Someone should really write these down

It’s finally time for college! Ma and I are getting out there early so I’ll have an easier time adjusting to the new routine. I’ve written it down meticulously, looking over it again and again to make sure everything was scheduled right.

6AM - Make bed

7AM -

8AM -

9AM - Eat breakfast, brush teeth

10AM - Go to math class

11AM - Do math homework

12PM - Go to soil science class

1PM - Work out, shower, eat lunch

2PM - Do soil science homework

3PM - Clean dorm

4PM -

5PM -

6PM -

7PM - Eat dinner

8PM - Time for bed

Ma suggested I leave some slots blank and only take two classes for now. I don’t know why, I mean, what am I supposed to do with three whole hours in the middle of the day, and three early in the morning!? Pets aren’t allowed at the college, we checked, that rule was written down very clearly, so I couldn’t bring my chickens.

Oh, right. I couldn’t bring my chickens. They have to stay home. How am I supposed to wake up without a rooster crowing? I’d held myself together for the entire drive out to this college, but I was about to sob now. It hit me like a ton of bricks, all at once. New home for now, new schedule, no chickens, and a new roommate I’ve never met before. It was so overwhelming.

Ma helped me calm down as we unpacked everything into my new dorm. It was a little small, but we’d thought ahead of time and got me a single room, meaning that I only had to share the living room, kitchenette, and bathroom with a roommate. Or roommates, plural. There were four total rooms.

“You’ve got this, Alex” Ma said firmly as she gave me a pep talk, probably the hundredth one on this trip. Coming to New York had taken hours.

“You’re smart, and motivated, and you love to learn. No matter what happens, you’ve got this. You’ll do amazing things out here.” she continued. I was too overwhelmed to speak, and honestly just wanted to sleep. We hugged each other, and she went home, and I went to bed. I miss my chickens.

I was woken up four hours later by the arrival of my first roommate. She was alone, and only had two suitcases with her. I introduced myself, as she finished wheeling both her suitcases into one of the rooms.

“Hi, my name is Alex, what’s yours?” I asked politely, looking right at her nose, a trick Ma taught me.

“Leah” she answered. She had a grimace and an unpleasant voice. She stood there for a while. This is really awkward I thought. After a few seconds which felt longer, she said

“Are you just going to stand there? Help me with my bags.” I wheeled the smaller of the two suitcases, and as I did, I heard Leah mumble. She definitely didn’t want me to hear it, but I did anyway. I hear everything.

“Doesn’t anyone have manners?” When we got to her room, she gave me a condescending look, and said in a very rude sounding way

“The first roommates to arrive are supposed to help the later roommates with their bags.”

“What? That wasn’t in the rule book.” I said as I looked through it again, thinking I’d missed something. Leah rolled her eyes.

“It’s not… ugh, just remember that next time, ok?” Leah said. She followed up with “It’s an unwritten rule, a courtesy, a social norm?” All I could say was “Oh… someone should really write these down.” Leah shut the door, so I busied myself decorating.

I hadn’t brought much, but everything I did bring was perfect for the small shared space. Whoever was here before us had left behind a really soft, old couch and a beat up coffee table. That’s fine, I can definitely work with this. Decorating took about an hour, and by the time I was done, there were chickens everywhere. I grabbed my student handbook and wrote down the following.

Other rules:

Rule 1) help roommates with suitcases before saying hello

That seemed like a weird rule, but it was probably important. I was really nervous again, and I’d give anything to have a real chicken in the dorms. What other rules are there that aren't written? I wondered about it for the rest of the day. I was still wondering about it in the morning, when my rooster alarm clock went off.

By 8AM, Leah came out of her room. She sat down beside me and looked around. I could practically see that she was piecing something together, but I couldn’t imagine what. She picked up one of the pillows Mee-Maw made and started a conversation.

“You, uh… you really like chickens, huh?” she asked, sounding like she just woke up, and didn’t expect anything to be decorated at all. I perked up with excitement. Maybe she likes chickens too!

“Oh, yes, I love chickens!” I said a little louder than I meant to, but I really couldn't help myself.

“I have 10 chickens back home, they’re Iowa blue chickens, except for the rooster, we don’t know what he is.” Leah put the pillow down again and looked… confused? Concerned? Bored? Whatever feeling it was, she went to the kitchenette to heat up a frozen meal for breakfast. It was almost 9AM, so I followed shortly after for my own frozen meal.

“Don’t follow me, please” she said flatly. I held up my box of frozen spaghetti and she nodded. Once she was done with the microwave it was my turn. After we ate, she looked a lot friendlier.

“I’m sorry, you were more awake than I thought you’d be. You can tell me about the chickens now,”

“But why couldn’t I before?” I asked “Is it another unwritten rule thing?”

Leah nodded, then explained.

“Most people don’t want to hear everything you know about chickens. But I’d like to hear you talk about it, you looked very happy when you were. So I went through my routine (except for going to class, because they didn’t start until tomorrow) telling Leah everything about chickens, showing her chicken pictures, and I found that I missed my own chickens a little less. I decided to write what she said down while I waited for her to be done in the shower.

Other rules:

Rule 1) help roommates with suitcases before saying hello

Rule 2) don’t infodump about your special interest first thing in the morning

I was glad that Leah was actually pretty nice when she wasn’t hungry. It made a night of preparing for our classes a lot easier and a lot more fun. I think I saw her hide a giggle when she saw that all my school supplies also had chickens on them. That's when I knew she'd be my best person friend.