I’ll never forget the first time I walked the grounds of Coleridge College. It was late August in the south, so the heat stuck to you, beads of sweat attached to your skin like morning dew on the hood of a car. So as Monica and I walked the campus for the very first, sweat dripped down my back and laid across my forehead.
Landscaping was the first thing I noticed on campus. Daisies and Lilies sprung up from various flowerbeds in an array of colors: pink, yellow, a brilliant royal blue. The lawn was clean cut and large oak trees almost shaded the entirety of the small gothic college.
Bricked buildings, with large stone pillars and porches, stood throughout campus. A bell tower, higher than any building, was planted at the center of campus, chiming on the hour.
No matter where you went on campus, it felt like your life suddenly mattered. It was as if you were a part of something bigger than you ever were before.
Monica’s hand held tightly to mine as we navigated the college. She had been sad, angry and elated for days. It was just the night before she locked herself in her room and wouldn’t speak with me until we left her house. Now, was no different. As I pointed to things excitedly, exclaiming about the buildings or the clock tower, her face was stuck in one solemn frown.
“That’s great, Joe.” She would say so faintly it was almost a whisper.
No matter how sad she was, I was thankful she had come. I knew I couldn’t tackle the entire move on my own. It would have been too much emotionally and physically. As sad as she was, she still managed to help me with anything I needed.
After walking around campus, we searched for my dorm. It was called Honors Hall. Honors Hall was reserved for students who were perceived to excel academically, and somehow, I had managed to get a spot. Regardless of our map, we couldn’t seem to find it. Finally, a blond bearded student with hair at his shoulders stopped Monica and I to help. He must have known we were lost by the disoriented look on our faces and our stopping every five seconds to bicker about the map.
He pointed to the Administration Building and told us it was located on the top floor. We thanked him and moved towards what was the largest building on campus, just opposite the clock tower.
A security guard named Gus, with the face of pit-bull, greeted us at the door and made sure I was on the list to go up. The Admin Building held the office of the president and multiple classrooms for students, so security had to man the door for the honors hall on move-in day.
We walked up several flights of stairs and an over-energized short girl introduced herself as Leah, the dorm director.
“Did you guys have a safe trip up?” Leah asked as she shuffled papers my way.
I nodded. Monica was silent.
“Well, this is the prestigious Honors Hall at Coleridge College. It is literally a hall way as it is only for the select few students who qualify for it.” Leah began in a high-pitch voice.
“Girls are on one side of the hall, boys are on the other. Each gender has their own separate bathrooms.Visiting hours aren’t policed like they are in other dorms but if you are caught in the opposite gender’s bathroom, you may be cited. Two citations in a semester and you are asked to move out. You will have a roommate. I hope you have gotten in touch with him, already.”
“Honors students get key cards to the Admin library in the basement and keys to the computer lab just in case your computer crashes or you need to print out an assignment.” Handing me a key card and two bronze keys.
“We will have a meeting at 7:00 p.m. Monday. Please don’t be late.”
“Oh, feel free to move your stuff in as you please. Gus is there if you are moving anything super heavy.” Leah finished, stopping at room 502.
I unlocked the door and opened it to find a conglomeration of posters stuck to the left side of a bricked room. Dale, my roommate, looked to have already settled in. He and I had been in touch sporadically as the summer came to a close.
I knew he was a music student so I wasn’t surprised to find cases for different instruments laying on the wooden floor. He had brought a mini-fridge and a microwave. I was in charge of bringing the TV.
His bed was already made and his desk had been set up. I knew he was probably at lunch, but Monica and I began to move my stuff in, anyway. The pile of almost non-related items that had sat in Monica’s floor all summer began to find its place on the right side of room 502.
As Monica and I had almost finished unpacking my things, the same blond bearded, long-haired, student who pointed us in the direction of Honors Hall, opened the door.
“Joe?” He asked.
“Dale?” I was surprised.
“I had no idea that was!” He exclaimed moving to hug me.
“You must be Monica.” He said, also hugging her. She was still quiet.
“Its so nice to finally meet you. I hope you don’t mind what I have done with the place. I do enjoy music.” Dale explained.
He seemed like a never-ending supply of excitement and zest. I admired that about him, right away.
“Alright, you guys kiss and say goodbye. We have some bonding to do.” Dale said, jokingly.
I cringed. I knew Monica hadn’t taken it as a joke.
It was evening as we walked down the steps and moved back towards Monica’s car we had left parked on the other side of campus. The summer sun was setting and bugs had begun swarming as we trudged along the sidewalks.
I could hear her beginning to whimper and could just make out beads of tears that were welling-up and slowly drifting down her freckled cheeks.
“Joe, I never wanted you to leave. I know you have to, though.” She managed before she began to sob.
I held her, her frail arms shaking and her stomach heaving, as I leaned against her emerald green hood. “It will be okay. Its all going to be okay.” I tried to whisper.
She was silent. She gently kissed me. She climbed into her car and drove away.
I wanted to cry. I turned my head towards the soft glow of the setting sun and began to pray. I begged the God in the sky, I hoped was there, to make it all worth it.
“I just need you to make this worth it.” Tears began to fall.
I began my walk back to room 502 in Honors Hall.
