The Way of California
Welcome to California
“Where ya heading to today ma’am?” The cab driver asked as Lola Dion stepped out of the LAX waiting area and into the backseat of the mustard-yellow cab.
“I’m heading to Weston Academy please,” Lo politely answered, dragging her bags in behind her.
“Humph. Freshman?” He grumbled, obviously suddenly annoyed by her presence. Given his age and profession Lo guessed that he did not like the younger crowd. This was likely due to the fact that he had to often drive the underclassman home from off-campus parties and they probably couldn't handle their liquor as well as the upperclassmen which probably led to a lot of money in cab clean-up.
“Um no I’m actually a junior. I went to public school in Massachusetts before and I’m transferring in.”
“Why the change from the suburbs to the city?” He asked as he began to drive out of the airport terminal.
Lo knew this was going to be a long ride if the cabby kept asking questions. She wasn’t about to tell a total stranger her life story, she just wanted to take in her new city so she tried to make her answer short and sweet. “I want to eventually go to college out here so I thought I should test living out here now while I can still change my mind.”
“Humph,” he snorted. She was done with this conversation so she put her headphones on making sure that the man saw so she wouldn’t have to continue to engage in small-talk for the hour ride to the school. Her phone was dead from the long plane ride but the cab driver wouldn’t know that and thankfully the rest of the ride was complete silence.
Lo watched the scenery fly-by as she began to realize the fact that she was actually doing this. She had never been to California before and now she was living there Never in a million years would she think this would happen to her.. Then again for the past three years, since she began high school, she had done many things she never imagined herself doing.
Her first year of high school and Chase Kepner comes into her life. Of course ends up falling hard for the older boy who was dating someone else and was not the type to start another relationship while he was already in a solid one. She probably could have gotten any other guy in the entire school, even one who was four plus years older and in a serious relationship. She wasn’t being vain, it was fact. Sure she was supermodel gorgeous but that wasn’t the full reason for it. Lo was also an incredibly, decent person. She had a perfect personality and always put others before herself. She was nice and generous and cared about everyone and everything. This mixed with her good looks made her extremely desirable from the perspective of any man. But despite this fact Lo just couldn’t get over this one boy. There was hope though, because their families lived in the same neighborhood and always attended the same block parties so they would never lose contact. This meant that if the opportunity ever did arise and both were single at the same time she would definitely go for it.
Everything changed the following year. The two of them began to grow closer having a photography class together and a love for the hobby. Lo began to think the boy was leading her on as they began to hang out after school for photography adventures. After all his girlfriend had graduated the year before and she thought he was using her as a way to make himself miss her less. Then to her surprise he asked her out on an actual date. She was in shock until he explained that he’d liked her a long time, even before she knew he existed. He apparently had a crush on her for years but was always too shy to talk to her at those big neighborhood parties so he just lusted from afar. He’d only dated the other girl because he was unsure if Lo liked him the same way. The girl had found out over the summer and had dumped him, and then once Lo and him began to hang out more he decided to take a chance and ask her out.
So they began dating and by the time his graduation came around their relationship was so solid and they were so happy together that Lo felt secure continuing their relationship when he went away for college. She suggested an open relationship for his benefit since he would be meeting so many new people in college that she didn’t want him to be too held back and miss out on opportunities. He reluctantly agreed but told Lo that he had no intentions of ever finding anyone better than her. However all that was before she got the opportunity to go to boarding school four hours drive away from the college he was studying at in California.
She hadn’t told him the fact that she was now living in the same state instead of all the way on the other side of the country. She only found out herself that she was accepted a month ago a few days after he left for college and everything happened so fast that she didn’t even have time to take in the idea herself. They had talked a lot since then but she decided she wanted to surprise him in person, which she planned on doing the instant she was unpacked and settled in.
“We’re here Miss!” The cabby yelled startling her out of her deep thought. In a daze she scampered and paid and thanked him before grabbing her bags and hopping out of the cab.
She observed her new home. She’d never really had the chance to look at the school before she came here because she was so busy with packing and planning. She just knew that is was close to where she wanted to be and highly acclaimed in the education department. As she took it in for the first time she almost passed out because it was so beautiful. Everything she had ever imagined from books and movies of boarding school was right in front of her. A giant campus with lush green grass and giant oak trees sprawled across it. The buildings were brick and had the classic old school university feel to it.
“Hello dear, can I help you find something?” A petite, chubby lady asked, appearing beside her. The lady had soft brown eyes and a yellowish short perm. She had a clipboard and looked as if she was one of the campus officials.
“Um yes hi, I’m looking for the office where I can check in. It is my first year here.”
“Oh! Well my dear you are at the right place!” She did a little Vanna White pose and motioned towards the nearest building. It was the smallest looking building on campus and had a slight resemblance to a veterinarian office. “I’m Ms. Igs, the vice dean.” The lady continued as she turned to the door.
Lo followed her inside and half expected to see patients waiting with their owners or pet posters all over the wall, but instead she was greeted by a smooth aroma of a cinnamon like scent. It was a very warm and cozy feeling environment, something you usually wouldn’t expect from the front office of schools. Ms. Igs walked behind a large desk on the side of the room and began getting paperwork together.
“I’m new here but I am transferring in as a junior.” Lo smiled.
“What is your name hun?”
“I’m Lola Dion from Massachusetts.” Ms. Igs searched through her computer files to locate the girl’s information.
“Oh yes, Lola Dion! You’re in room 305 in the building St. Vincent.” She said. She reminded Lo of the secretary in Grease, though she didn’t remember the character’s name. “Here are your keys, handbook and a map of the campus. I hope that you settle in well and that you have a memorable time here at Weston Academy.” The lady grinned as she handed Lo her things.
As she walked out of the office she tossed her handbook and keys in her bag and opened the map which she was sure would become her new best friend. St. Vincent, her dorm, seemed as if it was on the other side of campus, far away from the dean’s office, administrative building and teacher’s dorms. That must have been a big flaw in the set-up, unless the students were so well-behaved that they didn’t worry about having staff near the dorms but she thought that was very unlikely. Lo studied the rest of the map trying to orientate herself as fast as possible. The campus was cut in half by a large pond with a footbridge crossing over it connecting the two halves. One side of the campus held the administrative building; teacher’s dorms; a gym with an outdoor and indoor pool; track field; sports court; athletic fields and check-in office, where she was right now. The other half was where the student dorms were located as well as the cafeteria, all the academic buildings and the stables. The stables were located at the edge of the woods surrounding the campus and was meant to separate the male and female dorms from each other. However Lo suspected that the stables didn’t really fix the problem and that there were probably still nightly run-ins even despite nightly room checks by the faculty.
Some of the buildings and all of the dorms were supposedly named after the first students to be accepted into Weston. There were four student dorms, senior and freshman girls stayed in Cagnent and junior and sophomores stayed in St. Vincent (Lo’s future home.) As for the boys, the junior and freshman stayed in Jacobs, and the sophomore and seniors stayed in Mayoak.
“Hey man, how’s summer been?” Two guys nearby dropped their bags and gave each other the signature “guy hug.”
“Kingston, dude what is up?”
“Not much man, not much.” Lo turned quickly, not even looking at the two. She didn’t want to see anybody until she got her suitcases safely in her dorm. She didn’t want any incidents of bags coming open and her panties or something more embarrassing to fall out. Knowing her that was something that was more than likely to happen.
As she slowly walked down the path, lugging her bags, she continued to look at her new home. This place looked very similar to a boarding school near her house but this one was much more acclaimed and had more of a college vibe to it. She still couldn’t believe that she was actually here and going to be living in California for the next four to six months. This was really a dream come true.
As she neared her dorm she looked across the way to the boys’ dorms. All the guys she could make out were shuffling quietly into the building, some occasionally stopping to greet a friend they hadn't seen since probably last May, but besides that fact it seemed pretty calm considering classes began in two days.
Lo focused back on her own dorm. It was pretty tall for a dorm building but that made sense since it wasn’t as wide as normal ones. The windows that were strewn about the building were all bright and clean and there were even some rooms that seemed to have bay windows. She crossed her fingers that one of those was located in her room.
Once she got inside she trudged up the three flights of stairs to her floor. There was an elevator but after such a long flight of sitting and the cab ride she needed some exercise. She counted off the rooms until she got to hers, 355, where she arrived to the door flung wide open. She cautiously walked inside but was surprised to see the room empty besides a few suitcases and duffle bags on one of the beds. Apparently her roommate had already made her decision on which side she wanted, which Lo didn’t mind, so she threw her bags on the other empty bed.
“Hey!” Lo spun around startled by a voice behind her. “Oh did I scare you? Sorry about that, I’ve never been known to be a scary person.” The girl chuckled. “ You must be my new roomie. I’m Stella Kingston,” the girl extended her hand which Lo took and shook.
“Hey. I’m Lo Dion.”
“Well hi Lo. Are you new here? I don’t ever remember seeing you before and since this is a pretty small school I recognize most people..”
“Yeah I’m a transfer student from a school in Massachusetts.” Lo looked over the girl she would be living with for the next few months. At the check-in office she slightly remembered hearing the name Kingston from one of the boys she was avoiding so maybe this girl had a brother here. Stella had long golden blond hair that fell straight down to her lower back. She had piercing aqua eyes, something she had never really seen on a person before but they looked stunning on this girl. She had a small mouth that fit her facial structure framed with satin lips and bright rosy cheeks as if she had just come in from a run. She actually looked like a runner with a tall-lean frame and a medium sized chest.
“So are you a junior or sophomore?” She asked startling Lo back to reality.
“I’m transferring in as a junior.”
“Great! That means we’ll hopefully become close friends since were in the same year and will definitely have similar classes. You are gorgeous by the way.” She said as she began pulling clothes out of her suitcases and folding them. Lo glanced at her reflection in the full-length mirror that the room came with. Today she was wearing a plain brown maxi dress that hugged her tall, slender frame and accentuated her larger than normal breasts. The color of the dress made her violet-blue eyes pop and complimented her long, blond, wavy hair.
Lo blushed and responded, “you’re very pretty too so you shouldn’t be talking.” She didn’t want to continue thinking of trivial things such as beauty so she quickly changed the subject. “So you’re okay taking that bed?” They were both good selections so she really didn’t care either way.. Each of the queen beds faced their bay window which overlooked the pond and all of Weston. The only difference was one was closer to the door and one was closer to the bathroom.
“Mhm. You know we have the best room in the dorm? There are only four rooms with their own bathrooms and they have small windows with twin sized beds. All the rest of the rooms have connecting door bathrooms but with great views. I had this room last year though so I was able to convince the housing department to give it to me again.”
“I guess I lucked out then.”
“Yes totally! Hey I’m gonna take a shower,” she said as she put away the last of her clothes.
“Afterwards I’m planning on meeting up with some of my friends at a sort of Welcome Back party. You definitely need to come with me so I can introduce you to everyone.”
“Umm yeah sure I’ll think about it.” Lo thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to befriend her roommate some more and her other friends, especially because she was sure they all would be spending a lot of time around them. She just didn’t know if she was really ready to socialize yet or if she wanted to just relax.
“By the way there are locker rooms on the first and third floors and there are more showers up there if you’d like to take one too or if you have to use the bathroom or anything. I sometimes take a long time.”
“I think I’ll be fine but thank you.” Even though it was several hours since she last freshened up she still didn’t feel too gross. She was more focused on unpacking and getting situated.
“Humph okay suit yourself.” She grabbed a towel and some new clothes before bounding off into the bathroom.
Lo pulled out her phone and charger from her bag. She knew she would eventually have to call her parents and let them know she was safe but for now she just sat down on the bench-like seat in her window and stared off at her new home. She sighed and began to relax. She was ready for this new chapter in her life to begin.
“I’m heading to Weston Academy please,” Lo politely answered, dragging her bags in behind her.
“Humph. Freshman?” He grumbled, obviously suddenly annoyed by her presence. Given his age and profession Lo guessed that he did not like the younger crowd. This was likely due to the fact that he had to often drive the underclassman home from off-campus parties and they probably couldn't handle their liquor as well as the upperclassmen which probably led to a lot of money in cab clean-up.
“Um no I’m actually a junior. I went to public school in Massachusetts before and I’m transferring in.”
“Why the change from the suburbs to the city?” He asked as he began to drive out of the airport terminal.
Lo knew this was going to be a long ride if the cabby kept asking questions. She wasn’t about to tell a total stranger her life story, she just wanted to take in her new city so she tried to make her answer short and sweet. “I want to eventually go to college out here so I thought I should test living out here now while I can still change my mind.”
“Humph,” he snorted. She was done with this conversation so she put her headphones on making sure that the man saw so she wouldn’t have to continue to engage in small-talk for the hour ride to the school. Her phone was dead from the long plane ride but the cab driver wouldn’t know that and thankfully the rest of the ride was complete silence.
Lo watched the scenery fly-by as she began to realize the fact that she was actually doing this. She had never been to California before and now she was living there Never in a million years would she think this would happen to her.. Then again for the past three years, since she began high school, she had done many things she never imagined herself doing.
Her first year of high school and Chase Kepner comes into her life. Of course ends up falling hard for the older boy who was dating someone else and was not the type to start another relationship while he was already in a solid one. She probably could have gotten any other guy in the entire school, even one who was four plus years older and in a serious relationship. She wasn’t being vain, it was fact. Sure she was supermodel gorgeous but that wasn’t the full reason for it. Lo was also an incredibly, decent person. She had a perfect personality and always put others before herself. She was nice and generous and cared about everyone and everything. This mixed with her good looks made her extremely desirable from the perspective of any man. But despite this fact Lo just couldn’t get over this one boy. There was hope though, because their families lived in the same neighborhood and always attended the same block parties so they would never lose contact. This meant that if the opportunity ever did arise and both were single at the same time she would definitely go for it.
Everything changed the following year. The two of them began to grow closer having a photography class together and a love for the hobby. Lo began to think the boy was leading her on as they began to hang out after school for photography adventures. After all his girlfriend had graduated the year before and she thought he was using her as a way to make himself miss her less. Then to her surprise he asked her out on an actual date. She was in shock until he explained that he’d liked her a long time, even before she knew he existed. He apparently had a crush on her for years but was always too shy to talk to her at those big neighborhood parties so he just lusted from afar. He’d only dated the other girl because he was unsure if Lo liked him the same way. The girl had found out over the summer and had dumped him, and then once Lo and him began to hang out more he decided to take a chance and ask her out.
So they began dating and by the time his graduation came around their relationship was so solid and they were so happy together that Lo felt secure continuing their relationship when he went away for college. She suggested an open relationship for his benefit since he would be meeting so many new people in college that she didn’t want him to be too held back and miss out on opportunities. He reluctantly agreed but told Lo that he had no intentions of ever finding anyone better than her. However all that was before she got the opportunity to go to boarding school four hours drive away from the college he was studying at in California.
She hadn’t told him the fact that she was now living in the same state instead of all the way on the other side of the country. She only found out herself that she was accepted a month ago a few days after he left for college and everything happened so fast that she didn’t even have time to take in the idea herself. They had talked a lot since then but she decided she wanted to surprise him in person, which she planned on doing the instant she was unpacked and settled in.
“We’re here Miss!” The cabby yelled startling her out of her deep thought. In a daze she scampered and paid and thanked him before grabbing her bags and hopping out of the cab.
She observed her new home. She’d never really had the chance to look at the school before she came here because she was so busy with packing and planning. She just knew that is was close to where she wanted to be and highly acclaimed in the education department. As she took it in for the first time she almost passed out because it was so beautiful. Everything she had ever imagined from books and movies of boarding school was right in front of her. A giant campus with lush green grass and giant oak trees sprawled across it. The buildings were brick and had the classic old school university feel to it.
“Hello dear, can I help you find something?” A petite, chubby lady asked, appearing beside her. The lady had soft brown eyes and a yellowish short perm. She had a clipboard and looked as if she was one of the campus officials.
“Um yes hi, I’m looking for the office where I can check in. It is my first year here.”
“Oh! Well my dear you are at the right place!” She did a little Vanna White pose and motioned towards the nearest building. It was the smallest looking building on campus and had a slight resemblance to a veterinarian office. “I’m Ms. Igs, the vice dean.” The lady continued as she turned to the door.
Lo followed her inside and half expected to see patients waiting with their owners or pet posters all over the wall, but instead she was greeted by a smooth aroma of a cinnamon like scent. It was a very warm and cozy feeling environment, something you usually wouldn’t expect from the front office of schools. Ms. Igs walked behind a large desk on the side of the room and began getting paperwork together.
“I’m new here but I am transferring in as a junior.” Lo smiled.
“What is your name hun?”
“I’m Lola Dion from Massachusetts.” Ms. Igs searched through her computer files to locate the girl’s information.
“Oh yes, Lola Dion! You’re in room 305 in the building St. Vincent.” She said. She reminded Lo of the secretary in Grease, though she didn’t remember the character’s name. “Here are your keys, handbook and a map of the campus. I hope that you settle in well and that you have a memorable time here at Weston Academy.” The lady grinned as she handed Lo her things.
As she walked out of the office she tossed her handbook and keys in her bag and opened the map which she was sure would become her new best friend. St. Vincent, her dorm, seemed as if it was on the other side of campus, far away from the dean’s office, administrative building and teacher’s dorms. That must have been a big flaw in the set-up, unless the students were so well-behaved that they didn’t worry about having staff near the dorms but she thought that was very unlikely. Lo studied the rest of the map trying to orientate herself as fast as possible. The campus was cut in half by a large pond with a footbridge crossing over it connecting the two halves. One side of the campus held the administrative building; teacher’s dorms; a gym with an outdoor and indoor pool; track field; sports court; athletic fields and check-in office, where she was right now. The other half was where the student dorms were located as well as the cafeteria, all the academic buildings and the stables. The stables were located at the edge of the woods surrounding the campus and was meant to separate the male and female dorms from each other. However Lo suspected that the stables didn’t really fix the problem and that there were probably still nightly run-ins even despite nightly room checks by the faculty.
Some of the buildings and all of the dorms were supposedly named after the first students to be accepted into Weston. There were four student dorms, senior and freshman girls stayed in Cagnent and junior and sophomores stayed in St. Vincent (Lo’s future home.) As for the boys, the junior and freshman stayed in Jacobs, and the sophomore and seniors stayed in Mayoak.
“Hey man, how’s summer been?” Two guys nearby dropped their bags and gave each other the signature “guy hug.”
“Kingston, dude what is up?”
“Not much man, not much.” Lo turned quickly, not even looking at the two. She didn’t want to see anybody until she got her suitcases safely in her dorm. She didn’t want any incidents of bags coming open and her panties or something more embarrassing to fall out. Knowing her that was something that was more than likely to happen.
As she slowly walked down the path, lugging her bags, she continued to look at her new home. This place looked very similar to a boarding school near her house but this one was much more acclaimed and had more of a college vibe to it. She still couldn’t believe that she was actually here and going to be living in California for the next four to six months. This was really a dream come true.
As she neared her dorm she looked across the way to the boys’ dorms. All the guys she could make out were shuffling quietly into the building, some occasionally stopping to greet a friend they hadn't seen since probably last May, but besides that fact it seemed pretty calm considering classes began in two days.
Lo focused back on her own dorm. It was pretty tall for a dorm building but that made sense since it wasn’t as wide as normal ones. The windows that were strewn about the building were all bright and clean and there were even some rooms that seemed to have bay windows. She crossed her fingers that one of those was located in her room.
Once she got inside she trudged up the three flights of stairs to her floor. There was an elevator but after such a long flight of sitting and the cab ride she needed some exercise. She counted off the rooms until she got to hers, 355, where she arrived to the door flung wide open. She cautiously walked inside but was surprised to see the room empty besides a few suitcases and duffle bags on one of the beds. Apparently her roommate had already made her decision on which side she wanted, which Lo didn’t mind, so she threw her bags on the other empty bed.
“Hey!” Lo spun around startled by a voice behind her. “Oh did I scare you? Sorry about that, I’ve never been known to be a scary person.” The girl chuckled. “ You must be my new roomie. I’m Stella Kingston,” the girl extended her hand which Lo took and shook.
“Hey. I’m Lo Dion.”
“Well hi Lo. Are you new here? I don’t ever remember seeing you before and since this is a pretty small school I recognize most people..”
“Yeah I’m a transfer student from a school in Massachusetts.” Lo looked over the girl she would be living with for the next few months. At the check-in office she slightly remembered hearing the name Kingston from one of the boys she was avoiding so maybe this girl had a brother here. Stella had long golden blond hair that fell straight down to her lower back. She had piercing aqua eyes, something she had never really seen on a person before but they looked stunning on this girl. She had a small mouth that fit her facial structure framed with satin lips and bright rosy cheeks as if she had just come in from a run. She actually looked like a runner with a tall-lean frame and a medium sized chest.
“So are you a junior or sophomore?” She asked startling Lo back to reality.
“I’m transferring in as a junior.”
“Great! That means we’ll hopefully become close friends since were in the same year and will definitely have similar classes. You are gorgeous by the way.” She said as she began pulling clothes out of her suitcases and folding them. Lo glanced at her reflection in the full-length mirror that the room came with. Today she was wearing a plain brown maxi dress that hugged her tall, slender frame and accentuated her larger than normal breasts. The color of the dress made her violet-blue eyes pop and complimented her long, blond, wavy hair.
Lo blushed and responded, “you’re very pretty too so you shouldn’t be talking.” She didn’t want to continue thinking of trivial things such as beauty so she quickly changed the subject. “So you’re okay taking that bed?” They were both good selections so she really didn’t care either way.. Each of the queen beds faced their bay window which overlooked the pond and all of Weston. The only difference was one was closer to the door and one was closer to the bathroom.
“Mhm. You know we have the best room in the dorm? There are only four rooms with their own bathrooms and they have small windows with twin sized beds. All the rest of the rooms have connecting door bathrooms but with great views. I had this room last year though so I was able to convince the housing department to give it to me again.”
“I guess I lucked out then.”
“Yes totally! Hey I’m gonna take a shower,” she said as she put away the last of her clothes.
“Afterwards I’m planning on meeting up with some of my friends at a sort of Welcome Back party. You definitely need to come with me so I can introduce you to everyone.”
“Umm yeah sure I’ll think about it.” Lo thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to befriend her roommate some more and her other friends, especially because she was sure they all would be spending a lot of time around them. She just didn’t know if she was really ready to socialize yet or if she wanted to just relax.
“By the way there are locker rooms on the first and third floors and there are more showers up there if you’d like to take one too or if you have to use the bathroom or anything. I sometimes take a long time.”
“I think I’ll be fine but thank you.” Even though it was several hours since she last freshened up she still didn’t feel too gross. She was more focused on unpacking and getting situated.
“Humph okay suit yourself.” She grabbed a towel and some new clothes before bounding off into the bathroom.
Lo pulled out her phone and charger from her bag. She knew she would eventually have to call her parents and let them know she was safe but for now she just sat down on the bench-like seat in her window and stared off at her new home. She sighed and began to relax. She was ready for this new chapter in her life to begin.