CHAPTER 5 - Lunna Rivera - Part 1

Friends.

I arrive in Boston and discover that Kim and I would be staying in the same dormitory. It was wonderful! However, in a different building, but we would be neighbors. We went to the administration building and arranged everything that was necessary. She accompanied me to the place where I would be staying on campus, and then went to the dormitory that was in another area. I stand still, looking at that spectacular gray building, which is huge. I inhale deeply, looking at the paper in my hands that indicates the floor and room where I'll be staying. I walk up to the double doors, enter the password on the keypad, and the doors open. I walk in, and in the lobby of the dormitory, there are some sofas and some tables, which I imagine are for studying. I walk up to the elevator and press the button. The doors open, and I step in, select the floor, and the elevator goes up while playing a cheerful tune. I stop at my floor, exit, and walk down a long corridor, which is surprisingly quiet for the time. It's not even 8 p.m., and I had never seen such a tranquil campus, despite only seeing it in movies. I swipe my key card at the door of my room, and when it opens, screams startle me.

“Welcome!” I take a look at the two girls jumping, holding balloons and throwing confetti at each other.

I smile as I notice their enthusiasm. One of them grabs my luggage, and the other pulls me inside.

“We finally meet in person, since we only knew each other through video conferencing. I'm Kéfera, and this is my best friend Jullyete,” the brunette says.

“Hello, I'm Lunna. It's a pleasure to finally meet you,” I smile.

“The pleasure is ours!” says Jullyete.

“Come on, let's take a look at our room.” The brunette, holding my arm, pulls me out of the corridor.

“This is the living room with a kitchen, over there's the powder room, and that door… leads to the bedroom,” she opens the door, and the room is spacious, with white walls and some touches of red, pink, and lilac on the walls. Three single beds, a long table with three chairs, and a door next to it, which I imagine is the closet.

“Wow! Considerably bigger than my room back home,” I say, admiringly.

“So, how was the trip? Did you meet any cute guys at the airport?” Jullyete asks.

“Don't mind her, she's like a broken record, always asking the same thing!” I smile, and they tell me how things work on campus…

A few days later…

“I'm sitting on the couch in our small living room reading my English course book. I need to be well-prepared, Kéfera and Jullyety said they would help me. Keké is making juice for us, and Jully is on her phone. The doorbell rings, and I get up and open the door. Kim smiles and hugs me, catching me surprised.

“Hi, friend! How are you? I have an invitation for you,” she looks inside the dormitory and then back at me. “Are you busy?”

“Hi, Kim, I'm good! Come in,” she walks in and smiles at the girls who are in the living room looking at us. “Girls, this is Kim.”

“Nice to meet you, Kim. I'm Jullyete, but you can call me Jully,” she says, getting up and hugging Kim, who returns the gesture.

“Nice to meet you, Jully.”

“I'm Kéfera, but they call me Keké,” she does the same as Jully, and I see that they have already become friends.

They talk about everything, and Kim discovers that Kéfera's father knows Mr. Fiore, her father, and his company handles the finances of Jewel Lazúli, the Egyptian jewelry company that Kéfera's father wants her to take over.

After talking for a while, Kim's phone rings, and she answers it.

“Hi, Adam!” There is a silence, and then she closes her eyes, sighing. “Okay, I'm on my way. I came to pick up a friend.” She looks at me and smiles. “Okay… okay, I'm on my way.” She hangs up and gets up.

“Did something happen?”

“Actually, I came to invite you to watch my brother's game.”

“But I need to study…”

“You don't need to do that now!” Jully says, taking the book from my lap.

“I agree with her, you need to have fun and get to know the campus…” Kéfera says, but she's interrupted.

“Girl, there are countless cute guys on this campus, so you have to go,” Jully says, interrupting Keké, who rolls her eyes.

“You see! We all agree, now let's go.” Kim says, taking my hand and almost knocking me down. So, we leave our small apartment/dormitory, and despite my protests, Kim ignores me and just keeps leading me.

•••••••∞•••••••

We are all sitting in the bleachers, the Explorers will play against Boston Queise, the college team, the cheerleaders do their show and the mascot brings joy to the people.

“Let's watch my brother play! I know it's been a few days since we arrived, but I haven't talked to him yet, just that phone call,” Kim says with her arm intertwined with mine.

It doesn't take long for the teams to enter the field, and everyone starts shouting. This is the first game I've ever watched, and seeing the excitement of the people is so contagious.”

•••••••∞•••••••

The college team won 12-5, and every time Kim jumped up to celebrate, she took me along and I felt giddy, but I was also infected by her joy! We walked towards the place where the victory would be celebrated. It was a large stone house and when we entered it was very spacious. Some people were already drinking, others were dancing, some were making out, and Kim was dragging me deeper and deeper into the midst of those people. As soon as we reached the pool area, she let go of my hand and ran, jumping into the arms of a tall, broad-shouldered guy with messy dark hair and a face that looked like it was chiseled. I felt lost in his smile; It felt like the whole place was being lit up as he looked at his sister and smiled his eyes sparkled.