Alex
Summer was close to its end and Alex was ready to move away from home and go to college. He had worked at a coffee shop and as a summer school assistant to afford the car he was packing with boxes filled with his life. Alex was never popular in high school but he was the sort of person that had a lot of friends. Everyone seemed to get along with him but no one knew him besides a select few. He thought of himself as a floater, never really fitting in with one crowd but always drifting between them mingling around at different school events.
He was perfectly average looking. Short brown hair that he spiked up and brown eyes. A little short, but compact muscle that often made people assume he wrestled. But he wasn't into sports. He wasn't really into anything besides hanging out.
As he filled his car with boxes, his mom came out and watched. She knew he was gay and was excited for him to leave the conservative town she raised him and move someplace more accepting. She looked anxiously at her watch, hoping Alex's sister would come home in time to say goodbye. But Alex new his sister wouldn't and said goodbye after breakfast.
It was just the three of them. His Dad left when he was in middle school. He was cheating on his mom with another one of school friend's parents. It was a bad divorce and Alex has refused to see his dad except for Holidays. His sister was another story, and saw him as often as she liked.
He slid a dorm room mirror he bought from Target on top of his boxes and went to hug his mom goodbye. She slid her arms around him, gently holding him until he wiggled away and then whispered "I love you" before he got in the car and pulled out of the driveway to embark on the rest of his life.
He was only traveling 2 hours away but that was enough of a distance where he didn't have to come home a lot but if he needed to, he could visit or grab a few things he forgot. Alex was already starting to feel nervous as he got on the freeway. He passed his middle school where those innocent afterschool talks his father was having with his new wife Linda started and he passed the park he hung out in afterschool where he was bullied because he was gay. The bullies outgrew him but Alex still felt anxiety when people mentioned gay people around him. There was one other out gay kid in high school whom was very flamboyant and made Alex feel self-conscious because he wasn't like him. After awhile Alex realized he wasn't homesick, He was just nostalgic for a time when life was easier, where he didn't have these bad memories. He turned up the radio and rolled down the windows and lay back for the drive ahead of him.
After nearly three hours in traffic he pulled into a spot and followed the signs to a check-in table. An Asian girl with glasses was sitting there directing people to their dorms. After making Alex sign a few papers she handed him his keys and pointed to a building at the far end of the quad, Jefferson Hall. "Jefferson 210." She said. "You're lucky, I'm going to be your RA. I'll see you in our floor meeting. I'm Sam if you couldn't read my name tag," as she pointed to the red writing on her shirt. "Here's a parking pass so you can move your car closer. See you later!"
While Alex didn't talk to her for long, he felt like she was a good person and was glad he might have a cool RA his first year. Now he only hoped for a cool roommate that was already there so he didn't have to choose which bed was his. Alex was super indecisive and wanted his roommate to be happy so they could start the year off right.
Alex moved his car and started unloading it. He climbed the stairs and said hi to a few people on the way to his room. As he unlocked his door with one arm around a box, he was sad to see no one else moved in.
It was a typical dorm room. There were 2 beds, 2 desks, and 2 standup closets on the side of each wall with a door on the left leading to the bathroom and a nice window overlooking the quad on the other end of the room. He could make out Sam in her blue shirt sitting at the table where he checked-in.