Chapter Two
“Alright this is the room, my dude! Damn I can’t wait to get a buzz on, I’m so psyched I’m finally here!”
Keegan was nearly shaking with excitement as we neared the room he had heard about. Walking down the hall, we began to hear the bass thump of loud music reverberating against the thin dorm walls.
“This isn’t exactly incognito,” I said as we drew closer, “can’t freshmen get in trouble for drinking here?”
Keegan looked at me with a guffaw. “Ha! Look at this square! Nawh man, the bossman on this floor is cool. No worries!”
He knocked on the door with a wide grin. It opened at first with a crack after a heavy lock was turned. A face popped into view, then the door flew open in recognition.
“Awwwh, shit Key! Suuuup?”
The two embraced and slapped each other’s backs. From head to toe, they were almost indiscernibly similar to one another. In place of brand name sneakers, the one who opened the door had loafers. And he sported a very visible drunken sway with a red cup in hand.
“Zack man, yoooo! Zack, get a load of this kid, he’s my roommate. Let’s show him how sig nu’s DO!”
They awkwardly pawed some sort of high five together and made some animal like noises. Putting his arm around Keegan, Zack turned his back to me and announced to the room, “Someone get this pussy a beer!”
Left in the doorway, I took stock of the room. Filling the majority of the empty space were two small dressers facing one another with a large gap in between. They were made into a make shift beer pong table as two teams of two shot balls at opposite cups and talked trash. Stuffing the sides of the room, positioned on top of various sitting spaces, beds, desks and the one window sill were all kids with cups. The loud music underlined any conversation any of them could be having; it was blaring.
Not recognizing a single other person besides Keegan and his eerily similar boy buddy who were currently arm over shoulder and reciting some sort of drinking chant, I slowly shut the door behind me and made a move towards the fridge and hopefully some drinks.
Edging between conversations, drinks, arms, and a few dirty looks, I finally managed to open the fridge next to the window and grab a can of brew. I cracked it open, taking a sip when someone shoved a cup in my hand.
“Pour it in this. That way, anyone busts in here and you finish it up and can’t be tagged with shit. The room owner will get busted down for all the empties,” he pointed to a large stack in the corner as two freshly hollow cans were thrown on top.
“Uh, thanks,” I said to his back as he turned to whatever he was doing. Alone again, I noticed a thick, skunky scent to my right near the small window. An older kid with a ‘RESIDENTS ASSISTANT’ polo stood bent over trying unsuccessfully to blow smoke out of the screened window. “Fuck man, we need a fan,” he grumbled as the large cloud of smoke briefly exited and then entered the room in again. I approached him.
“Aren’t you supposed to be preventing this sort of thing?” I said gesturing towards the twenty plus new students bouncing around the room, drinks in hand, care free.
“I’m supervising. Who are you anyways?” His low, red eyes narrowed further in suspicion.
“Just a new student. I live on the floor below, the name’s Dan. Keegan over there is my roommate.”
He relaxed. “Haha that sucks, my dude. He’s an annoying little shit. His brother’s not a bad guy though.” He stopped talking and looked over my shoulder.
Just then, I felt a pair of eyes on the back of my head.