1 A New Beginning

This was it. 

This was the beginning of her new life.

Standing before the grand marble structure that was Henderickson Prep's administrative building, Keisha still couldn't believe she was here.

She had really made it into one of the best colleges in the country. Every perfect grade, every exhausting extra-curricular and every practice essay culminated into this one moment. 

It was nerve-wracking.

Clenching her fists, she tried to calm herself. There was no need to be afraid – at least not anymore. 

This wasn't her high school, that phase was over. No more bullies, no more apathetic teachers, no more fake friends. She could finally choose who she wanted to be and rewrite the course of her life. 

From now on, she wasn't going to be shy and timid anymore; she was going to be brave and put herself out there. She was going to make tons of new friends and she was going to have a fantastic college experience.

That was a promise, and nothing could stop her from keeping it.

"Good bye old me. Hello, new and improved Keisha."

Mustering courage, she made her way up the brief flight of stairs, joining scores of other new students with hopes and dreams as vibrant as their laughter and energy.

Thirty minutes and one rude secretary later, Keisha had received her dorm keys and a schedule. She'd had to wait in line along with several other students in order to get her keys and dorm room number from the staff.

Slightly irritated, the freshman tried not to let the situation ruin her mood.

Glancing down at her schedule, she scanned through for any information on her room. She smirked in victory as she found her dorm name and room number; Lightway Hall, Room 17A.

Now all she needed to do was find the dorms.

Tucking the schedule away in her bag, she silently made her way out of the building. Joining the hordes of students scampering outside, she walked briskly with no real directions as she tried to avoid bumping into people.

Deciding she needed help, Keisha glanced around the busy campus in hopes of finding a staff member or teacher she could ask for directions.

Noticing a man carrying a tall stack of papers, she decided to approach him. He seemed quite young, maybe in his late twenties, but his attire gave him away as a staff.

No student would wear a button-up and dress shoes on the first day.

Coming closer, Keisha noticed that the man struggled to carry the papers as the stack was threatening to fall over. Concerned, she quickly made her way to him.

"Excuse me, Sir," she called out, causing the man to turn abruptly in her direction. As a result, some of the papers fell to the ground and the man cursed under his breath. 

Picking up the papers littered on the ground, Keisha smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that, Sir. I was going to ask if you needed some help."

Putting the papers down, he glanced at her curiously. "You're not trying to switch out your grade sheets, are you? I'm tired of you students steali-"

"No, Sir," she shook her head before he could finish. "I'm new here so I doubt I have a grade sheet yet. You just seemed to be in need of some assistance."

Now that she was standing near; Keisha took the opportunity to take in his appearance. He was tall and well built, his shirt doing little to hide his physique. With dirty blonde hair that was neatly styled in a quiff and dark brown eyes, the man was incredibly handsome and Keisha wondered if he was a teacher or an administrator.

"Actually, I am," he pointed to the stack of papers. "You sure you don't mind? I'm taking these to my office and it's quite a walk."

Keisha smiled brightly and made her way to the stack, carefully dividing it in half. Lifting up one half, she nodded eagerly. "Walking is my favourite hobby. That is after eating spicy food, of course."

This earned a chuckle from the man, and he picked up the other half. "Alright then. To my office."

Walking quickly, it took them a few minutes to arrive at a large duplex with very few students around it. Figuring it must be a staff building, Keisha followed the man in as she glanced around curiously.

The interior of the building was as grand as the outside, with expensive oak furniture and marble floors. The ceiling was very high and extravagant chandeliers hung from it.

Henderickson truly was beautiful, and Keisha was left in awe of it.

Making their way up a flight of stairs, the pair walked briskly down an empty corridor before arriving at a set of double doors. The man pulled out a key to unlock them and Keisha used the opportunity to read the label on the door; 'Dean of Student Affairs'.

Perplexed, she followed the man into the lavishly decorated office and placed the papers on his desk. Was this man the Dean's assistant?

"Thank you very much, young lady," the man said kindly, leaning casually across the desk. "I don't know how I would've managed without you."

Keisha bowed her head in acknowledgement, wondering why he was leaning on his boss' desk. Wasn't that deemed inappropriate, especially in front of a student? Her eyes flitted to the name tag on the oak desk and it read, 'Dean S. Bowers'. This Mr. Bowers must be a very easy-going person for his assistant to be so care-free, she thought.

"No problem, Sir. It was my pleasure."

"You can call me Mr. Samuel. I never got your name, young lady. Or should I say Miss?"

"It's Keisha. Just Keisha."

"Well, Just Keisha," Mr. Samuel drawled, "it was nice meeting you."

Alarmed, Keisha quickly corrected him. "No, my name isn't Just Keisha. It's Keisha Brown. I was trying to say you could call me Keisha without the Miss, not just Keisha. That's not my name. My parents aren't that cruel."

The man raised a perplexed brow. "I was joking, Keisha."

"Oh."

Cringing at her slip up, she facepalmed causing Mr. Samuel to chuckle. "It's alright. My jokes have never really caught on with the students anyway. You're free to go."

"Actually, I was wondering if you could help me out with something, Sir."

"Of course. What is it?"

Motioning to her suitcase beside her, she spoke. "I don't know where the dorms are. I was hoping you could point me in the right direction?"

"Sure," he responded brightly. "You helped me so it's only fair I return the favour." Walking up to her, he picked up her suitcase. "Let's go."

Reaching out to stop him, she grabbed the suitcase. "Oh no, Sir. You don't have to carry my things for me. Just tell me where the dormitory is and I'll manage on my own."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded affirmatively, and he let go of the box. "The dorms are on the other side of campus. There's a shuttle service that moves students around the campus, so if you wait at the bus stop outside, you should be fine. The buses arrive every five minutes so if you go now, you should be able to catch one."

"Thank you, Sir," she smiled excitedly. "I'll take my leave now."

The man gave her a nod of acknowledgement and she walked toward the door. As she was about to leave, a man came rushing frantically through the door, nearly knocking her over in the process.

Startled, she huffed in disapproval before stepping outside. She heard the man yell something at Mr. Samuel and shortly after, both men dashed past her and down the hall.

What odd behaviour, she mused. Perhaps there was an emergency?

Not wishing to be caught in any unnecessary drama, she rushed to the bus stop nearby. Soon she was aboard a bus, headed in the direction of her new residence for the next four years.

-

"Finally," Keisha muttered as she crashed onto her bed.

After two hours, she was finally done unpacking. Though her room was small, it was decorated with cream walls and wooden floors. Two single beds were lined on either side of the room, creating the illusion of space in the centre. Luckily, the room came with an adjoined walk-in closet and bathroom, so most of Keisha's things were neatly tucked away.

Sitting up in the bed, Keisha wondered when her roommate would return. She had seen her things in the closet already and her bedspace was decorated with posters of K-pop groups, so she had definitely been here already.

Hoping her new roomie would be nice, Keisha decided to kill boredom by playing a game on her phone. It was a tile matching game she'd been playing for months and she currently ranked second in the country. She'd been trying to rank first for weeks, but she just couldn't etch out the top player.

Lost in her game, she didn't realize when someone stepped into the room.

"So, you're the new one?"

Startled, Keisha dropped her phone. Looking up, she was greeted by the face of a strikingly pretty girl. She was quite tall, with a slender figure. She sported a short black bob with bangs that framed her oval face. Clad in an all-black outfit beneath a leather jacket, her dark eyes underneath layers of eyeliner gazed piercingly at Keisha.

She seemed to be an emo girl.

Nodding, Keisha reached over to pick up her phone but the girl beat her to it. Glancing at her screen, she raised a curious brow.

"You play Handy Krush?"

Again, Keisha nodded.

"Do you speak?"

"When I have something to say."

The girl chuckled and handed the phone back to its owner. "I like you already new girl. The name's Steph."

"I'm Keisha"

Taking a seat on her bed, Steph motioned toward Keisha's phone. "What level are you on?"

"Level 7,813," she responded with pride, causing Steph to nod in approval. "I'm ranked second in the country."

"Not bad, Keish. I can call you that right?"- Keisha nodded before she continued – "I'm impressed. I'm currently ranked number one."

Keisha nearly did a spit take. "Wait, you're CrazyHorse1?"

"Yup," the other girl replied, popping the 'p'. "And since you're number two, you must be Keeshaa03."

"Yes, I am," she replied, stunned at her roommate's revelation. "I can't believe I'm living with my biggest rival. I've been trying to catch up to you for weeks!"

Steph chuckled smugly, shooting her a grin. "I know, and you've done a pretty decent job. But unfortunately, greatness can't be beat."

"Oh, really? We'll see about that." Keisha folded her arms across her chest defiantly, smirking at her new roommate.

Steph walked over to her, extending her hand. "We'll see. But first, let's get to orientation before the counsellors come calling."

"You're a freshman too?"

"No," Steph replied as she pulled Keisha up. "I'm in my third year. The school makes orientation compulsory for all students, old or new."

"I see."

Keisha was a bit disappointed, as she would've loved Steph to be in the same year as she was. On the bright side, Steph was her roommate so they'd definitely be seeing a lot of each other.

Motioning toward the door, Steph smiled at the younger girl. "Come on, Keish. Let's go."