The Hall Speaks #fallsemester

Separation

#Landon

He stepped off the elevator on his way to the first floor meeting, the only one he made sure to attend each year. During this meeting, all the HDs checked up on the staff; the hall meeting revealed a lot about an RA. Being an RA among other RAs was one thing, but being an RA in front of residents was a completely different game. Sure, Landon was their boss, but he liked thinking of himself as a mentor. Watching them perform the first floor meeting helped him gauge their strengths and weakness.

As his feet hit the tile in the hallway, he thought about his first floor meeting as a resident. He had stared at Drew like he was really interested in her little hall-life speech. But all he could think about was maintaining his private extra-curricular activities despite having a roommate. If he was going to cheat his way into law school like planned, he would need privacy. That's when it hit him; his dad could just buy out the entire room.

A part of his conscious hurt thinking about the past. He was glad it was just that—the past.

When he got to Shandi's floor, he could tell she was just about to start her meeting. Not wanting to interrupt, he stood off in a corner.

Shandi stood there, twisting a feather that was tied into her hair. She always wore a piece of the wild in her locks. Two long rows of residents on each side of the wall stared at her with blank faces. Chewing her bottom lip, she ruffled through papers covering hall meeting information. Glancing briefly at the bored eyes of her residents, Shandi spread out her arms as if presenting something.

"Hi everyone!" said Shandi and paused, waiting for the last few residents to trickle out of their rooms.

"Let's go ahead and get started. My name is Shandi, as most of you know, and I'm the RA. This is my first year being an RA, and this is my sophomore year at VBU. I'm majoring in theatre and aspire to work behind of the scenes of your favorite movies one day, because I really suck at public speaking," said Shandi, sharing a cheesy grin.

A few of the girls snickered as Shandi's voice went up two octaves. Standing behind the two residents, Landon overheard them talking.

"Is this for real? This girl seems a little spacey," whispered one female with black glasses and pin-straight brown hair to the girl sitting next to her.

"Well at least she seems nice. She looks so young though, I can't believe she's a sophomore," responded the girl, her voice hardly a whisper.

Shandi, completely unaware that her residents were having side conversations, continued. "I have a lot of information to cover, but I'm so excited. We're going to have a blast this year," she said as she handed out a single sunflower to each resident.

"What's this for?" asked one of Shandi's male residents who was wearing a basketball jersey.

"I'm glad you asked. I love flowers, and I believe one of the best ways to build community is to share the things you love with others!"

Landon smiled, appreciative of Shandi's thoughtfulness. He slid out of the meeting unnoticed to attend the next one.

#Alana

Alana had just finished explaining the roommate and community agreement to her hall. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed a skinny guy wearing a black baseball cap sitting at the end of her hallway, practically hiding behind two girls. Pausing momentarily, she went up to him; he was staring at the floor tile or the resident's legs across from him. Alana wasn't sure.

"Hey," Alana said, addressed young man. He didn't look up at her, but she recognized him from move-in. It was one of Ethan's residents, AK. Alana concluded he was definitely staring at the girl's bare legs, and a creepy feeling moved down her spin. "Excuse me," she tried again. She looked at AK, and then at the girl he was gawking at; she sat there, face turned away, looking more than uncomfortable. "You are required to attend your hall meeting on the first floor." Alana thought it was strange that he would try to attend a meeting on the all-girls floor. She heard whispering residents in the background, and she wondered if they'd been thinking the same thing.