one: old and new friends

MEI

Mei had finally unpacked her crap and she was ready to crash when someone knocked.

"I hate my life," she muttered and opened the door.

Three cheery girls crowded the hallway, holding streamers and wearing party hats. Oh no. She should not have opened it.

"Hi! Welcome to Gregor Hall! We're holding a party and orientation for everyone in the dorm now!" The leader said, shaking the streamers as if that would incentivize Mei to come out.

Mei tried smiling apologetically, but it came out a grimace. "Uh, sorry. I'm not feeling well and I'm burned out from traveling. But it sounds really fun."

The girls looked at each other and made noises of disappointment.

"But there's alcohol and the guys from the boys' dorm are here," one of them said.

"And they're pretty hot!" the third girl finished.

The college was unique in that the housing system had "pair dorms." Basically, every girls' dorm was paired with a boys' one and the pair dorms hosted social events aka parties. The idea was to get to know people and get out of your comfort zone, but it was really a matchmaking service. The college was known for producing celebrity couples and most people only dated through pair dorms. If you asked Mei, it was pretty limiting and especially annoying if all you wanted to do was study and get through college without worrying about a relationship.

She had had enough of dating and all the drama that came with it to last her a lifetime.

"Sorry, I don't want to meet guys when I'm jetlagged. I'll probably fall asleep on them."

The girls deflated but the leader persisted. "Ok, but you should definitely come to the event tomorrow. It's this carnival thing set out on the main lawn. We meet outside the dorm at around 5pm and we can walk over together."

Mei groaned inwardly. She didn't want to go to any events but her parents had told her to get out and "intermingle" with the other students.

"After high school, you need to make friends," her mother had told her, mouth muffed with a pin in it. "Nice friends. Good friends."

"I have good and nice friends already. Just because they're not stick-thin and pale as a sheet-"

"And how are they supposed to help you, mm? I like them too, but they're not going to get you anywhere. Stay still." She slapped Mei's hand away from her shoulder and kept pinning the dress. "Everyone else is seven steps ahead of you already. They're doing internships abroad, helping their parents with their companies in fake IT positions their daddies created for them, and you're still working at the supermarket."

Mei's cheeks burned but she was defiant. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"Of course there's nothing wrong with it except you don't get paid enough, the hours are ridiculous, and the customers walk all over you," her mom said bitterly. She sighed and turned Mei around to look at her. "The people you meet will become your stepping stones. So step on them. Make your path, the path I couldn't. Play the game, their game, and take all the winnings home."

Play the game. But how could she play it without coming out disgusted with herself? She had tried in high school, but had quickly grown tired of schmoozing with people who treated others, people like her, like they were less than garbage. She had stayed at the lowest rung in the food chain, and she had been fine with it. Until senior year. Even now, she wasn't sure who was to blame for starting it, but she had finished it and that was what mattered.

"Sounds fun. I'll meet you there," she said. Maybe these girls were nice. They didn't look as bad as the alpha girls in high school and seemed to genuinely want her to go with them.

They cheered and wished her a good night before leaving. The sound of synth music thudded through the halls and Mei let it lull her to sleep. In the morning, she would deal with making new friends and being away from true ones.

KAIZONG

The world fell away as the music seeped into his skin, propelling him to keep going and to take things further. He slipped a hand down her back and she sighed. She smelled like alcohol and something fruity, and he wondered if she was worth taking back to his apartment. He didn't like the girls he slept with to know where he lived. That only made it easier for them to come knocking and crying when he threw them out. Her room it was.

"Let's get out of here," he whispered into her ear.

She shivered and giggled, pulling him off the dance floor. Darren and Liancheng caught his eye and groaned. He smirked back. They took a taxi back to her dorm, which he paid for of course because none of the women who went to the goddamn club seemed to carry wallets on them. He left as the sky was turning pink.

You owe me $500, he texted Darren and Liancheng. They gave him middle fingers and sent him pics of their respective dates. As soon as he went back to his apartment, Mochi leapt on Kaizong and even tried following him to the shower. She was still a puppy at heart even though she was up to his waist now. Luckily, he started classes half a week after everyone else so he could crash without any repercussions. But first he had to check up on his favorite person.

Mochi barked excitedly when she saw Mei's face pop up on the screen. "Yeah, that's your mama," Kaizong laughed, petting her as Mochi nudged at the screen. "Let's see what she's been up to."

As always, there was nothing but food pics on most of her social media. But there were a couple of pics with her tagged, all of them from orientation. She stood next to three other girls, smiling awkwardly. Her look clearly screamed, "get me out of here." The same one she wore through most of high school.

The pic was captioned, "Gregor Hall Girls nite out!!!" He smiled. He already knew she was in Gregor Hall, but it was also useful to see who she was bonding with. Should we approach them first and have a little fun pretending he didn't know her when her friends introduced them? But he didn't want to spend that much time on those girls. Maybe he could go to one of those pair dorm events or he could wait until classes began. So many choices. All of them fun, but which one would surprise her the most? Maybe he should just show up with flowers and a boombox outsider her room and wake her up. Just like old times.

"Soon we'll see her again," he said to Mochi. "And we'll play like we used to."