"Get up Firefly," Mom shouted from beside my bed, "you said you'd practice your guitar before 9:30!" I groaned and pulled the blankets over my head. Mom ripped them away. "I don't need to practice! I was accepted for playing guitar, that means I'm good enough that don't need to practice every living breathing second I have." I groaned as she continued to tug on my blankets back over my head. "GET UP!" She shouted, I didn't respond. "GET UP!" She yelled once again as she slapped me in the back. I felt her hand make contact with the center of my shoulder blades. I shot up and shrieked in pain. "Did you really have to do that?" I whined, rubbing my back. "Sorry Firefly. I'm just, well, stressed. I didn't mean to hurt you, dear." She sighed and walked towards the door, "Just, practice before 9:30," she said as she shut the door gently behind herself. I pulled off the sheets, swinging my legs out of the bed so my feet came to a rest on the floor. I sighed and cracked my stiff joints. I yawned loudly as I stood up and stretched my arms. I walked over to my closet, gripping the knobs, and opened the doors. After digging through the mess that is my closet, I found a compact orange backpack and a massive burgundy suitcase. I franticly ripped open my drawers, stuffing everything I own into the two bags at my feet. "Ok," I said, "now all I need to do is get dressed!" Then, I looked down at the various objects I had stuffed into my bags, "Of course I forgot to set aside some clothes!" I groaned as I began sifting through my suitcase. Eventually, I found my leather jacket, a stained white t-shirt, my favorite jeans, and my basketball sneakers. I threw on my clothes, picked my bags, and sprinted downstairs. I skidded to a halt in the kitchen. "Hey Mom," I panted, "I'm ready!" Mom stared at me for a moment and then simply replied, "Guitar." I looked down at the bags that sat at my feet. No guitar, great, I thought before I ran back up the stairs and into my room. I grabbed the bright orange electric guitar that was leaning against my wall. I pulled a large black guitar case from under my bed and placed my guitar inside. I snapped it shut and walked back downstairs. "You good now?" Mom asked as she examined my bags.
"Uh, I think?" I replied, attempting to remember what I needed to pack. We walked out the door and Mom locked it behind us. As we walked towards the car, I looked back at the house and waved goodbye. I loaded my bags into our family's large pickup truck and hopped into the passengers seat. It was a two hour drive to the school. The tires screeched to a halt in front of a large golden gate. "Wow," Mom exclaimed as we got out of the truck, "this campus is huge!" I nodded in agreement. She walked over to me, "Ready?" She asked as she straitened the collar of my jacket.
"Yep!" I replied, my heart pounding with excitement. I looked up into Mom's hot pink eyes. They were beginning to water. "Are you alright?" I asked.
"Y-yeah, I'm just a bit emotional is all," she replied.
"It's alright Mom! I want to become a famous guitarist and this school might be my one shot. Besides, it's only a few years." Mom wiped her eyes,
"Well, good luck!" She said with a smile.
"I don't need luck, I'm easily the best guitar player here," and so I wouldn't sound like too much of an A-hole, I added, "but, thanks." Mom laughed before pulling me into a tight hug.
"And if you aren't the best, you're still the most awesome." I smiled and pulled my bags out of the truck.
"Bye Mom!" I said waving at her. She waved back before getting back into the truck. I turned towards the gate and sighed. This is it Firefly, your road to fame starts here, I though as I walked through the large open gate.
I stood inside the gates for a few moments, completely dumbfounded. I had NO idea where to go! Eventually, I decided to ask somebody where I needed to go. I walked towards a pink girl. She was wearing long black sweat pants that hung past her dark purple sneakers and a baggy navy blue hoodie that hid most of her face. I placed my hand on her shoulder. She stopped and dropped her guitar case onto the soft green grass under our feet. "Um, hey! I'm new here, so, um, could you show me where I need to go?" I asked, trying to sound as polite as possible. She growled irritably, then , motioned for me to follow her. She picked up her guitar case and began walking. I followed her across campus and through a large set of glass doors. She waved her hand towards a blue woman who sat at a large wooden desk at the back of the room. The pink girl then walked towards a stairwell at the other side of the room. I walked over to the desk and stood in front of it for a moment. The woman glanced up at me and simply said, "You need your room number, don't you?" I nodded. She handed me a small slip of paper with a letter and a number scribbled on it. It read: H36. "Um, thanks," I said awkwardly. She didn't pay attention and continued swiping the screen of her phone. I sighed and turned towards the same stairwell the pink girl had gone up. I walked up to the stairs and began dragging myself up them.
I groaned loudly as I stepped onto my floor. I sighed and attempted to slow my breathing. I'm apparently not the athlete I'm supposed to be. I pushed open a small door, it had a small plaque that read: H. I walked through it and walked slowly down a large brick corridor, taking extra time to glance at the dorm room numbers. When I finally found my room, I was pretty much too tired to move. I straitened my posture and took a deep breathe. I wrapped my hand around the door knob and pushed the wooden door gently, causing it to creak open. I stared into the small room and three other girls stared back at me. The blue girl placed her teal keytar on the couch behind her as she stood up. "Hello!" She said happily as she walked towards me. She stood in front of me, and, honestly, she was close to two times taller than me. She noticed I was slightly uncomfortable, so she smiled sweetly. "I'm Denim Blue, by the way!" She said as she extended her hand to shake. I griped her hand and shook it. "Yeah, I'm Firefly," I responded. She let go of my hand and turned around pointing to an extremely small white girl who had a large, blue, drum set in front of her. "That one's Lilly Liver." Lilly Liver waved at me and I giggled to myself, Weird name. Denim Blue then jabbed her finger towards the pink think girl I had seen before. She was holding a purple base guitar that looked oddly familiar. I could tell she was glaring up at me. "The emo one there is Bubble Wish." My eyes widened when I heard the name.
"Say that again." I said quietly.
"The emo one there is Bubble Wish?" Emo? I thought, Bubble Wish is anything but emo! I looked back at Bubble Wish, but, she had already left the room. Denim groaned and said, "I'll go get her." I nodded as she left the room. Lilly Liver then motioned for me to sit next to her. I walked up to the couch and sat next to the small white girl. "So," she said, "your name's Firefly, huh?" Lilly Liver had a thick accent that I couldn't place, it made her words harder to understand, so, I just nodded. There was an awkward silence between us before it was broken by to loud voices, one male and one female. "Um, who is that?" I questioned. Lilly Liver listened for a moment and then look up to the ceiling. "Oh," she said, "that's just Mystic Melody and Golden Harp. They're roommates and, like, the best of friends!" Oh, that made sense. "Well, um, that must be awkward. You know, being opposite sex roommates." I said awkwardly. Lilly stared at me for a moment. She then asked, "What do you mean?"
"Well," I said, "there's a girl and a guy up there. I heard their voices." Lilly Liver looked at me and began laughing. I looked at her, clueless as to why she found that so very hilarious. She sat up and wiped a tear from her eye. "No, no, no," she giggled, "Mystic Melody is a guy! But trust me, he makes a way better girl! We all call him The Boy Princess!" I giggled at the nickname. "Oh, and just so you know," she continued, "those two do A LOT of singing. But, hey, they are freaking amazing!"
"Good to know," I sighed. I heard a door creak open and Denim Blue walked into view, wearing a completely different outfit then before. She walked towards us. "Girls!" She shrieked, "why aren't you ready!?" Lilly Liver and I stared at her for a moment.
"Ready for what?" Lilly's heavy accent piped in. Denim Blue sighed and put a blue hand to her fore head. She took a deep breath and said, " The Orientation, duh!" Crap! The Orientation! I completely forgot! I stood up quickly, pulling Lilly up with me.
"Um, yeah! Right. We're, um, both ready!" Denim looked us up and down and sighed. The waved her hand towards the door. "Hey wait," I said, "where's Bubble Wish?"
"She's not coming." Denim Blue replied. I shrugged and walked through the open door.
