First Day

When Remy woke up, he was jittery. Kind of like when you haven't slept but you've just had an energy drink. Only this energy drink is a concoction of his mind's nervousness and anxiety.

It's the first day of college.

It's just like high school, Remy reminds himself. Except you pay to be here.

Remy begins to wonder why exactly he paid to go to school as he gets dressed, his mind pacing frantically as he triple checks that he has access to his schedule on his phone. For whatever reason, he keeps doubting that he actually took a screenshot of it and has to keep checking so that he can tell himself that yes, for the hundredth time, he does have his schedule.

But then he starts to worry about if his phone runs out of battery. It's already at 50% because he was on it all night as he tried to make himself tired. But it's too late now. He brushes his teeth, combs his hair, and pulls his shoes on, then heads out the door, careful not to wake Allen, who enrolled early and got to schedule his classes in the afternoon.

He rushes off to his first class, which he has already practiced going to several times. He's there ten minutes early, and there are only two other kids there, laughing together at something on their phone. Remy takes a seat in the back and scrolls through his phone as he waits for class to begin.

The first part of the day goes by, Remy walking quickly to each class as soon as the previous one lets out. As he heads to lunch, he decides that the classes aren't going to be too bad, but that's just based on first day experiences, and those aren't the best models for what the rest of the semester is going to be like.

Making his way into the cafeteria, Remy gets his lunch then goes to look for a seat. It's pretty crowded, and he has to sit next to a few kids, which always feels so awkward. He could introduce himself, but instead he just takes out his phone and keeps his head down as he eats.

The rest of the day goes on like the first half until his second to last class. Remy goes into his history class, and when class starts, the teacher has them do a little activity so they can learn each other's names. She says that the class will involve a lot of team projects -- which Remy hates the thought of -- so it would be best if they all knew everyone's names.

Every student has to give themselves an alliterative adjective that pairs with their name and personality. Then they go around the room and each person has to say all the names of the students who went before them. Unfortunately, Remy picked a seat in the back corner and would be going last, meaning he would have to repeat everyone's names and adjectives.

The first kid just has to say his own name. He goes with "Deranged Dallon," which makes the class laugh. Remy zones out as each kid takes their turn, until he hears:

"Lazy Landon."

He snaps out of his daze and looks at the kid who said it.

And it's not him. It wasn't that Landon.

It eventually gets to him and he struggles through all the names, with the teacher and students having to give him practically every answer. He ends the tedious game with the alliteration he thought of for his name:

"Relaxed Remy."

It's not the coolest thing he could've come up with, but it felt right, and also, he didn't care about this game at all.

The rest of the class went on like normal until the end, when one of the students stood up and made an announcement.

"Hey," he waved at us. "I'm Emmitt, as in 'Energetic Emmitt!' Woo hoo." He says to us in mock enthusiasm. "I just wanted to say that I have put together a club. Everyone's welcome to join. It's just a little social group. It's called the Acceptance Society. I know that name sounds kind of intense, but it's really just a group where all people can feel free and safe to hang out, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation. I wanted to create a space where people could feel welcome, since it kind of feels like most clubs are about exclusion and exclusiveness. What we'll be doing in this group is talking about tolerance and acceptance of all people, which also sounds kind of intense, but the main thing that happens in the club is socializing. We reserve most of the time for our members to just get to know each other. College is a big, scary place and most people haven't made many friends yet. But the main goal of the club is for you to meet new people that won't judge you for who you are. Alright. That's about it. We meet Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 4, so if you want to join, just come to one of those. If it's not your thing, you don't have to come back." The bell rings, and he ends with "Thanks for listening."