4. The First Encounter

It’s already past 7 and we’ve been standing in line for almost an hour now. But there’s still a LOT of girls ahead of us. It takes so much time for one to finish bathing. My heart’s already pounding crazily inside my chest.

I think we're gonna be late for our freshmen orientation.

“Okay, this is not gonna work,” Taylor murmured. She’s behind me and we are actually the last people in the line. How crazy is that?

“I know. But I’m not comfortable going out without so much as washing my face,” I replied.

“I’ll go downstairs and check if the line’s not as long. You stay here, I’ll come back,” Taylor said. I haven’t replied yet and she already left, leaving me with her things.

I took a deep sigh as I wished people downstairs didn't take forever to shower.

No one warned us about the long line in the bathroom. If I only knew, I would’ve just taken a bath last night.

While on the line, I kept looking at the stairs to see if Taylor’s coming or not. I also checked the time on the clock displayed at the bottom of the hallway. I had to squint my eyes to see it correctly. It’s almost 8 now.

How can time pass by so fast?!

Finally, I saw Taylor running down the hall toward me.

“Quick! Quick!” She said as she gestured to me to run to her. I was dumbfounded but I still did run to her.

We met halfway and she was still trying to catch her breath.

“God, we should’ve just rented an apartment or something with its own bathroom,” she grumbled. “Vincent the RA said the Dorm Manager’s still not around. He said we can use the bathroom in her office. Let’s go!”

We didn’t waste our time and ran as fast as we could.

“Hey, Vincent!” Was all I was able to tell him when we reached the Dorm manager’s office. Taylor quickly grabbed me going to the bathroom.

The bathroom was quite huge so it could accommodate me and Taylor. With my eyes widening, I looked at Taylor as she took off her shirt.

“Hey! We don’t have much time! You use the shower, I’ll use the faucet,” Taylor mumbled. I tried not to mind ourselves taking a bath together and just went for it. Well, we weren’t really naked. We still had our underwear on while taking a bath. I know it’s weird but we’re in crisis so we can’t afford to be picky.

Taylor washed her hair in the faucet while I had the shower. When I was done applying soap and rinsing my body, we exchanged positions so she could wash her body, and I did my hair in the faucet. It was pretty crazy but we moved so quickly until we found ourselves wrapped with our bathrobes.

We got out of the bathroom also pretty quickly and just said our ‘thanks’ to Vincent. We ran upstairs. I didn’t know our first day would be like a marathon.

We didn’t waste time and quickly changed into our clothes. Good thing I already planned what to wear today- a cream turtleneck sweater paired with a tan skirt that ends about 3 inches above the knee. On the other hand, Taylor nearly ruined her neatly piled clothes looking for something to wear.

“Oh God, I didn’t think this through!” She almost shouted. I could hear the panic in her voice.

I was already done wearing my clothes, my sweater still untucked, while Taylor’s still in her underwear. Maybe I’ll laugh about our situation later. Because this is really funny.

I helped Taylor pick something to wear. I suggested she just wear her maroon strappy dress and she did choose it. I also got her a white cardigan to wear on top of her dress. I’m not sure about the dress code here because it is yet to be discussed later.

I quickly looked at myself in the mirror and just put on a lip tint just so I won’t look pale. I didn’t bother putting on makeup or anything else because we really don’t have time now. Taylor did the same.

And lastly, I took the necklace Mom gave me and wore it. I just hid it behind my sweater. 

Another good thing is I already prepared my bag with the stuff I will need inside and so did Taylor. I’m so grateful she did hers.

We didn’t have the time to blow dry our hair so we just let it be. We ran to our shoe stand and grabbed our shoes- mine's tan ankle boots while Taylor’s are peach sandals.

Now that I see it, we kind of have different wardrobes. 

We got out of our room and locked the door after making sure we got our keys.

“Hey! Your hair’s still wet!” I mumbled when I saw Taylor fixing her hair into a ponytail. Her hair’s quite short so there are strands on her neck.

“It’ll dry!” She replied.

I thought for a second if I should just bun my hair but my hair’s too wet and too long for it. I just tried to comb it multiple times so it would dry quickly.

We ran to the auditorium for the orientation, but it was already past 8. So when we reached there, the auditorium was already packed. There are no seats left.

“So I guess we’ll just stand here, huh?” Taylor commented. We are devastated.

“I guess we are,” I mumbled.

The orientation was just starting so I guess it’s okay if we stand here. After all, we’re not the only ones on standing ovations.

“Good morning,” the emcee greeted in front. I was even surprised when the speakers made a noise. There were speakers everywhere! And there’s a speaker just behind us which really made me jump. “Is everybody here freshmen?”

“Yes, ma’am!” The crowd replied.

I noticed three males sitting on the seats in front of us. They were laughing and whispering something. They looked like they’re making fun of something.

I just looked away and focused my attention on the speaker who is now starting to speak in front.

“It felt nice to be a freshman again.”

“Well, it felt good we didn’t go to class.”

“Should we start hunting for pretty freshmen now?”

“No. Let’s pretend to blend in some more. You don’t want teachers seeing us.”

“Now, this is fun.”

My brows furrowed when I heard the conversation of the three males. Did I get it right? They’re not freshmen and are just crashing? What the hell is wrong with them?

I thought I was the only one who heard their conversation. Apparently, Taylor heard it too and is now grunting.

“Oh, check out that girl in pink,” one of the boys said, the one at the right, pointing at a girl a few seats away from them. Jerks.

“She’s hot,” the one in glasses commented. He was sitting on the left. There was a guy in the middle of the two but he seemed more quiet than the two guys.

“Oh. Look at that girl in-“

The guy on the right did not finish what he was gonna say because Taylor approached them and said, “Excuse me, I happened to hear your conversation. You’re just here to check out pretty girls? You’re not actually freshmen?”

My eyes widened in shock. No, she didn’t! She just started an argument with those guys. God!

“Oh, look at her,” the guy in glasses said, giving Taylor a look from head to toe.

Oh, no. This is not good.

“Don’t give that look,” Taylor said to the guy. This time, I stepped in and tried to stop Taylor.

“Tay,” I called softly.

But she didn’t let me stop her. She continued arguing with the guys. Telling them about how much of a crasher they are, that they should go back to their classes, and give their seats to actual freshmen who are standing in the back. It was like they were shouting but still in shushed voices, being careful not to be heard by everyone else in the auditorium.

“This is so not what I pictured my first day will be,” Taylor mumbled.

“Well, I guess it’s your fault, babe,” said the guy on the right.

“Don’t you babe me!” Taylor snapped.

The guys laughed, except for the guy in the middle who’s staring at me. At first, he just stared at me, but when he noticed I was looking at him, he smiled at me, amusement was written all over his face.

I looked away. “Taylor, you’re starting a scene,” I whispered to Taylor. That made her stop.

“Come on, boys. We’re caught. I think we should just go,” he murmured and the guys readily agreed.

They all stood up. The two boys even looked at Taylor, while Taylor arched her brow at them.

And the other one was still looking at me, like he had no plans of looking away. That made me feel so conscious.

The boys left the auditorium, leaving us with empty seats. Taylor and I quickly sat there.

But even if we already took our seats, I could still feel someone staring at me.

I looked behind me, and there I saw the guy, still looking. That’s when I felt the weird sensation again from the necklace. I wanted to check it out but I don’t want to draw attention so I just let it be. But I have a feeling the wolf appeared in the pendant again.

The guy was already at the door, holding the knob. He even gave a small smile before he went out.

I just looked away and tried to shrug the thought out of my head.