Chapter Thirty-Seven

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After two more days, Crissa's parents delivered her and her belongings to the UBC campus for freshman orientation. It had been a tearful morning for her mother and a somber one for her father. Finally leaving her with her suitcases and boxes of essentials in her new dorm room--the second floor of Totem Hall, it was an awkward moment as the other parents were leaving their daughters in a similar fashion. All feeling there must be more they could do for them. At some point the resident assistant, Helen, a graduate student who had taken on the role of supervising the dormitory facility, kindly asked the girls' guardians to say their farewells, so the long day of orientation and tours of the campus could commence. Crissa took all of this in stride and was only slightly teary-eyed when she looked out the single window of the room and watched as her parents disappeared around the commons building on their way back to the parking lot.

Sitting on her bed for a few moments and looking at the boxes and luggage she would have to put into place, she wondered, as she had countless times each day and night since arriving back in Canada, when David would call or at least text her again. Looking out the open door, she also wondered when her new roommate would make her first appearance, expecting their greetings that morning to be initially awkward. From the clock on her smartphone, Crissa could see she had forty-five minutes before having to go down stairs to the dorm lobby for a general meeting with the fifty-some girls who were assigned to Totem.

While putting her clothes into one of the two dressers, and hanging up blouses and jackets in a surprisingly large closet, she turned around just as a girl of about her height and weight, but much fairer complexion, walked into the room with two heavy suitcases. She had straight blond hair and was well-tanned, instantly recognizable as the girl in the letter photo.

"Trisha?"

"Yeah, and you're Crissa?"

"Yeah. So . . . welcome to . . .our room."

The girl laughed an adorable laugh and showed off her beautifully white teeth.

"So, this is really it?" She looked around while setting her luggage down on the carpeted floor.

"Yeah. I guess we're finally here. Nothing special really. But the bathroom's nice. And it seems we have some good storage space. There's a decent desk for each of us. But the beds are a little too soft."

The girl walked over and put her hand out for Crissa to take in greeting.

"Just call me Trish, OK? I'm pretty used to that back in . . ."

"San Diego?"

"Yeah. Have you been there?"

"No. Just LA."

"Big difference. But I guess you're from up here, right? BC?"

"Well, just up the hill. Northeast Vancouver."

"Not bad. You'll get some home cooked meals once in a while."

They both smiled nervously.

"That's right," Crissa said. "But I've already checked out the dorm food menu for us. It doesn't look so bad. Mostly healthy stuff. The usual pizza and burgers, too. If you're into that. Oh, and once a week, we get an international dinner . . . Chinese, Mexican, Italian . . ."

"Great. "I'm usually a soup and salad person, though. Gotta watch the weight. I've heard dorm food can kill your figure. In just one semester!"

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