Center Lane

I pick the center lane, looks like the girl could do with a little bit of cheering up.

I roll down the window and greet the brunette with my best smile. "Afternoon."

She doesn't acknowledge it. "First and last name, please?"

"Mark Braddock," I say. "Long day so far?" Might as well keep trying, right?

"Oh, you have no idea. I can't stand this heat." She mutters "Braddock... Braddock..." under her breath while scanning her clip board. "There we go. Mark Braddock, Madison 524."

She hands me an envelope packet with my room key and some other paperwork. "Thank you, um..."

"Kate," she finishes, gesturing to a nametag that I hadn't seen before. "I'm one of the RAs here. Feel free to stop by Jefferson 401 if you ever have a question, I promise to be in a better mood by then."

"Careful," I say. "I could be a dumb freshman and have a million questions."

It doesn't register for a second as a joke, but then she breaks out into a laugh. Her smile is dazzling; I wish she'd do it more often. "Thanks," Kate says. "I needed that. Anything else I can help you with right now?"