College Dorm

“Welcome, everyone, to Wolfpine Academy!”. A girl is standing on the stage, she’s the principal of the academy. “My name is Ellen Baldwin, and I’m happy to see all of you today, standing before me.”, she says over the PA system. I’m standing in a crowd of about 300 other students. Gil is standing next to me, looking at a pamphlet with a map of the campus. “I hope you all had a pleasant journey, and I’m very happy to welcome you to the most state-of-the-art education facility on Sivve Island! Now, I know you’re all eager to start your semester, but there’s a few things we need to address. First, accreditation students will need to register their key cards at the accreditation office in building G. Second, you’ll all get divided into groups of ten for your dorms. In each dorm, there’s five rooms. You’ll share your room with one other person, so make sure you go to the dorms in groups. Third, you’ll all get cards that are outfitted with a chip to get you access to wherever you need to go. That includes the rec rooms and the cafeterias. Everything else you need to know will be on your desks in your rooms.”, she says. “So, I’ll just let you go to your dorms, and hopefully I’ll see some of you later tonight, we’re having a concert at 8 PM here in the assembly hall. I’d love to see some of you there. Thanks for listening, and welcome to Wolfpine Academy!”, she says and nods to the crowd. A solid ten seconds of applause follow. Gil heads for the exit and I try my best to follow him. We get outside to the plaza in front of what I assume to be building J and Gil shows me the map.
“Look, the dorms are over there.”, he says and points at a cluster of concrete and wooden blocks a few minutes from where we are. “Let’s get going.” He fastens his backpack and starts to walk down a cobblestone path. I follow him, duffel bag over my shoulder.
“You know, I’ll never get used to the fact that everyone looks like they’re 16.”
“I know, right?”, Gil says. “I know someone who died in 1760, can you believe that?”
“After dying and finding out there’s an afterlife full of teenagers, yeah, why not.”, I say and look at the sky. The clouds are thick and grey, it’ll probably rain soon. “Wanna go to that concert?”
“I dunno. Maybe. We’ll see, I guess.” Gil shrugs and cracks his knuckles. “What do you think the dorms look like?”
“Bet it’s nothing special. Two beds, two desks and two closets.”
“Yeah, probably.” I pick up a slight Boston accent in his voice.
“You think they have a library?”, I ask. I’ve always wanted to visit one.
“Two, actually.”, Gil says and points at two white squares on his map. “Filled to the brim with all kinds of literature and papers on any topic you could imagine.”
“Do you know what getting lessons is like? I never went to school, you know.”
“It’s basically sitting on your desk and listening what other people have to say. It’s sometimes a bit boring.”
“But Emma said school is fun.”, I answer.
“Well, school isn’t about the lessons alone. It’s an experience. You make friends, go to parties, join after-school clubs, there’s a lot more to it than just studying. And, yeah, if you count all that, school is fun.”
“Clubs? Like what?”
“Whatever you like. There’s a debate club, there’s a chess club, a literature club, whatever. I’m probably gonna join the board games club.” We stand in front of the first dormitory and Gilbert opens the wooden door to the foyer. There’s an office behind a glass window with a counter, Gilbert walks up to it. Someone is sitting behind the counter.
“Hi, we’re new and need a dorm room.”
“How many?”, the guy in the office asks.
“Just two.”, Gil replies.
“Accreditees?”
“Right.”
“I’m gonna need to see your accreditation cards.”, he says. I pull my accreditation card out of my pocket and hand it to Gilbert. He gives both our cards to the officer.
“Gwendolyn Ferguson and Gilbert Owens. Right, you’re on the fourth floor, room D. Here’s your cards back, and here’s your access pass.” Gil hands me my card and walks over to the elevator. It’s tiny, and we barely both fit in with our luggage. I manage to press the elevator button for the fourth floor and the door closes. It rumbles up the building.
“So… what do you think we’ll learn? In school, I mean.”, I try to initiate a conversation, but do so in the most clumsy way possible.
“I dunno. I’m doing this for the first time as well.”, Gil answers. His hair looks extremely fluffy. I run my hands through it and come to the conclusion that it indeed is very fluffy. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, nothing.”, I say. The lift comes to a halt and the doors open. We see a corridor, with five doors on the left wall and a double-sized door frame on the right. White fluorescent lights on the ceiling illuminate the corridor. The grey carpeting on the floor muffles our steps. Gil walks down the corridor and opens the fourth door to the left.
“Room D, here is is.” Behind the door is a quite nice bedroom with a bunk bed and two desks, both outfitted with a small chest of drawers beside the tables, as well as two wall closets. The back wall is a full-height window door that leads to a small wooden balcony. The rain is pounding against the window, and the light is off. It’s all a bit dark and abandoned-looking, but Gilbert looks optimistic.
“See, that’s not so bad.”, he says and flips the light switch. A paper ceiling lamp turns on and gives off warm white light. “I could live here. This is nice.” He walks inside and puts his rucksack on the right table, the one next to the closets. He grunts and rubs his left shoulder. “Do you like it, Gwen?”
“Yeah.”, I quickly say without thinking.
“What bed would you like? Top bunk or bottom bunk?”
“Sorry?”, I say and look at Gil.
“The bed, Gwen. Do you wanna sleep in the top bunk or the bottom bunk?”
“I think I’ll go with top bunk.”, I say and put my duffel bag on the other desk right next to the window. I watch Gilbert unpack his things: He puts his clothes in the closet but doesn’t hang up his coat or his sweat jackets. He takes a bag of toiletries to the bathroom behind the door next to the bed. Then, he starts to populate the desk with what I assume to be his school supplies. A tablet computer with a kickstand to help it stand up on the desk, a small wireless keyboard with white and cyan key caps, a black wireless computer mouse, a set of ink pens and a block of grid paper. Then he puts a small black bluetooth speaker on his desk and plays one of his playlists, a collection of jazz tracks.
“You don’t wanna unpack?”, he asks.
“Uh… yeah. Sure.”, I say and open my bag. I put all my clothes in the closet next to Gil’s and hang up my dresses. Then I put my laptop on my desk, along with my pens and my notepad.
“Tomorrow is our first lesson”, Gil says. “Are you excited?”
“I mean, yeah.”, I say and realise just how far I have come. “Yeah! I’m excited.”, I smile.
“So, according to this, our first lesson is Material Law 101.”, he says and points at the timetable on the pamphlet he is holding. “Followed by Material Physics 101.”
“That sounds exciting.”, I say. “What do you think they teach exactly?”
“Probably how to move and how to talk, things like that. I’ve heard it’s pretty hard to do on the material plane without training. Material Law is probably just the core rules.”
“Maybe it is actual law school.”, I say. “In the courtroom, defending someone, accusations of murder… that must be so exciting.”
“Why would they teach us law? You’re not here for a law degree.”, Gil answers and leaves our room. I follow him to the kitchen and watch him go through the drawers. Knives, forks and spoons in drawers, plates in stacks in the cupboards and a fridge with food, every shelf labelled with a name. There’s Kelly, Felicia, Theodore and Wilson. Two labels are unmarked, the shelves above them empty.
“I suppose they are for us.”, I say and write my name on the left shelf. I give Gil the pen and he writes his full name, Gilbert Owens, on the label. Everyone else just wrote their first names, but Gil puts his entire name on there.
“I don’t have any food.”, I say.
“I don’t, either. But that shouldn’t be a problem, we can have all our meals at the cafeteria.”
“Speaking of, when’s breakfast?”
“Hang on”, Gil says, checking the pamphlet. “Here, seven to eight.”
“Are you gonna carry that around forever?”
“Until I get the hang of things, why not.”, he answers and looks at his wristwatch. I take a peek too, it reads 20:33. “Listen, I’m really tired. I’m gonna hit the hay.”
“Should probably do the same.”, I say and follow him to our dorm room.
“I’m gonna change.”, Gil says, grabs his pyjamas and goes to the bathroom. I look out the window. It’s not completely dark yet, and the rain hasn’t stopped. I look at my phone. A message from Emma.
How r u holding up? Is everything nice? xoxo
I type a reply.
Yeah. I think it’s nice. Excited about my first lesson tomorrow.
A minute later, a response comes in.
Made some friends already? :P
I wonder if I should tell her about Gilbert.
Met a guy on the train. I’m sharing my room with him.
Not ten seconds later I get a reply.
omg!!!! Is he cute?
Gil leaves the bathroom, in his blue pyjamas.
“Just so you know, I’m setting my alarm to 6:30.”
“Uh… yeah. Sure.”
“Just so you know.”
“It’s fine”, I say and type up a reply to Emma.
Don’t be silly, I hardly know him. Talk to you tomorrow.
I almost instantly get a reply.
Gwen’s got a crush haha!

“Six thirty, this is the daily Sivve news broadcast. President of the Lower Isles Sigmund Ellerend called in a press conference to give a statement on the new regulations on organic damage. On account of secretary of state Jennifer Tilly, Ellerend was not planning-”
I hear someone under my bed shuffle around, the radio stops.
“Morning, Gwen.”, I hear a very sleepy voice with a Boston accent say.
“Morning”, I grunt back and rub my eyes. It’s still dark outside.
“I’m gonna have a shower if that’s all right.”, Gil says. I grunt and dig my head deeper into the pillow.
“What’s the bloody point being dead if you can’t even sleep in properly”, I grunt and sit up. “God, I hate this.”
“Could be worse.”, Gil says from the bathroom. “You’re on the Flipside. Whatever it was, this is better than your life was.”
“Could also be a lot better.” I jump down from my bunk and ruffle my hair. I can hear someone in the room next to me, through the wall. The shower turns on and the monotonous sough of the shower almost puts me right back to sleep. I undress myself and put on one of the shirts Emma bought for me. I look for my pants from yesterday and find them hung over my chair. I slip inside and take my laptop. I don’t have a bag, and carrying around my duffel bag would be bothersome, I feel. I go outside of my room into the corridor and see another boy walk into our rec room. I follow him. He doesn’t see me, it seems like he is entranced by the coffee he is making in our kitchen.
“Uh, hi”, I say. He turns around. He looks extremely tired, like someone who had just worked the night through.
“Morning.”, he manages to mumble.
“Are you… okay?”, I ask slowly.
“Just… tired.”, he answers. It seems like he wants to say something, but then quickly turns back to the coffee pot.
“I’m your new dorm mate. I’m Gwen.”, I say.
“So I’ve gathered.”, he answers.
“What’s your name?”, I try to continue this very one-sided conversation.
“Theo.”, he mutters as another boy his age, but much taller and with darker hair walks into the room.
“Theodore! Is the coffee ready?”
“Piss off, will ‘ya.”, he answers. The tall slender guy turns his head toward me and reaches out his hand.
“Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Wilson. And… that’s Theodore.”
“I’m Gwen.”, I say and shake his hand. Wilson is about 6’4’’, wears a navy polo shirt with long sleeves and very sleek looking black shoes. Theodore seems to be Wilson’s polar opposite. His blonde hair is unkempt, he’s wearing a black shirt and blue jeans as well as glasses with a black frame. Wilson is tall and slim, Theodore is shorter and fatter.
“Gwen. That’s a lovely name.”
“Thanks, I got it for my birthday.”, I say and smile.
“You gotta excuse Theo, he’s just not much of a morning person.”
“Shut up, Wilson.”, Theodore says and pours two mugs of coffee. “You’re just interested because she’s new.”
“Seems like you two get along well.”, I say.
“Don’t mind him. He’s usually a nice guy.”, Wilson answers and pours a spoonful of sugar in his coffee. “So, what’s your major?”
“I’m here for accreditation.”, I answer. “My roommate Gil is still in our room.”
“I see.”, Wilson answers. “We don’t get that many accreditees, do we?”, he asks in Theodore’s general direction, only to get back a tired grunt and a bitter glance.
“So… Wilson, is that your last name?”
“No, actually it’s Feraday. Wilson Feraday.” We stand in the kitchen for a while and Wilson sips his coffee. We look out the window onto the campus. The first students are already on their way to the cafeteria. “I’m a history major. You know, documenting the Flipside’s history. It’s really quite a task, when you’re already dead and all. You’ll be there for history to happen.”
“That’s interesting.”, I answer. “I’m new, what history does the Flipside have?”
“A ton. More than I can tell you in a few minutes.”
“So how did you die?”, Theo asks.
“I… I don’t have DRC. Yet.”, I admit.
“Oh, lovely.”, Theodore says and takes a sip from his coffee. “Another RD. Needed one of those around here.”
“Theo, be nice!”, Wilson says.
“Shut up, Wilson.”

I’ve not thought about it, but my teacher looking as old as me is definitely strange. She wears a blue dress and her nails are painted red. She writes something on the chalkboard. Material Law 101.
“Material law.”, she says and paces around the room in front of her desk. “Anyone know something about it?”
No one raises a hand. “Come on, I’m not gonna give you an F for a wrong answer.”
Still no answer.
“You.”, she says and points at Gil. “What’s your name?”
“Gilbert Owens, ma’am.”
“Gilbert Owens. Let’s role play. I’ll be your Material, you’ll be yourself. I ask you, my IF, where you come from.”
“What does IF mean?”, a brown-haired girl in the row behind me asks.
“Look into your folder. Page four, glossary.”, the teacher says without looking at her. “Imaginary friend. Owens, I ask you, my IF, where do you come from?”
“Um, I come from a place called the Flip-”
“Wrong.”, the teacher says. “Rule 1: You never admit that you’re dead. Never ever. I’ll show you. Owens, ask me.”
“Where do you come from?”
“I come from your mind. You imagined me.”
“Well… are you real then?”, Gil continues the conversation.
“Good question. Anyone wanna answer?”, she asks and looks at a bald girl next to me. “You. Cancer girl.”
“Um… Not really. No one can see me except you.”, she says timidly.
“Well done. What’s your name?”
“Lara, ma’am.”
“Lara. Well done.” She turns to the class. “Rule 2! You’re not supposed to tell your Material anything they don’t know. For instance:” She holds up a sheet with numbers on the left and folds it in half, so that the numbers are on her side. She points at the white side. “This is what your Material sees.” The folds the other side out. “This is what you can see. You will not, I repeat, you will never tell your Material what is on your side. If they can’t see something, you won’t tell them.”
“But what if you see something that will hurt your Material?”, Lara asks.
“Good question. The answer is no.” She looks at the chalk holder under the blackboard. “I’m gonna get new chalk. When I’m back, I wanna hear three more rules.”, she says and leaves the room.