"Wake up!" Someone called out and I snapped awake. I traced my eyes from the rough palms that were shaking my shoulders to the annoyed expression of a girl wearing trainers.
"Oh hey," I said with an apologetic expression on my face, "What time is it?""They told me to wake you up," She replied, as she took off her palms from my shoulders. She swept a part of her brown hair behind her ears. "Come on, what are you waiting for? We've reached and it's already nine-thirty!"I looked out of the window and as she said, the students had already lined up with their suitcases.I was pretty sure that she was keenly staring at me."Right," I said, getting up but forgetting to undo my seatbelt so I fell back onto the seat after losing balance."Gosh you're clumsy," She mused pretty loudly and bent over to undo my seatbelt."Sorry," I tried but her reaction didn't change. I had annoyed someone right before I even set foot in the dormitories."Your shampoo smells nice," I admitted as she straightened. It smelled of lemons and I wanted to have another go, but I realized it would be both weird and rude to ask someone if you could have a whiff of their heads.Her hard, poker face melted to a soft grin. Gosh, she was pretty."Thanks," She said, half chuckling, "I'm Anna by the way." She extended her palms toward me and I took a moment to process what I was witnessing."Is something wrong?" She asked and I snapped back from my thoughts."No!" I replied, "No, nothing's wrong. Sorry, I hadn't expected that I would make friends this early." I took her hands and gave them a firm, yet girly shake. "I'm Linda."She smiled. "I know right? Everyone's new to me here so I thought of keeping on a neutral face.""Ohh."I got up and collected my belongings in the seat pocket – my dead phone and earphones. Nothing much."Your suitcase is outside," Anna said, "It's the black and silver one right?"I was taken aback. "How do you know!?"A tight grin spread across her face and she looked me in the eye."Oh," I said, realizing what she was grinning about, "I couldn't help if I were the last person! I got sleepy.""Come on," She tugged my arms, "They're waiting outside."After lining up, a short man, about as tall as my shoulders orders everyone to listen up. Anna is beside me and I couldn't take my eyes off her. Even in her trainers, she looks gorgeous. She's got a body of a model. Her hairs are brown and end at her neck. Her stomach is flat, and from what I'm guessing, it's toned well. I notice that she's about the same height as me. She catches me gawking at her and tilts her head."What's wrong?" She asks."N-Nothing," I look away and return my attention to the short man who was speaking. Her voice was confident but had a hot and slutty edge to it.Gosh, if I were to be competing for a guy we're both into, the competition is going to be hard!"Everyone please line up near the dorm entrance," The short man directed toward a building peeking out from the trees nearby."Let's go," Anne said and started walking with everyone.I followed her cue and walked beside her. August was supposed to be hot but out here, it felt nice. I didn't feel a tad bit uncomfortable in the sun out here. If anything, I was glad for the sun to be out because the air was chilly and it felt unnatural to be feeling chilly in mid-August.As we neared, I could see the dormitories. Two rectangular buildings adjoined a circular central building, which I guessed was the main building. After climbing the short hill and following the curve of the high embarkment wall for the playing field, the group halted before the circular building and broke into chatter. A short while later, a tall and handsome man wearing a grey suit appears from the main circular building."Hi everyone," He says in his British accent and gets the required attention from the crowd, "Welcome to Birchwood Academy."People mutter amongst themselves but it's mostly the girls shrieking about the guy.He starts with a smile, "I'm Paul Anderson, the dean of the high school." He introduces, "You can leave your suitcases here and grab them after the tour."Anna tapped my shoulders and I remembered that she was still beside me."What?""What do you think of the guy?" She asks.I tilt my head, "What do you mean think of him? He's pretty good looking but obviously, we can't date–""No, no, no, not like that," She snapped, "Do you think he's the nice type? Many Brits I've dealt with before are all merry in the first few weeks, but they only start to show their true colors as time goes on."I studied Mr. Anderson for a minute. "Nope, he isn't that type," I declared, "I think he's gonna be great."And that simple difference was enough to keep us occupied during the tour. We both knew we should pay more attention because later it'd be awkward to ask someone where the cafeteria was, but we found it more interesting to discuss each other's theories on how Mr. Anderson would one day show his true colors. Nevertheless, we managed to register where the basic stuff that we needed to know was and how things worked around here."Well, that finishes our tour," Anderson said after arriving in front of the main building again, "If you have any questions, feel free to pop into my office anytime.""See?" I said to Anna, "He's so nice! He invited us to go into his office anytime we had anything to ask. Another thing I forgot to..."Anna gave me an unamused look, "That's just what they say to appear so," She rolled her eyes, "Whatever.""... All right then, I hope you have a wonderful time here! Please follow my assistant over here to get your room numbers allotted."The short man assumed power after the dean left for the main building."Everyone, follow me," He said, and walked us into the dorm building, "Boys, other building."Giving irritated sighs, the group of boys separated from the crowd and walked towards the other building."I'll be there after finishing up here!" The assistant called out to them and returned his attention to the remaining group of girls. From what I counted, we were only 18 in number. I guessed more would add on as the other batch comes."Anna... Rostenkowski?" The assistant called and Anna beside me gave me a that's-me sort of look and approached the assistant.No freaking way that she's Russian. I thought."I know what you're thinking," Anna said after suddenly materializing beside me. A playful smile was plastered on her face."There's no freaking way," I say, "You don't look Russian at all.""I'm not Russian," Now she chuckled for real, "My parents are. I wasn't born there though"But do you speak the language?""If you're referring to the level of Russian that can buy you a loaf of bread from a baker? Then yes. If you're referring to something above that? I need a translator, please" I looked at her with strange admiration."Linda Santiago?" The assistant called out my name and looked up from the list in his hand."Yes, that's me," I said out loud. I also gave Anna a be-right-back look and walked over to the assistant."Please sign here," He gave me a pen and traced his tiny index finger along the row having my name.After I sign, he nods in satisfaction and hands me an ID card."This is your card. It has all your info like your name, allergies, room number, all those sorts of things," He explained, "Keep this safely with you."I received the card and walk back. A prickling sensation courses through my body as I see the photo printed onto the card. I appear smiling in the photo but as I recall, nothing about me was happy on that day."No way!" Anna exclaimed in front of me, "I didn't know you were a Latino!"This somehow distracts me from whatever I was brooding on."Yeah, I know right?" I tell her weakly, "Neither did I until I was born.""What's your room number?" She asked excitedly, "I hope we end up in the same room."I had never thought about that before. Now that she mentioned it, I wanted it too. I showed her my card.Please let us be in the same room.The smile on her face evaporated into a tight frown."We aren't," She declared. That was probably the most hurtful thing I had ever heard today. Not even the fact that I had seen my dad for the last time before a few months upset me to this extent."I thought it was going to be like a cliché movie scene," I told her, "You know, where the protagonists get whatever they want.""Probably not even in the scene," She muttered."How far are you from my room?" I asked her. I had found new hope. "If we're close enough, then we could hang out more often.""You're in 23 and I'm in..." She took a glance at her card, "... all the way back in 18.""Five rooms," I started, "I don't think it doesn't make much of a difference."The assistant was now done giving everyone their IDs and was going over to the boys' dorm. The crowd of girls began shuffling inside the dorm building."Then I'll see you after you've unloaded everything in your room," Anna said, "My place or yours?""Whoever finishes first has to come to the other person's place."Her pink lips stretched into a soft smile. "A competition?" She said, "I like that."I nodded and we headed towards our rooms.