About 3 hours after the party ended, everyone went home. Melissa and Robyn were going to spend the night, so they went home to get their things. While they were gone, I took the opportunity to ask my parents what the hell was going on. I approached them with the evil eye, my mother saw it and put down the garbage that she was cleaning up.

“We should talk about this with your father too.” She stated.

“The more answers the better.” I retorted. So she and I walked over to my father and I asked him what the situation was.

“Your mother and I thought it would be better if you didn’t go into a dorm.” He explained.

“So many weird girls, all wanting to party and such, drink beer and take ecstasy. If you did it, the drugs alone have a fifty-fifty chance of killing you.” My mother chimed in.

“Ok, so I’m going to be living alone in an apartment, that’s not terrible.” I confirmed.

“Well,” my mother said. “Well what? Mom? Dad?” I questioned while looking back and forth from parent to parent.

”We’re not rich honey.” My dad said.

“I know.” I replied.

“So you’ll be sharing the apartment.”

“Do I have a say in which apartment or who I share it with?” I questioned.

“Not really, when you get there, he should already have moved in.” my mother stated.

“He? Do I at least know him?”

“No pumpkin, you don’t know him, but you will know him; who knows, maybe you’ll think he’s cute?” my dad concluded.

“Is there a picture of this, mystery date? Or even apartment?” I asked hopefully.

“Here’s a brochure for the apartment, and clipped on the back is a picture of the boy.” My mother said while handing me the brochure.

“I can keep this…right? I mean, it has the directions on it.”

“Yes, you can keep it.” My father replied.

“Wait, hold on, when am I moving in?” I asked. My father mumbled something under his breath.

“What?” I asked.

He looked up at me, “In three days…”

“WHAT????” I yelled.

“Part of the reason for the girls spending the night is for them to help you pack.” My mother confirmed. Robyn and Melissa finally arrived about a half an hour later.

“So, we’re supposed to help you pack?” Melissa asked.

“That’s gonna bring up a lot of memories Nikky, I don’t know if I can handle the memories.” Robyn stated.

“Well, listen guys, I’m only going to be about 280 miles away. It’s not that far, I promise to call and write every single day!” I pleaded to them.

“We know, we know! It’s just not going to be the same without you around. OH NIKKY!!!!! I’m going to miss you so much!” Melissa burst out with.

“I’ll miss you too, I’ll miss all of you!” after I said that, all three of us came in for a group hug. I even started crying. Melissa and Robyn took their cue and started crying too.

My room wasn’t that big, so it didn’t take to long to pack mostly everything up.

“Hey Nikky, I found your camera! There’s still a picture left too!” Robyn exclaimed.

“Alright, no excuse. Last picture is ours. I’ll have my mom take it before I leave. Try to look happy for me?” I asked.

“Yeah, we’ll try, but it’s not easy when one of your BEST friends leaves you on a writing scholarship to some Prep. School. Whoa, it’s almost 2:30, we’d better get ready for bed.” Robyn stated.

“Yeah. We’ll get the rest of the house tomorrow, k?” I stated sleepily.

“Hey, I saw this brochure while I was cleaning off your dresser. Is this the place? Who’s the rich hottie on the back?” Melissa asked.

“Yeah, that’s the place, the guy on the back is who I’m sharing the apartment with. You think he’s hott? Ew, gross. Maybe I’ll invite you over sometime. You two can get to, well, ‘know’ each other.” I said while starting to laugh.

“Yeah, we’ll just have to see about that.” Melissa said.

“Ya know, I haven’t even looked at this thing since my mom gave it to me, why don’t we look at it now?” I suggested.

“Sure!” Melissa and Robyn chimed in. After we brushed our teeth and washed our faces, we fixed our beds and lie down.

“Ok guys. It says here that the kitchen comes with stainless steel fridge, stove & oven, counter-tops, trash compactor, dishwasher, and island counter. It also has oak cabinets. That sounds classy.” I explained.

“What about bedrooms and bathrooms?” Robyn asked urgently.

“Well, lets see. It says that there are four bedrooms that are fifteen feet by fifteen feet. Each walk-in closet is almost ten feet long! There’s more than one in each room! Each room has a balcony that over looks a park. Sounds too expensive, what do you think?” I asked.

“I would kill to live in a palace like that.” Melissa said.

“Do you guys have to share a bathroom or what?” Robyn asked.

“Geez, do you have to go or what?” I asked playfully.

“Actually, I do, be right back.” Robyn said getting up. Melissa and I started laughing. I looked at the pictures in the brochure while Melissa stared at the picture of the boy on the back.

“Ok, back, hey Mell, you got a little somethin’ on your chin. Is that drool?” Robyn said while starting to crack up.

“SHUT-UP!!!!!” Melissa said while wiping the drool off of her face and chin.

“Each bedroom has a bathroom and there are two downstairs. They come with two sinks, cabinets, full-length mirror door, toilet, shower, Jacuzzi, and bathtub. Oh, the stairs are metal and have no railing. The living room is fifty feet by fifty feet. HUGE! I bet that I get lost on my first day. Maybe you can help me unpack! What do ya say?” I asked while making puppy dog eyes at them.

“Yeah, since you don’t start until September, we have nothing to do! I’ll drive with you if I have to, stow away!!” Robyn said.

“She’s going, I’m going!” Melissa added. We all smiled and looked at the picture on the back of the brochure.

“He looks like a snob, I don’t think I’d ever date him. I don’t see what you see in him Mell.” The picture was of a tall, black-haired man. He had blue eyes and wore thin black-rimmed glasses. No, personality, I don’t know, maybe he’s not like that.

“We’d better get to bed guys. I’ll see ya in the mornin’. Good night.” I said while getting comfortable in my bed.

“Night guys. See ya in the morning, bright and early, right?” Robyn said.

“Oh Robyn, shut up and go to sleep.” I said humorously. I then turned out the lights and went to sleep.

In the morning, I woke up first. Which was strangely odd, I never wake up early. Something was seriously on my mind and I couldn’t figure out what. While everyone else was sleeping, I went downstairs and got some quick breakfast. I sat down at the dining table and began to eat. When I was done eating, everyone was still asleep.

“Might as well start early.” I commented to myself. I started with the living room. I grabbed the nearest empty box and started to pile everything into it. I then came across the letter that I saw yesterday.

”I forgot about this.” I said aloud. I tore it open and began reading,

“Dear Ms. Hess,
We are proud to tell you that your uniform for the 2002-2003 school year is ready for pick-up or drop-off. Please e-mail us at this address to confirm drop-off location and/or pick-up destination. prepdryclean@msn.com. Again we are pleased to have you as a client and student at Newchester.
Sincerely Yours, Newchester Prepatory School Dry Cleaning Staff.

“OH, well that’s a shocker,” I said. I had totally forgotten about my uniform, I’ll have it delivered to the apartment. I walked over to the desk where my laptop was located and turned it on. It took about five minutes for it to load properly. I logged on just as Robyn and Melissa walked down the stairs.

“Hey sleepy-heads, ‘bout time.” Melissa gave me the middle finger,

“Oh, somebody’s cranky!” I exclaimed.

“I woke her up, you do it everyday for school, what’s the matter with summer?” Robyn explained while talking directly to Melissa.

“Summer, I don’t have to get up early unless it’s important.” While they were looking in the fridge for something to eat, I began to type my letter:

To whom it may concern: I have a Newchester Prepatory School uniform ready at your office. If at all possible, please send it to 51237 North Brookhaven St. Newchester, SC 54002.
Thank you, Nichole Hess.

After I was done correcting my errors, I sent it.

“Hey, I remember that lap-top, you spent two-months worth of Saturday’s and Sunday’s washing cars to get the money to buy it. How many cars did you actually have to wash?” Robyn asked while munching on some cereal.

“About two-thousand, five hundred.” Robyn’s cereal just about fell out of her mouth when she heard my reply.

“How much did you charge?” she asked. “I charged five dollars each car, and seven dollars for each truck.” I answered.

“How much did you get?”

“I ended up with fifteen thousand dollars. The laptop was almost five thousand. The other money, I am keeping. Maybe I’ll get you guys a present or two in Newchester. But my parents don’t know about it, they think I only got one thousand for all of the time that I spent washing car after car, truck after truck.” I said.

“Ok, what-ever you want to do. What are you doing now?” Melissa asked coming up behind Robyn. She was eating a bowl full of Cap ‘N’ Crunch.

“Getting my uniform dropped off at the apartment. I can’t believe that I’m not going to be here anymore, can you?” I asked openly.

“Nope, now don’t get me cryin’, I can’t say goodbye yet, it’s too hard.” Melissa said starting to sniffle.

“You’ll be seeing me off, you’ll be seeing me forever. Don’t worry.” I said reassuringly.

“Oh, I’m worrying alright, I’ll be seeing you forever!” Melissa said. All three of us started laughing.

“Thanks! That’s reassuring and mean!” I said while rolling on the floor. It took us all day to pack-up and sort all of the things that I was taking to the apartment. It took the three of us about two hours to load my car and Melissa’s.

“Guys, I think we’re done!”