I stripped off my scarf and tennis shoes and headed up stairs. Rose petal after rose petal, I climbed up and up. Small, white candles were lit on the desks and such the littered the hallway. And as I reached my door, I took a deep breath, who was in there? My brain searched and puzzled for answers.

I opened the door to 10 of my closest friends and relatives. “SURPRISE!!!!” they all shouted. My heart skipped a beat as I got used to the scenario around me.

“Oh my gosh! This is sooo sweet!” I finally came out with.

“Well, since you’re going off to prep school, we all thought that it would be nice to, um, throw you a going away party!” my mother said. I stared blankly at the blonde, well-proportioned woman.

“Oh…but I’m not leaving until the end of July.” I replied.

“Well, not exactly.” My tall brunette father stated.

“What do you mean, ‘not exactly’?” I said while making quotation marks with my slender fingers.

“Well, I mean that you’ll be moving out of here and into an apartment.” My father continued.

“And with whom am I sharing this apartment with?” I asked. I was starting to get pissed.

“Well talk about it later dear, just have fun with all your friends.” My mother said. I was so mad at my parents and the current situation that I had totally forgotten about my friends and other people there. I looked around at them and waited for someone to say something, but no one did.

Finally I broke the ice, “So, let’s get this shin-dig on the road, what do ya say?” Everyone pretty much nodded their heads and added a groan or two. I pushed past my aunt Sherry and cousin Mike to get to the stereo. A minute or two later my bedroom was rocking with teenagers and parents, cousins and classmates.

My two best friends came up to me and told me the situation. I was appalled that they knew before me, hell, EVERYONE knew before ME. They told me that my parents thought it would be best if I met new people.

“You guys have seen me around people I don’t know, you see how bad I clam up. It’ll take me while to get to know anybody, let alone a roommate. Did they say ANYTHING about roommates?” I asked urgently. They looked at each other then back at me.

“They did say something about a couple of guys…” One of them said.

“Guys? Roommates? I’m in hell.” I said while lying back on my bed. “Pure hell. Pure, painful, hell. Satanic, excruciating, BURNING HELL!”