kaitlynn rose // h.s

ice breakers

@kaitlynnrose: year three, day one. let's get it.

The professor claps her hands together one time as she looks at all of her newest students. "Hello, all! Happy Monday. Welcome to English 351. My name is Angela. I'm going to run through attendance really quick just to make sure you all are in the right place, and then we're going to move on to an activity."

I sigh, resting my chin in the palm of my hand. I don't mind school, really - it's kind of my safe place from the real world. But honestly, every time a new semester starts, it's extremely draining. New classrooms, new professors, new people. It's just a lot, especially when you're socially anxious and pretty much always the quietest person in the class.

The professor finishes up attendance and then scoots back onto her desk and sits on top of it. She tells us what we're doing, which unfortunately is a "get to know each other" activity. She instructs us to go one by one and stand up, say our name, our major, and one fun fact about ourselves. I internally groan, and I can already start to feel my palms getting clammy. The closer it gets to my turn, the more I start to fidget with my sweater sleeves. My heart was racing. The guy to the left of me stands, clearing his throat.

"Um, I'm Harry. I'm undeclared, and a fact about me is that I hate get to know each other activities," he sits back down and a sigh falls from his lips. Same.

"Sorry to hear that," the professor sighs. "Thank you, Harry."

She looks over at me, which prompts me to stand up. "Hi, I'm Kaitlynn. I'm an english major, and I guess a fact about me is that I love film photography."

I nod in assurance to myself and sit back down. The professor thanks me and I look over to my left to avoid her eyes. The guy, Harry, is already looking over at me with curious eyes. He looks away when he sees I'm looking at him. Odd.

We wrap up the activity and then she moves on to going over the syllabus. I take a few notes on it as she goes over it, and then tuck them away into my notebook once Angela wraps up what she's saying and excuses us. I expected her to start teaching since this class was only a few times a week, but she lets us out after barely an hour. I could tell she was really laid back, so maybe this class will be a breeze.

I slowly pack up my bag, then I turn to head out the door. Harry is still at his desk, looking over at me once again. I look down at my feet as I walk past him, trying to ignore his stare.

"Wait."

My feet stop in their place due to his accented voice instructing me to stay. I look over at him, confusion bubbling up inside of me.

"What's your name again, babe?"

"Uh, it's Kaitlynn."

"Hm."

He doesn't say anything else, he just stands and starts to walk towards the door. I was hoping the confusion would go away after the conversation we had, but I'm not sure if that was even enough to be considered a conversation. After watching him walk for a second, I follow after him towards the door.

That was my only class of the day, so as I walked out the door my anxiety lessened a bit. Usually I'd have another class, but for some reason it starts on Wednesday for this first week. I take a deep breath of fresh air and hold my journals close to my chest as I realize I'm done with my first day of my junior year. Somehow this doesn't get easier to do.

I adjust my bag and start to walk in the direction of my dorm. I was thinking about going to grab some food from the dining hall, but the thought of dealing with people wasn't really intriguing at this point in time, so I headed straight to the dorm. My roommate wasn't in there when I got there, I think she has another class until later in the day. I wasn't completely sure of her schedule though. Then again, even if I was sure of her schedule I still wouldn't know where she is half of the time. She's more social than I will ever be.

I got extremely lucky when it came to having a roommate. Freshman year, I got paired with a girl named Erin. We became really close and we've chosen to be roommates both last year and this year.

I take a seat on my bed and log into the online school site so I can access the syllabi from my other classes. I was in four classes this semester: english, math, psychology, and film photography. As I start to get everything set up, my phone buzzes.

from: ur bitchy roomie

hiya theres a party friday at liam's frat do you wanna go? p.s you don't have a choice ur going

to:  ur bitchy roomie

Don't really want to go, though. Also, when did you switch your contact name in my phone to "ur bitchy roomie" ?? weirdo

from: ur bitchy roomie

lmao

anyway you can borrow something of mine if you want

it'll be fun !!!

and I won't leave you I promise.

I know how u feel about this kinda thing

but i really want you to be there

you're my best friend here and I want to party it up w you

to: Erin

Fine. also I changed ur name back because it was pissing me off lol. It didn't feel right.

from: Erin

you're no fun...but I'll forever be ur bitchy roomie !!

gonna get it tattooed on my forehead in big letters

"Kait's bitchy roomie"

it'll be gorg

and people will totally hire me once i graduate. it'll be better than any accessory ever

to: Erin

You are hands down the weirdest person I know.

from: Erin

you love me tho

to: Erin

If you say so

from: Erin

how rude

silent treatment towards you until i get back to the room