Emma had finally finished decorating the hall and the least she could do was sigh of relief. She stared at her floor, and maybe she took the decorating aspect of a galaxy theme too far, but if she did say so herself, it was out of this world. Only smiling at her own humor, she couldn’t help but pat herself on the back with a job well done.
She couldn’t wait until the residents moved in tomorrow—it was all she was looking forward to. The second she moved in her freshman year she knew this was what she wanted to do. She pestered her Resident Assistant with questions about the application process and she was sure that he was trying to avoid her after awhile, but she didn’t care. Nevertheless, she was here, working in the same building she lived in just last year. Moore Hall really had become a home away from home.
However, she didn’t really know many of the other RAs on her staff. Sure, they went through training together but they didn’t really spend much time together. The bunch was an odd mix. The only person she knew who had experience was Sabrina, as she worked here last year, but even she didn’t know her well. Maybe, Emma figured, if she brought her tea, they could talk about things and maybe get to know each other.
Emma fixed up two mugs and proceeded down to the first floor from her cozy third floor room, and knocked on the door with the toe of her shoe. The door swung open and Sabrina was on the other side, seemingly perplexed.
“Hey Emma, what’s up?” she wondered, with her door opened only halfway.
“I made you tea!” Emma squeaked, holding out the darker mug to her. “I thought we could maybe hang out, before people start moving in tomorrow?”
Sabrina smiled at her, and let her into the room. “You’re lucky I’m weak for tea.”
Emma noted that her room was a mess, but not everyone could be as organized as her. Emma was one step ahead of everything, with everything: school, jobs, appointments, even just phone calls with her mom. She knew exactly what to do, how to say things, where the conversation was going, and her planner was always by her side. Except in situations that involved tea; it was the only time she was able to detox from her overscheduled life.
“Do you like it?” Emma wondered, as the two cozied up in Sabrina bed.
“It’s great,” she sighed, “thank you.”
“So,” Emma’s eyebrows raised, clearly ready to talk some drama, “tell me all about this job. Sorry, it’s probably the last thing you want to talk about right now, but I just can’t wait until they move in. But I’m also so nervous I’m going to be a bad RA.”
“You’re not going to be a bad RA,” Sabrina reassured her. “Every RA thinks they suck. Trust me, I think I do, too. Well, I know I do, I’m pretty lazy with the job. But just trust your gut; trust everything you did during training. You’re going to be great.”
“You sure?” Emma held her breath, before releasing it quickly. “Sorry, sorry, ignore me. I’m going to be okay.”
“You will be.”
But now Emma raised a suggestive brow, one that she could tell Sabrina caught on to relatively quickly. “So…what do you think about the other first years in the building?”
Sabrina chuckled, taking a nice gulp of tea. “You’re all super cute,” she admitted. “You’re all really excited, it’s great to see. Try not and let it die throughout the year. We second years get washed up fast.”
“Oh that’s not true!” Emma reassured her. “I remember you last year loving every second of the job.”
“It’s a front,” Sabrina laughed. “I swear.”
“Okay, but let’s be real though. How attractive is Mathis?”
“You’re only saying that because he’s French and has an accent.”
“It’s a fantastic accent.”
“…Well, can’t argue that logic.”
The two laughed and enjoyed their tea further, before Emma asked another seemingly serious question to Sabrina.
“So…is there really staff drama? Like what?”
Sabrina sighed, taking in another warm gulp of tea. “Yeah, naturally there is. Some people might end up hating each other. Some people might end up liking each other…too much. Some people might end up liking people they shouldn’t—residents—and some people might really take advantage of what it means to have this job. Don’t let any of that discourage you, though. I loved every second of this job…but just be aware that there’s always a valley with every peak.”
Emma scrunched her nose, before then responding, “…But then there’s always another peak after every valley, right?”Sabrina smiled. “Yeah, there is.”
