As the assembly ended, Sam and Jacob started making their way back to the dorm. Once again, they were taking their time—there was no hurry. There was nothing left for them to do that day. Everything else was basically about getting to know one another.

  They spotted their other two roommates—kind of recognizing them already from the brief encounter in the hallway—so they walked over.

  “Hey, my name’s Jacob. You two are our other roommates, right?” he asked.

  Skye responded with a calm nod. “Yes, my name is Skye. His name is Corey.”

  Sam gave a curious look. “Do you guys know each other? Oh—by the way, I’m Sam.”

  Skye and Corey chuckled a little.

  “Yeah, we went to high school together,” Corey answered. “She’s always been way too competitive, but she’s also one of the best people I know. I’ve trusted her my whole life.”

  Skye gave him a devious look and shot back, “Yeah, don’t trust this guy. He’s more likely to steal your food than give you food.”

  They started a small argument, playful but real.

  After a few seconds, they realized Sam and Jacob were just standing there, watching in stunned silence.

  Jacob asked, half-joking, half-serious, “Are you two—boyfriend and girlfriend? Or siblings?”

  Skye shook her head, smiling slightly. “Nope. We’re just good friends. Weirdly, we’re completely different people, but for some reason, our friendship works.”

  “Well, that’s cool. It’s nice to know there won’t be any weird drama in the dorm room,” Sam said.

  Skye gave him an accusatory look.

  Sam quickly raised his hands. “No, no, no! I wasn’t saying anything bad! I just meant—uh—excessive arguing over little stuff.”

  As they all walked back to the dorm room to finish unpacking, they kept talking, getting to know each other better.

  Jacob kept glancing at Skye. He couldn’t help but feel like he knew her in some small way. He couldn’t quite remember where—but he did remember seeing her before. Her tall athletic build made her stand out. She was very cute, though—he also thought to himself.

  He wondered which bunk she chose.

  Sam realized he and Corey had a bit in common. They both had aspirations for basketball. They both loved being outdoors and doing sports-related activities.

  But one of Corey’s all-time favorite things? Karaoke.

  “Karaoke? No way. I can’t sing to save my life,” Jacob said, raising his eyebrows.

  Sam laughed and added, “I remember—you said you can’t even dribble a basketball.”

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “Well, we can’t have everything in common, right? Then what would be the fun in that?”

  They walked around campus for a little while. Found the cafeteria. Found the library. Also figured out where their classes were going to be.

  They were all kind of surprised—they had the same program. All of them were in computer science. Jacob, however, was the only one with a double major. He was also doing business management.

  The other two echoed Sam’s earlier joke.

  “So—you’re like extra nerdy?” Corey teased.

  Jacob just laughed it off again.

  Soon, they arrived back at their dorm room—Room 303, Building 14.

  “So what beds did you two choose?” Jacob asked.

  Skye pointed to the bunk above Jacob’s.

  He looked shocked. He had definitely never had a girl sleeping basically in the same bed as him.

  Sam jumped in with a sudden suggestion. “Can we at least agree on one thing? At no point will we put on fragrances—like body spray or cologne—in this room. Let’s do our best to keep the room smell-neutral.”

  The others all looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

  Shortly after, the dorm manager showed up.

  He told the group that this was their home for the time they were here. He also reminded them to take care of everything in the room—there would be no replacements for broken items like beds, desks, or chairs.

  He laid down the curfew too: 10 PM on weekdays, midnight on weekends.

  The roommates weren’t thrilled. They were the kind who liked to stay out late now and then. But rules were rules.

  Live and let live.

  The dorm manager also pointed out a laminated sheet pinned to the corkboard. It contained all the house rules.

  Sam and Jacob were already aware of it—they had discussed it earlier before orientation. So they let the others go over it themselves.

  “No video game systems or TVs in the dorm? Are you serious?” Corey asked.

  The dorm manager gave him a blank look. “If you don’t like it, ask for a transfer to a different dorm.”

  Corey looked disappointed, lowered his head, and muttered, “No—I already know these guys, so I don’t feel like transferring.”

  Corey, being the kind of guy who liked to know what was what around campus, pulled out his handbook. In it, he found something interesting.

  There was a bylaw allowing for the dorm manager to be replaced once per quarter by vote.

  This excited Corey. He had every intention of making that happen.

  He wanted to bring video games and TVs into the dorm. A way for students to decompress after a long day of studying and classes.

  The current dorm manager, a rather boring guy, had already been on campus for three years. A junior in the psychology program.

  “We have to replace this guy. This is ridiculous. How can we not have TVs and consoles?” Corey said, turning to the others.

  Everyone agreed. It was extreme. They were young adults trying to enjoy life a little.

  Corey also mentioned another weird rule: freshmen weren’t allowed to leave campus on weekdays. They were expected to stay on campus at all times.

  “I don’t get it—I mean, what’s the reason?” he asked.

  Just then, the guy next door popped his head in.

  “Hey—my name’s Ryan. I know why. It’s because they want you to acclimate to the university and how things are done here. It’s so you understand how the school is run. At least you can leave on the weekends.”

  Ryan introduced himself as the gossip king. If something was going on around campus—he already knew about it.

  He even knew that two of the roommates had gone to the same high school.

  He looked at Sam and said bluntly, “Sorry, guy—but I don’t think you’ve got much chance of making the basketball team. The shortest guy on the team is six-foot-four. Tallest? Six-foot-eight.”

  Sam looked at Ryan with fire in his eyes. “You don’t know me. I could still make it.”

  “Yeah, man. Don’t shoot him down before he even has a chance,” Jacob said.

  “I’m not trying to discourage you. Just saying—that’s how things are right now,” Ryan explained.

  Skye leaned forward and asked, “Are there any softball clubs at this university?”

  “Not that I know of,” Ryan answered.

  And then—just like that—Jacob froze.

  That’s it. That’s where I’ve seen her before, he thought.

  One year, his grandma had taken him to a softball tournament.

  Skye was the pitcher.

  She had so much grace and power in her throws. It was amazing.

  But Jacob kept that to himself. He didn’t say a word.

  “Well—nice to meet you guys. Hope to hang out more in the future,” Ryan said as he waved and left the room.

  The new roommates were left alone in their strange, exciting new home.