"JOSEPHS?" The receptionist asks as she looks down on a clipboard.
The duo indicates and the tiny lady smiles, "Okay, I'll be assigning different student tour guides to both of you since your dorms are different..." She trails off. She shrugs apologetically, "We tried all we could do!"
Olaedo musters the fakest smile in her pocket and flashes it at the receptionist, "No, it's fine..."
Zoba frowns and looks at her sister, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, besides, it's not like we have a choice."
Zoba pouts as she leans further into the chair. They are both seated in the mini-lodge beside the reception. It took a while before two female students in uniform walk into the reception.
"Josephs, your tour guides are here! They'll help you get settled in, your bags are already moved to your respective rooms. Here, these are your dorm cards," she hands them both bright blue card-like key chain that has two numbers on it, "Get settled in and have a nice day!"
The twins walk up to the two students. One with a giddy smile, while the other... Not so much.
"What number is on your card?" A voice brings Olaedo out of nothingness.
"Um," She looks down at her card, "There are two numbers here..."
"Wait, let me see." The girl collects the card and while she examines it, Olaedo examines her.
The girl is clearly a student of PPA. What looks like their daywear/checks is a plain knee-length dark blue gown. On her left breast rests a badge that had the school's logo.
She is quite short. A little less than 5' with thick legs and a cute black sandal occupying her feet. What was more unique about her appearance was her hair. Her hair looked soft and it stopped at her shoulder.
"Oh!" The girl hums to herself.
Olaedo looks around for her sister and smiles when she sees her and her tour guide giggling and walking in the opposite direction. Probably feeling the intensity of her gaze, Zoba turns abruptly and waves sheepishly. Olaedo returns the gesture and Zoba smiles broadly before bounding away with her tour guide.
"Come on! You're actually in my dorm!"
'Oh, Joy! I'm so elated!' With a straight face, Olaedo nods and follows the girl behind as she clutches the strap of her bag.
"We just came out of the Administrative Unit," the girl looks back as she speaks.
'I knew that, Einstein.' Olaedo just nods with a serious face.
"Oh! Before I forget, my name is Chioma!" The girl—Or Chioma—slows her pace to match Olaedo's.
"My friends never call me Chioma, though." Chioma squints her eyes as loud giggles escape her. "They call me Oma. You can call me Oma, too."
"Okay, Oma."
"But, what's your name?"
"Olaedo." The blunt answer falls out of Olaedo's mouth.
Oma nods as they both walk up to another gate where she flashes the security guard a card, her ID card, probably. When the security guard nods in apprehension, Oma walks in first before Olaedo follows.
"This is Dorm 1 to 55." Oma points to the rows of buildings that stood tall in a midst of a ridiculously wide field. Rows of trimmed flowers are arranged on the ground floor of each building.
"Are these the only dorms in the school?" Olaedo queries as her eyes scrutinize each building.
Oma scoffs, "Of course not! This is PPA, Olaedo. There is a total of 143 dorms," she points to the gate, "The other gate we saw opposite the Administrative Unit houses Dorm 56 to 142."
"What about the last dorm?"
"It's on the other side of the school. Come, let's go. Your room is on the 5th floor,"
As they walk to Olaedo's dorm, Olaedo notices as Oma relates with every student they encountered on the way; passing high-fives, stopping for a 7-seconds quick chat, and making promises for a long gossip session.
A wave of insecurity washes over Olaedo. Her social life is non-existent and her communication skills are broken beyond repair.
Most times, she looks and feels awkward especially if she's third-wheeling with Olaedo and her friends.
How would she survive in a boarding school?
Olaedo shakes her head as if doing so would dismiss her disturbing, yet realistic, thoughts.
The duo stop at a building that has '54' written boldly at the top. Olaedo sighs when Oma reveals that this is her dorm. The stares and whispers were making Olaedo feel uncomfortable.
"Like I said, 5th floor." Oma states as they begin to climb the stairs to the fifth floor.
Finally, they get to the fifth floor after Olaedo had to wait for some minutes till Oma finishes her greet fest.
"Room..." Oma stretches the word as she points to each door searching for the correct door. "105!"
Olaedo sighs in relief. She likes Oma generally as a human but if she stays another second in Oma's presence, she'll develop a migraine.
"This is your room. Since it's like two o'clock, your roommates should be in," Oma smiles at the twin, "Oh, and your bags should be in by now!"
"Thank you, Oma." Olaedo smiles politely.
"Yeah, it's fine! My room number is 93. It's on the 4th floor but you'll find me on this floor a lot," Oma frowns, "My roomies are so boring!"
Olaedo shuffles on her feet as she tightens her grip on her strap. 'Why isn't she leaving?'
"I'll be going now! If you need anything, come to my room! I should let you get settled in now." Oma turns back to leave. She looks back abruptly, "Oh! I forgot! I'm going to pick you up tomorrow morning by 8 am to give you a tour around the school. Bye!"
Olaedo emits a longer smile and knocks on the door.
Shuffling can be heard from the other side. It takes some seconds before the door flies open and a tall girl on a bum-short and a sports bra comes into view.
'Oh, boy.'