"Not right now, thanks."

"Not right now, thanks." But maybe I'll stop by Jefferson 401 sometime soon.

"Go ahead into the parking garage, then. Your parking pass will give you one hour of time to move your stuff in. When you get off the elevator, your room will be all the way on the left." She yawns and checks the time on her phone, then remembers, "Oh yeah, welcome to ISU!"

"Thanks!" I say, rolling up my window and pulling into the garage. I doubt that's the last I'll see of Kate.

It takes a while, but eventually I fill up one of the red move-in carts with some of my stuff and head for the elevators. The entire place is filled with tons of freshmen and their parents moving in to college for the first time, saying their goodbyes, et cetera. I imagine that if I hadn't commuted from home last year, I would've gone through the same exact situation.

Finally, I make it out of the elevator and onto Madison 5. I follow Kate's directions and easily find 524. The floor isn't a traditional dorm hallway setup, but there are communal bathrooms and showers, so a lot of what I'd heard about living in a dorm still applies.

"Hello?" I hear someone say from around the corner.

I stop and turn my head around. "Hello?" I echo back.

"Oh, good, it's a guy." A girl's voice, smooth and playful. "Could you help me set up my loft?"