------------------------Bear Family Chat Group------------------------
Renata : You are not going to believe me, mom (/+o=o)/~┻━┻
Mom : ?
Renata : I cried earlier, ON My First Day. (TT﹏TT)
Pop : What happened?
Renata : I met a boy, he's like somebody here, like a president or something. He was so rude..... he had his head stuck up his ass.
Mom : Oh, don't be sad, silly bear.
Renata : I'm not sad, Mom. I was furious!!!! He commented that I was not wearing what was suitable for my age; he thought I was 10 yo. He said I shouldn't wear boots; my skirt was too short, and I shouldn't wear a sleeveless top.
Pop : YOU WEAR TANKTOP?????
Renata : No, Dad
Renata : I mean, I did wear a tank top, but I wore a denim jacket over it. I was sweating and sticky, so I took it off. But that's not the point.
Pop : We need to TALK, young lady!!!!
------------------------ INCOMING CALL : POP ------------------------
After half an hour of talking and lots of 'Yes, Daddy..... I'm not going to do it again.....', her ears almost fell off; her soul could leave her body anytime soon. Luckily, she had just finished arranging her things before her father called her, so now she could take a shower and sleep. She turned her gaze to the bed across from hers. Her roommate's bed was neatly arranged. The girl didn't have much stuff to begin with, not even a photo frame. Everything was so simple and monochromatic; no decoration whatsoever. Maybe her roommate was a dull person and kept only essential things.
Renata let herself sit on an extra thick, round, peachy sheepskin rug, looking outside the window. It was dark and windy; nothing much she could see by sitting on a marshmallow made from clouds aside from the deep dark blue of the night sky. The events of her unpleasant day weighed her body down. She knew she had to shower at some point, but she hesitated to move even a muscle. Her mind flew to her first day at her previous all-girl boarding school. It wasn't a bad start, but it ended so badly. She was glad she didn't have to stay a minute longer in there; she shuddered at the thought.
Renata was startled by the suddenly opened door; a Chinese girl was standing at the door, equally frozen. "Oh, I'm sorry. I must have stunned you." The girl smiled at Renata and walked in, closing the door behind her.
"Hello, my name is Emily Franko; you can call me Millie. I will be your roommate for the next 3 years. " Her eyes were lost when she grinned. Millie put a long black case next to her and joined Renata, sitting crossed-legged on the rug. The girl has a round face just like her; she had her shoulder-length hair dyed in light brown color. Millie was probably taller than her by an inch or so.
"I'm Renata. Wait... your last name is Franko? Aren't you Chinese? " She could mishear it, but she heard a little accent of Russian and Chinese.
"Hahahha, yes I'm Chinese. Gosh, this rug was so comfy. " Millie was adjusting her ass while caressing the rug under her. "Anyway, when I was little, my mom married a Ukrainian guy, and we took his last name. I have a half little brother though, he should be in the same class as you. His name is Illya. "
"Wow..... it must be exhausting back and forth US - Ukraine just for school. How did you manage to live so far from your parents?"
Millie waved her hands, "Oh no no..... My father died a few years ago, so my mom brought us to live here, in Boston to be exact. Are you from China too?"
Renata shook her head, "Both my parents were from Hong Kong before moving to the US gazillions years ago. But I was born and raised in the US, in Philadelphia."
"A~h.... can you speak Mandarin too?" Millie's eyes shone with anticipation.
"A little, I'm more confident speaking Cantonese though." Renata was curious about the long black case Millie had carried earlier. "By the way, is that a violin case?"
"Yes, I have played violin since I was little. Do you play instruments? We have an awesome music department."
"Uh...no, unfortunately. I'm not gifted in the music department. Do you have a BlackBerry?" They exchanged their Blackberry IDs. Renata was glad she had made a good friend on her first day; not everything was terrible today.
"Cool. Has Kim told you anything about this building? Especially this floor? She is one of the Student Prefects of this building."
"Not yet, she was so busy at the registration desk so she was in a hurry after settling me down here."
"Why don't we take a shower while I give you a mini-tour on our way to the shower stalls?" Millie brought anything she needed and left with Renata.
......
A first aid kit box was placed next to Renata on the floor. She was sitting on the floor to check her feet after taking a shower. The blisters were quite awful, and hurt as well.
"Gosh, that looks severe." Millie sat across from her on the rug as she passed the microbial disinfection along with a blister plaster box. "Can you wear shoes tomorrow? Usually, we will have orientation for the whole day. " Now that Millie didn't wear her jacket, Renata could see that she was a bit plump in her torso.
"Should be fine by tomorrow, no worries." Renata flinched as the disinfectant touched the open wound.
Millie frowned as she rested her elbow on her thigh, holding her jaw. "The Wilson I knew is a very nice guy, it's kinda weird hearing what he did from you. Are you sure his name is Wilson?"
"Yeah, everyone called the rude guy 'Wilson'. You can ask Kim, she saw me and him. Is there any student president named Wilson aside from him?" Renata blew on the wound to ease the sting from the disinfectant.
"Well, no~.... But we were classmates in 9th grade. In my memories, he wasn't rude or anything. In fact, he was the go-to guy. If anyone has a problem, as long as the problem is not related to a relationship, they usually ask for his help. He is a very quiet guy; he only talks if someone approaches him first. "
"Probably power got to his head so he changed, or that could be his true color." Renata shrugged her shoulders.
......
A month later
......
Renata trudged through her dorm's pale blue and sea-green corridor. Today's equestrian class was trying to kill her by exhaustion. The exercises were so tiring, so much that she wanted to pull out her arms and legs from their sockets if she could. Some of her body parts hurt where she never thought they could hurt. She didn't want to do anything besides burying herself in the piles of pillows. With that in mind, she raced to her room and swiftly opened the door.
"HOLY Shit....." Renata instantly re-closed the door to her room.
Renata turned away from her door and stood outside. She blankly stared at the soft pastel blue wall in front of her, thinking. 'I should have knocked first. But that's my room, do I need to knock on my own door? Holy dame Smith, how can I look at Millie from now on?' While she was on pin and needle, a beautiful boy got out of her room. He grinned at her and managed to ruffle her hair before sashaying away. That lucky son of a gun, second(or third) base with Millie, and on Millie's bed too.
"I'm so so sorry, Millie. I didn't know you were inside." Renata blushed. She didn't even know that Millie had a boyfriend. That image would surely replay in her mind whenever she was with Millie.
"Oh, no worries, it happens often." Millie waved her hand indifferently.
"Woah.... you guys get caught often? He is pretty laid back, isn't he....."
"He?" Millie laughed in her sweet, high voice. "He is a 'She'. She is quite handsome, isn't she?" She grinned in amusement.
Renata gaped at her. "That was a girl? That means you are... lesbian?" goosebumps spread from her neck; this was the first time Renata had a not-so-straight friend.
"I'm actually pansexual. I love whoever and whatever." Millie smiled at her, but soon she stared at her, scared. "Are you..... OK?"
"I'm alright, just a little bit surprised, I guess....." Renata answered her in a daze.
Hearing her answer, Millie released the breath she had unknowingly held. "Thank gosh, I thought you'd hate me once you found out. I kinda like you. Not as a lover of course, but as a friend. You're kinda nice and cute too. hehehhehe."
"Why would I hate you??? Of course not..... though I'm a bit jealous."
Millie furrowed her eyebrows as she could see that Renata was annoyed. "What??? Why?"
"How could I not? Your lover is a girl too, that means she's free to be inside the room with you. Our rules restrict boys and girls from visiting interdorm-ly, right? So unfair...." Renata shook her head, discontented.
"Hahahaha, that's what comes to your mind???? You think for naught. Why don't we head to the dining room? I'm starving." They grabbed their ID card and walked out.
......
Not many students were seen in the dining hall at this time of the hour. Renata and Millie usually ate their dinner a little close to 7 pm. No need to stand in a long queue to grab their food. The dining hall was vast, with many grey cafeteria tables spread inside and outside the hall. The landscape painting and some quotes from famous people decorated the walls and columns. Maybe the students needed to consider wisely of their food, talking about enhancing appetite. Each food stall had a title hovering above it, such as 'Grill Main', 'Vegetarian', 'Gluten Aware', and so on.
Renata stood behind her as Millie took her dinner. "I'm going home tomorrow night, my father will pick me up. Are you going home this weekend too? Eugh... Chicken parmesan...." Renata grimaced, then took the Caesar salad, grilled asparagus, and some penne in pesto cream sauce.
Millie frowned at Renata's plate. "You don't like their chicken? They are delicious....." Millie took a piece of chicken parmesan, a little salad with grilled asparagus, and spaghetti in tomato sauce. "Well, as usual, I always go home if the school permit." Millie saw the cleanest table near one of the doors leading to the outside patio, and they sat there. "Wouldn't you be hungry later, Renata? Do you want a share of my chicken?"
"Eugh, no thanks. I'll survive..... I'm not in the mood to eat their chicken, don't you think they serve chicken too often, at least twice a week?" Renata shuddered. "So we will meet again on late Sunday?"
Renata almost choked when a guy called her. "Hello, Little Qing doll..." Lyle and his 3 friends suddenly sat at their table. "Would you look at that... eating like a little rabbit, how will you grow into a woman if you don't eat meat?"
"H-Hello, Lyle..." Renata's eyes were occupied by Lyle; she didn't notice how uncomfortable Millie was.
Renata literally screamed in her head. 'Holy mother of all holy, he is sitting next to me!!!! good gracious, I'm going to choke to death..... but it's worth it....' Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it wanted to jump out of her ribs.
"It's quite hard to find you.... what sport have you been doing for the past month? I play most of the sports here and have never met you. "
"You are looking for me? Why?"
"Girls..... typical.... answering questions with another question...."
"Oh, I'm sorry..... I'm in the equestrian club 3 times a week, also do squash in between. Which sport do you play, Lyle?"
"This fall I play football, water polo, cross country race, basically any sport with teams. Last year I played squash, but I found it boring, unchallenging." Lyle stared at Renata's eyes, caressing the tall glass with his finger up and down; how she wished she was the glass at that moment.
"So why did you look for me?"
"I thought it would be fun..... doing together... something... physical....." Renata couldn't stop gazing at his parted lips; he noticed and winked at her. "Why don't we practice squash next Tuesday, I'll teach you my move... of course, if you want to....."
Renata nodded enthusiastically; hell yeah she would love to.
"Okay then, see you next Tuesday, little rabbit....." Just like that, he left with his boys, leaving Renata heaving hard and her food forgotten
......
Her room looked lovely today; even the boring school calendar looked lovely as she lay face up on her bed. She couldn't believe it, Lyle was looking for her, and he wanted to play squash with her. This must be her luckiest day so far. Forget about the shitty math and science classes; go to hell with the mountains of homework; she would love to go through anything if a moment with Lyle was the reward.
"Renataaa....."
"Oh, sorry, what did you just say?"
Millie sighed heavily and sat beside her legs on the edge of Renata's bed. "You need to get your laundry before you go home tomorrow."
"Oh, right, I forgot to get that today. Thanks, Mil." But Millie continued to stay on her bed and kept staring at her, apparently weighing the words she was about to say. "Renata, do you like Lyle?"
Renata's bashful face answered it all; she pulled her pillow over her face. Who on earth wouldn't fall for Lyle? He was hot, a breathing wet dream on two legs, or three.
"Renata, you should be cautious around him."
Renata removed the pillow from her face and stared blankly at Millie. 'That's unexpected. Did something happen between them in the past?'