Days as a Freshman: 44

Mood: Peaceful

“And I was all, ‘you can’t just grab my boobs without asking first!’”

Stacey pushed through our door without knocking; barging in on what had been a peaceful study session between Rebecca and myself.

Dropping her purse by the door, kicking off her shoes in the middle of the room, and letting two shopping bags collapse all over her desk, Stacey continued to scream into her purple rhinestoned phone.

“It’s like, if you’re …

Days as a Freshman: 40

Mood: Been better

“What’s up?”

Laughing, Sasha let Naima lead him over to Crystal and I. The speakers were booming, people were shouting, and my head was swimming. Everyone around me was drunk. Everyone around me was having a fantastic time at the first dance of the year.

But I was stone cold sober. And panicking. And inches away from the boy I was in love with.

“Grace seriously has something to tell you.” …

Days as a Freshman: 34

Current Mood: Anxious

“Grace!”

Naima grabbed me and screamed into my ear, doing her best shout over the booming speakers. Crystal and I had found a corner to stand in off to the side of the student center, a small alcove to watch hundreds of sweaty people gyrate and generally make fools of themselves in the name of Friday night.

“It’s packed tonight! Dances usually aren’t!” Crystal reached into her pocket and pulled out a …

Days as a Freshman: 28

Current Mood: Anticipating

“So, are you going to the dance tonight?”

Naima leaned against the soda machine, her arms sagging underneath two giant boxes. Crystal and I were waiting with her in the mail line. Neither of us had anything to send out; it was mostly a moral support thing. No one liked to wait in the mail line alone. No matter what time of day you went, it was always the longest line in …

Days as a Freshman: 23

Current Mood: Lovesick

“Hey guys!”

Stacy’s voice was too loud for the library, and much too loud for my ears. Plunking herself down at our table, she made sure that she was sitting opposite Sasha, and leaning close enough to almost touch his forehead with hers.

After bumping into him in the dining hall, I had somehow miraculously started a conversation about Chemistry—the class we had together—and mentioned that I was headed to the library …

Days as a Freshman: 17

Current Mood: Tired

“So she just said she was a lesbian? Right there?” Crystal sliced a piece of tofu up and shoved it into her mouth. “Stacey must have flipped her shit.”

“I’ve never seen her that silent for that long.” I tried to keep my eyes off the white, shimmying blobs on Crystal’s plate and took a bite of my own dinner. Crystal was fantastic, but her vegan diet was often cringe-worthy.

One …

Days as a Freshman: 12

Current Mood: Hungry“

Do you think Sasha has a girlfriend?”

Stacey stared at herself in the mirror, running her tongue over her teeth and pulling the skin underneath her chin tightly against her neck. I had no idea what she was doing, but she had been doing it for the last 10 minutes.

“I mean, he’s so cute. Plus, he’s a soccer player. I love that. I love athletic guys.” She pursed her lips and …

Days as a Freshman: 6

Current Mood: Confused

So, it’s almost been a week since I got here. A week and already it feels much longer. It must have something to do with living in the same place you to go to school at. You never leave anyone, so people and days just drift into each other to make this huge vague cloud of time.

Six days in, and its 50% great and 50% I want to turn around and …

Days as a Freshman: 1

Current Mood: Exhausted.

So today was my first day. First day without my parents around, first official day on a college campus, and first time waking up in a bedroom that wasn’t the one my crib had been in 18 years earlier.

Moving in yesterday was like hell. It was hot, there were a lot of stairs, and everyone was trying to do the same thing at the same time. I’m in one of the …