alumni ➢ luke hemmings [DISCONTINUED]

0.3 ➢ New York.

Alumni ➢ 0.3
I've only ever been in one dorm in my entire life. That was back in England; during the early summer after the first year of Sixth Form, when I went to an Edge Hill University open week with my friend India and my other friend Matt. At the time, I was in awe. The accommodation was pretty big and it had the potential to fit way more than a handful of people— this temporary dorm I've been assigned to at NYU, however, makes all of that seem like a rich man's mere walk-in closet.

"I've arranged some things, requested a few more. You'll have the best room in the block," I remember my mother telling me, right before we got out of the car to enter the actual campus, "I want you to have the best time here- even if I have to bring a thing or two up to the Alumni Board."

I drag my suitcase across the floor, Calum whistling behind me with one of my many carry-on's poised effortlessly on his shoulder. I'm not entirely sure he should be here, for the entire hallway's packed with freshman who've done nothing but gawk at his attractiveness for the whole time that he has, but I'm in no place to complain.

Michael's off somewhere with Chase and as for Chelsea, I lost her a while back in the sea of people I now have to call my peers, so Calum's literally the only person I can count on for the time being.

Not that I mind that in the slightest. I like Calum; he's like Michael, just with a little more cynicism and sarcasm flowing through his bloodstream rather than the actual red liquid.

The position of my temporary dorm is convinient, the space even more so. It's only going to be me living here for the week I'll spend rushing, yet the proximity of the place makes it so that I never want to leave.

"Are all dorms in America this big?" I'm practically gawking, staring around the wide space with even wider eyes. Calum chuckles, carefully setting my bag down on the coffee table.

"Nah. Just yours," he says. I give him a look to say that I think he's kidding, but he just smirks, "Don't believe me? Dip your head into any other room in this hall. You'll see,"

"But, why?" I ask, setting my suitcase down on the bed. It has crisp white sheets and soft pillowcases of the same colour, each of them adorning a faint, floral design. Everything looks so pristine and pressed that it's hard to wrap my head around the uniformity of it all.

Even the tiles in the small, walk-in kitchen have been cleaned, and I can't help but raise an eyebrow at the wrapped gift placed prominently on the shiney marble of the counter.

"Legacy perks. Your mum's a part of the Alumni Board," Calum states simply, "I'm guessing she made a phone call." I try not to let my annoyance for the word show as I pick the little parcel up, examining it under the rays of sun that peak through the blinds.

I'm slow to tear the tissue paper away, even more reluctant to snap the velvet box open. Inside sits a little chain, with Delta's sorority symbols engraved on a tiny golden plaque placed right in the center. It looks lavish, and intimidatingly official.

A note flutters to the table and I reach for it with care, immediately recognising the handwriting to be my mother's.

For you.

"Fancy," Calum nods.

"This seems like an awful lot for a girl whose mother just went to the same school," I note, raising an eyebrow at him. And I'm not just talking about the gift; literally everything else I've come across today, too. You'd think that  Alice Hayes helped save the world at one point, judging by how everyone's been acting around me.