I’m back with another installment of my novel! To read Parts 1-3 first, just scroll down. Everything is labeled appropriately.

The next day was an orientation where they explained to us how you signed up for class and showed us around the different buildings. We all got an RA assigned to us and trekked what felt like all over the city. I was hoping for RiRi, but we got someone named Bryan. He was ok, besides the fact that he was made so many jokes you weren’t sure what was true or not. By the end of our tour I was hoping that I knew where the different classes were located and which building I would need to get to, and I planned to print out a campus map that I would keep on me at all times until I got familiar with everything. 

I signed up for four courses, the cores that all freshmen had to take. And then I was just waiting for classes to start. 

There were a couple of parties that I heard about that night, and Jenny came into the room all excited to go out. She made her side even messier, going through all her clothes and makeup to decide what to wear. I turned down her offer to join her. I had already figured out that I was rooming with a partier, but this girl was intense. As opposed to the first day when she was all sweet south which I am assuming was a cover for her father, the day after she was dressing with more heavy makeup and even higher heels. It was interesting to watch the transition, I was just hoping that I didn’t fall into it. I knew that I was going to need to work hard to maintain my GPA and stay on my scholarship. NYU was not known for being easy and I wondered how Jenny was planning on making it through with all the time she was spending on her social life. But classes weren’t starting until tomorrow so I was willing to wait and see on that front.

The following morning I woke up early, and decided to go downstairs and find myself some breakfast. I was so nervous I wasn’t sure I would be able to eat anything. My stomach felt like a writhing snake and I kept running to the bathroom with the need to throw up. Thankfully I didn’t and I bought myself some coffee in the in residence cafeteria, bringing it outside on the picnic benches that littered the yard all over to drink it. 

I had woken up early and I wondered if that was going to be a new thing for me now. I’d always been a late riser, but now that I wasn’t home and didn’t have much doing for me at night I ended up going to sleep early and my fear of the unknown usually woke me to a sun that had barely even risen. 

I wasn’t sure what I was nervous about. It was only school, right? I had done school for the last twelve years, I was going to be fine. I took deep breaths in through my nose and out through my mouth, savoring the coffee and fairly quiet morning for being in the center of the city. 

Finally it was time to head to class. The wait was killing me and as I was sitting outside the space around me slowly filled up with new students milling around waiting to start their first day. My first class of the day was an english class, over in the building around ten minutes walk from my residence hall. I started the journey a half hour before just to make sure that if I got lost I would still be on time. 

I didn’t get lost and ended up waiting in an empty hall for the lecture to begin. It was one of those big rooms where the seats ascend and you feel like you’re looking at a stage. I wondered if all college classes were like this. It felt so… movie-like, sitting there in the center seat I had chosen – not too far and not too close, since I wanted to be inconspicuous. 

There was one other student there besides me who was reading what looked like a thick textbook, waiting for class to begin. I recognized him as Randy, the nerd who loved video games from a couple of days ago. He was probably reading some smart book, and sure enough when he changed position I noticed Advanced Electrical Engineering scrawled across the cover. My mind then turned to the trickle of students making their way in ten minutes before class which turned into a rush two minutes before as everyone tried to find their seats. 

The Professor entered, declared himself as Professor Bowmen and proceeded to teach. I already had my new laptop out at the ready and eagerly took in all he had to say, meticulously writing down everything and barely looking up. The class went quickly, the hour and a half passing by in a blur of fingers moving across a keyboard, and then I had a break until the afternoon when I had to be back for Elementary Statistics. 

I breathed a sigh of relief as I exited the class, happy that it hadn’t gone as hard as I imagined. I didn’t have any homework nor any studying to do which I was sure would take up all my time in future weeks. For now I decided to go back to my room and read over my notes to be ready for a future pop quiz that Professor Bowmen had mentioned loving to give. 

Jenny was still in bed when I made it back, despite it being almost eleven AM. 

She gave a grunt as I opened the door, turning over in her bed to give me a glance through tired eyes. 

“What time is it,” she yawned, trying to sit up but falling back into bed. 

“Eleven oh one,” I replied promptly, swinging my stuff down onto my made bed and sitting heavily in my desk chair. 

She gave me a wide eyed look. “Wow, late. I’m happy I only signed up for afternoon classes. I am not a morning person.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

She struggled up in bed this time making it to a standing position and giving a big stretch. I noticed she slept in nothing but underwear and a thin tank top and looked away politely. 

“Listen, Parker, last night was crazy. You missed a Night Before Classes Start rager. Next time you have to come.”

It was honestly so nice of her to invite me but I wasn’t planning on being a partier. It wasn’t in my nature and I had to work hard. 

But I remembered my promise to Brooke how I would try and found myself nodding to Jenny. “Yeah, next time. I just wanted to be fully awake for the first day of classes, you know?”

She nodded sagely. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a little bit of fun, right?”

She grabbed a towel and toothbrush and made her way outside. “I’m gonna go get ready, wanna grab lunch soon?”

My heart sang a bit at the invite and I tried to look nonchalant. “Sure, I’ll be here.” I had two hours before I even had to think about getting ready for my next class and I was excited at making my first college friend. 

Jenny was a long time getting ready though. She had showered and come back with her towel wrapped around her head and another one skimpily thrown over whatever parts of her body it managed to cover. She stood in front of her closet for a while and then gave a slow turn around the room. 

“Clothes,” she said matter-of-factly. “I think I have too much clothes.”

I gave a laugh. “Is this the first time you’ve thought this?”

“No, but especially now compared to you. I mean you’ve managed to fit an entire semester’s worth of clothes in the small space we’ve been given! What, are you planning on wearing the same jeans every day?”

I looked down at the new pair I had purchased as a gift to myself for the first day of college. They were soft and slightly cropped and went with boots or sandals. I kind of was planning on living in them. I blushed as I looked up but Jenny was already sitting at her desk which had been made into a little vanity table complete with a big mirror and makeup jars. She was smearing eye shadow onto her lid and humming under her breath. 

The silence got heavy and I needed to get out of the room for a moment just to breathe. 

I knew Jenny didn’t mean anything by that comment, but she had already been making me feel insecure by the lack of things I owned. I had never cared about it before, since the only other girl I had ever lived with was Brooke and she sang my praises all the time, always lamenting the fact that she owned too many things. 

But now I was living with a bunch of other people, all in place to see how often I repeated a shirt or wore a pair of jeans. I was sure most people wouldn’t notice, but already my roommate had. I tried to put it out of my mind when I got a tap on the shoulder. I was waiting for the elevators without even noticing and they had opened up before me as I was in my own head. 

“You getting in?,” a boy so tall I had to crane my head up to see his face said, gesturing towards the open doors. I hadn’t really been planning it but now I felt as if I had to, and I lead the way in to the cramped space, five people following behind me. We went down and stopped on the lounge floor and I decided to get out and sit there for a bit, and then head back up to see if Jenny was ready. 

The room was packed when I entered and I made an abrupt about face, heading to the stairwell. I needed to loosen up! Why was I so scared of people?

I returned to my room to find Jenny back in bed, a face full of makeup but wearing nothing else but a bra and underwear. She was casually shaking around something that was making a clacking noise while talking on her phone using earbuds. Her southern twang was more pronounced than ever. I put my new headphones on, trying out the noise cancellation for the first time. I couldn’t hear her conversation at all, and I carefully put my bag I had tossed onto my bed on my desk and lay back down, closing my eyes and listening to some music. 

I felt a flick on my arm and turned to see Jenny’s face peering into mine. 

“Ok good, you’re not sleeping. Which dress is cuter, this red one, or the white denim?”

I scrutinised both of the dresses I was presented with and decided on the white. 

“Hmmm, I was thinking that one as well, but is it hot outside? Denim is kind of hot, I feel like that’s more a night thing. The red one is cooler, I’m gonna go with that one.” she pulled it on and straightened out the hem at the bottom, that only skimmed the top of her thighs. 

I felt awkward for her but assumed that she realized one fierce breeze and everyone would see her white cheekies. 

She pulled on yet another pair of high sandals she owned and pulled her hair out of the towel, tousling it up and putting in some form of product. I looked down at my very casual pale green t-shirt paired with the jeans that had been bought for this special day and couldn’t help feeling underdressed for a lunch date that I hadn’t even known I was having. 

But I wasn’t planning on changing and we left the room, the tall, marvelously dressed southern star, and me, the petite girl from Brooklyn. 

I made it to my next class with minutes to spare. Jenny had brought me what felt like all over the city. She was southern, through and through, and thought that everyone she spoke to actually had her best interests at heart. I had to pull her away from so many people who ‘only wanted her picture’ or just ‘asked to borrow her phone’ but I worried they were really planning on either getting her number or stealing the phone. Better safe than sorry . 

We finally sat down to eat after Jenny finished marveling at how tall all the buildings were and got about fifty different people’s contact information and by that time I had fifteen minutes to shovel a cheap sandwich into my mouth and run out the door, glad I had the foresight to bring my laptop with me. 

Jenny struggled behind me, but I was not planning on letting her make me late and we both made it to class trying not to pant. 

It was another room designed like a stage and we were forced to choose between a front row seat or something so far back I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to hear anything. Jenny gestured for me to sit and she would follow and I reluctantly settled in the first row, Jenny taking a seat beside me. 

Professor Ping, as she introduced herself, made her way into the room not one minute later and proceeded to teach. 

This was math, harder math than any I had done before. It wasn’t beyond my understanding but I knew I would have to review everyday to keep up and I listened for any questions that fellow students asked. Jenny sat through the whole lecture with her legs crossed seductively, a strand of hair being continuously twirled around her pointer finger. She had a notebook in front of her but she was doodling more than note taking. I saw some words relevant to the class scrawled across the top of her page but then it was all little hearts and squiggles. I paid her only the scantest amount of attention though since it really took every ounce of brain power I had to follow this lecture. When it was over we walked out together and then I asked her. 

“Are you, like, super smart?” I didn’t mean it to come out rude but the remark had a cutting edge to it. She turned to me and raised her eyebrow. 

“Um, why?”

I backpedaled quickly, trying not to sound super obnoxious. 

“It’s just that you took no notes and it seemed as if you were barely paying any attention…” I trailed off, realizing too late that it was none of my business. 

Jenny shrugged, and opened her mouth to say something. 

“Hey Jen!,” a big guy who could have been a football player came up behind her, discreetly touching her backside. “How’ve you been?”

She spun to look at him, playfully slapping his hand away. “Ha, you mean since yesterday? I’m great, how y’all been?” I stood there awkwardly not sure if I was waiting for her or not. 

“Oh, just going to classes. I didn’t know you were in this one.”

“Well maybe next time you could walk me to class.”

It was such an obvious flirting that my head hurt to listen to it. I walked away from them and I’m pretty sure neither of them noticed.