“Both rooms are nice,” Maggie said as we stepped into the one facing the front with the balcony. “They’re both the same size…soooo…. I think I’m going to take the one in the back. It’s a little darker and cozier like a den so Namir can feel comfortable.”
My shoulders dropped as Ayira walked further into the room, looking at the plain bed before moving the blinds to look out the window.
“It’s a lot smaller than I thought it’d be,” I managed to say with a frown. Souxie cut her eyes at me when her phone suddenly went off.
“Here we go,” she muttered with a sigh as she answered the phone. “Yes, Harvey?”
“Harvey?” Isis mouthed before whispering. Souxie nodded with a sly grin. “Souxie is like the queen expert at having men following behind her… They will chase behind her until they go crazy.”
“Bat shit crazy,” Maggie added with a laugh as Ayira’s mouth fell into a smallOh.
“Yeah, where are you?” He asked, voice deep with little to no accent. He actually sounds like a square in comparison to her usual smooth old head type.
“Didn’t I tell you not to speak to me when we got to the school, Harvey? Why are you calling me? We’re done with each other, remember?”
“Yeah…I’m not really hearing any of that. Uh…yeah put it over there! Right there is fine!” He suddenly said to the voice in the background. “Yeah, we’re moving into our unit in Legacy Park. Do you want your stuff moved in or not?”
Souxie’s tongue slipped to the side of her mouth to keep from smiling but her face burned red. Never thought I’d see her submit and cave in.
“We’re at 208,” Souxie said as she walked out. The man was still on speaker phone when he asked,
“You got your things with you now?”
“We can go get them tomorrow…”
“No, we can get them now. We’re going to have breakfast in the morning, and I don’t want to be bothered with moving things.”
“That’s fine, Harvey.”
The front door opened and closed shut as Isis immediately jumped on the bed, almost causing Maggie to fall.
