5~ What's the rush?

On entering the dorm room there were mixed feelings. Flare kept mumbling to Betty, "Dude they are too good to be true " (shaking her shoulder childishly).

Taking off her hand, Betty said, "Chill dude; don't get hyped up ".

Linda and I chuckled hearing their chatter while we initiated unpacking our suitcases.

 I was so happy to see the wooden study table; it gave me a vintage vibe. I dusted it with a cloth and then placed my handmade calendar, a cute little cactus plant (who's I named "Kenna")  and a pen stand holder on my study table. This place was everything thing I dreamt of. I looked around.

Linda was also a papyrophilic (obsessed with stationery) like me. Her every object stood neat and clean.  Looking at my table, she shared a smile with me.

On Betty's table, I could see a bunch of sketch pens and a computer bag on it. "Anyone who loves to make greeting cards can tag along with me, " Betty announced. I raised my hand without a second thought (I loved making things for others). "Sure thing," she said facing me.

Momentarily we all directed our eyes on Flare's table. We could barely see stationary. Instead, there were various types of branded nail polishes and makeup kits visible.

 "Are you girls into nail art or makeup and stuff ?" Flare gestured facing us. "Umm make up is my thing, "Betty asserted. "Great! We'll do it together before going to classes " said Flare. "And you two?" Flare asked glancing at us. "Ohh no, I'm new to all this " Linda nervously answered (Maybe because she thought it was embarrassing to not know such things) "My nail beds are history !" I blurted out. This made everyone laugh. My lameness worked; Linda was no longer uncomfortable. "I like doing nail art without actually growing them i.e. in their normal size " I spoke frankly. "Clearly," Betty said with a giggle. "Do teach us, newbies, these skills though !!! " Linda requested enthusiastically to Flare and Betty.

"But stop we didn't talk over one main thing- " Betty exclaimed.

"And that is? " Flare imitated in Betty's voice.

Betty gave Flare an annoyed face and continued - "Which department are you all from ?; what are your hobbies?" 

"I'm from the Arts department and I like to read magazines and build sculptures in my free time, "  Flare answered with her neverending rich girl attitude.

"Ohh wow that's great," said Betty.

"I'm from the Medical department and I like to travel, "said Linda.

"So we have a Hodophile here, "said Betty excitedly.

" I'm also in the the the medical department. My hobbies are dancing and taking long strolls in the garden, " I said leaping into the conversation. 

"Interesting, " Flare commented (staring at me for a while).

I certainly didn't want to make eye contact with her, so I looked elsewhere. 

 "Great we can leave for classes together," Linda said heartily. 

"Uhh so lucky you can go together, at least you won't have to look for people to talk with on the first day of the semester, " Betty let out fairly disturbed.

It implied that even if she was bold from the outside, she was emotionally unstable from the inside.

"Which department are you from then? " Flare asked instantly. 

"Me? I'm from a department filled with logic in every single thing; guess it, girls, " Betty said raising her eyebrows (with an accent of sherlock holmes).

"Computers! " we all had deduced her code.

"But you don't look like a nerd, I thought you were in the Arts department, "Linda asked Betty (wondering).

"Yup, I ain't a nerd. But yes coding Java,  data analytics and robotics are subjects that interest me to stay up all day. I could think of nothing else than what I'm doing now. I'm happy to get into this university, " Betty said proudly.

"Yes we are all happy to get into this University, " we all said in chorus hugging each other.

 "What's that ?" Flare asked pointing out the pink box popping out of my blue bag. I fidgeted. Should I tell them about the pink box? Are they trustworthy of knowing my secrets?

 Whenever I felt lonely, I used to pen down my thoughts on a piece of paper. A few months back when Drake was about to leave my hometown; I figured I had stronger feelings for him (we were more than just friends). So, I had written him a goodbye letter (more like a love letter confessing my feelings). But I couldn't bring myself to give it to him. After he left his absence made me feel lonely. Each day felt incomplete. So, I wrote more letters, which never got delivered to him; but were stuck with me forever. I guess with time even those feelings became vintage. The more I wrote, the loneliness grew deeper. He now holds an irreplaceable place in my heart but I still had to move on. And so I did.

I know we shouldn't judge people but we four had just spent a few hours together and weren't too close to share our secrets. So I let the box thing slide out of the conversation by saying,  " Just some old stuff there ". I slowly got up and placed the pink box inside my study table drawer. It was a pretty dainty pink box that fit perfectly inside the drawer.

"Mysterious huh, "Flare said taunting.

"Hey leave it, it's her privacy, " Betty defended.

"Thank you, " I lip-synced.

"Why are you being so polite, we're gonna be roomies for the next five years, let's be frank enough already, " Betty said (like a carefree soul).

We all nodded in agreement. But everyone had an untold story of their past right? When the time was right, we all would share it.

  It was about 7 pm; the moon was noticeable outside the window. A crescent moon with gleaming yellow-white light was surrounded by an ethereal glow. There was a gentle breeze; the campus shrubs waved left and right, the lampost was lit up with dim light. The evening mood was set up.

"Let's head to the poolside; Prince invited me earlier, " Linda asked.

"Yes let's take our swimsuits and go there! " Betty and Flare said in unison.

"I don't want to swim at this hour but I will watch you girls, " I told.

"Okay no issues, "Linda said.

[After waiting for 10 minutes... ]

"You two better Hurry up! "  Linda said to Flare and Betty.

"What's the rush for ?" I asked.

"We can't swim after 8 pm; University rules, " Linda said instantly.

We all took our belongings and soon walked towards the commerce department.

  The indoor swimming pool was located there. While the medical department had the badminton court, the art department had the basketball court and the computer science department had box cricket; all on the ground floor of each building. The departments had only their third and fourth floor reserved for students dormitory. The first and second floors had our classrooms. The fifth floor was occupied in all the departments except for the medical department. We were prohibited from going to the fifth floor for no specific reason. There were rumours about medical personnel who was badly injured - who was being treated on that floor. Thus it wasn't open to students.

I liked seeing surgeries and treatments on youtube. My dream was to be a part of live surgery in the OR room. So I was curious about this floor the minute I heard these rumours. As it was my first day at the university, I needed to abide by all the rules here. We all did.