Despite the fact that gathering all of us magic users together seems like a really last minute plan, the facilities are pretty nice. There are three buildings constructed with red brick just for housing, buildings A, B, and C, each with four floors. To the left of the housing is a two story buffet style dining hall that looks like one of those nice wood cabins. Everything from pizza, hamburgers, and other fast food to various Italian, French, and Japanese dishes are served there, and that's not even all the types of food they have. Opposite to the housing is the gym, a simple plain white building. One look inside and we could all tell our gym sessions would be torturous. Directly behind the gym were several buses. We were told we would be see the area for magic training, tomorrow since it's a fifteen minute drive on the bus to get there.
A list of names in alphabetical order posted on the wall, told us which building, floor, and room number we were to live in. I was assigned to the second floor of building C, room ten. From what I had seen on the list, each floor has fourteen rooms, the majority of which have three people assigned to them. Some of the rooms had four people in them. I stepped off the elevator and walked down the hall, dragging my feet as I half looked for my room number and half stared at the hallway walls. They had been elaborately painted with various scenes from old, famous paintings. When I got to my assigned room the door was already open. Peeking in, I saw the room's walls had trees painted on them so that it looked like we were standing under the tallest trees in a forest. Whoever painted this room was clearly a professional, the trees were that realistic. Even the ceiling was painted. It was a dark blue, that would appear black if no lights were on and was speckled with dots of white, like stars. There were three beds, each against a wall with a small dresser and desk next to them. But even with all that furniture, the room was still quite spacious. Standing in the middle of the room was a girl, a suitcase next to her on the floor. I knocked on the door and she turned around. At a glance, I noticed she was roughly my height with waist length raven black hair, light brown eyes and lightly tanned skin. The moment she smiled I knew we'd get along great. She stuck out her hand.
"Hey there roomie. My name's Foster, Jenna Foster." Laughing as I shook her hand, I replied,
"My name's Kelsie Morris. Let me guess, you're a James Bond fan?"
Her smile grew even wider. "You got that reference! Awesome! You're now my favourite person. I get it from my dad and he got it from his dad who got it from his dad who uh, well you get it. Actually it goes back to my five times great grandfather. Clearly a family thing. Hehe."
"Really!? I got stuck with a pair of losers for roommates. Great." a high-pitched voice whined. I turned around to see our other roommate standing in the doorway with a frown on her face. Her hair was blond and straight, but you could tell it was dyed. Her roots were black. Guess she didn't have time to re-dye it before having to leave home. She shouldered past both of us to the bed against the middle wall and set her two bags down on it.
"Please. Pick a bed. It's not like anyone else wanted that one." Jenna said sarcastically.
"Oh I'm sooo sorry. I didn't realize your name is on it." She looked at the bed for a moment then continued, "Oh wait, no it's not. It's my bed now and if you don't like it, get over it."
Jenna turned to me, "Do you want the bed on the right or left? Or did you want the bed she assumes belongs to her?"
"I'll take the bed on the right," I answered.
"See, I win." The girl smiled smugly before walking out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her.
Looking at Jenna quizzically I asked, "Do you really have a problem with her taking the middle bed?"
Jenna smiled apologetically, "My reaction might seem shallow, so let me explain. Her name is Violet and she's from the same sector as myself, sector 7. She's always been snobbish, looking down on others. But that's especially true for me. I've never had what can be called a conversation with her. She either talks at me or down to me like I'm a child or stupid. Yet she'll treat others with some level of respect."
"Just not you."
"Yup. So we've been fighting for quite a while. I even knew her before the malum showed up and her personality has only gotten worse over the last five years. The first year was blissful because she kept quiet. She actually acted like a semi- decent human being. But once everyone started to get used to our new lives she went back to her old evil self. If I were you, I would be careful around her. On the battlefield she'll probably get someone killed from not helping. She doesn't hate you, at least not yet. At some point in the future she'll find an excuse to hate you, it's just the way she is." Jenna smiled again with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Well, one good thing has happened." She held up three keychains, tossed one to me and put the second in her pocket before dropping the third on Violet's bed. "She forgot to get one. Which means she'll be locked out if she comes back while we're gone. Want..."
Before she could continue her sentence there was a knock on the door. I opened the door and saw a group of girls standing there. The girl closest to me spoke up, "Hey, you guys want to come check out the basement with us? My cousin told me the basement is huge, with a game center, theater, and mini fridges."
"You sure that's true?" I asked.
She nodded. "Yep. One of my roommates already went down and confirmed it. So, you guys wanna come with us?" I looked at Jenna.
"Sure why not. I don't really feel like unpacking right now. Plus we've got a couple hours to kill before dinner."
"Okay." I replied. "Let's go."
Stepping off the elevator into the basement we were all surprised. The basement was bigger than the upper floors. One whole corner of the basement had three large screen tvs with different gaming systems hooked up. There were already a group of guys over there checking out the different games. Along the wall were several shelves with games and still more systems. There were two pool tables, three air hockey tables, a couple dart boards, and even some arcade game systems like Pacman. A doorway on the right wall led to the theater area. It was exactly like a real movie theater with popcorn, soda, and slushie machines. In short, it was the greatest thing we had ever seen.
The girl who had invited us down, her name is Carol, suddenly groaned. Looking in the direction she was facing I saw someone I recognized- Violet.
"Do you know Violet?" I asked.
"Unfortunately. I met her when we were nine and I had just moved into her neighborhood. She dyed her hair even then and she was evil too. Though she had a way of getting into trouble and always blamed it on someone else. In the end she always came out like an angel and the rest of us devils. My family moved from that neighborhood three years later. I was hoping I'd never have to see her again. If she's smart she'll stay away from me." She paused, "How do you know her?"
"She's our other roommate. Lucky us," I replied.
She laughed. "Come on. I want to play the arcade racing games. I bet I win every time."
"You're on," I replied grinning.
Half an hour later we were all laughing as Carol got hit with a green turtle shell again. She was racing against one of her roommates, a boy who said his name was Dillon, Jenna, and one other girl who's name I didn't catch. I'd already played three matches and got third place in all three. Carol kept ending up in eighth place or lower because she would always get hit by something, bananas, turtle shells, and fake item blocks. It was hilarious.
"I thought you said you'd win every time," I teased. Smiling widely she replied, "I totally exaggerated my skill with Mario Kart. To be honest, I haven't played this since I was ten. Though I remember it being easier to win." Right after she said that Dillon crossed the finish line winning the race. Before I could tell her we weren't playing the easiest mode of Mario Kart the intercom crackled.
"Attention. You are all to head to the dining hall immediately. The food has been set up for you. Just remember you have to finish before seven. That's all."
We separated when we got to the dining hall as the food we all wanted were in different areas. Once we got our food and drinks we met up at a table on the second floor. Holding up her cup, Carol said, "A toast, to new friends," noticing Violent watching us from the line she was in, she added, "And old enemies."
We laughed as Violet turned away scowling. This would be fun.