Deciding that you'd best drop off your belongings in your dorm room before doing anything else, you head into the building and up the stairs. The place is mostly deserted, which strikes you as odd, as it is move-in day and you had expected more activity. The emptiness makes the old stone building seem gothic and spooky, and for a moment you wonder if you picked the right building. But sure enough, your room is right where your map indicates.
On your dorm room door is a prominent notice saying "New Student Orientation in the Cafeteria at 1:00 - Attendance Mandatory". That leaves you about five minutes! You drop off your things without taking more than a glance at your room (a single room, surprisingly spacious) and rush back down the stairs to the cafeteria.
Once there, you're surprised once again to see that there are only about four other people present, all boys. Surely the incoming student body isn't entirely male! With a shrug, you sit down to wait.
As the distant bell tower chimes one o'clock, a woman enters through another door and stands behind a podium, facing you. She has a severe and dour appearance, her hair pulled so tightly into a bun that it looks painful, half-circle glasses that she looks over to see all of you, and a dark suit that hides whatever curves she might have. She wears no makeup, but her complexion is clear and her lips have a faint rosy glow of their own. You get the idea that she would be very attractive indeed if she didn't try so hard not to be.
"Pay attention," she says without preamble, a commanding tone in her voice. "I am Miss Stoller, faculty head of this residence hall and chair of the science school. I want to make one thing clear at the outset. I was against opening this school to both genders from the start and I am still against it. Due to the fact that construction was delayed on the boys dormitory, we are forced to house some of you in this building with the girls." Her flashing, narrowed eyes dare any of you to smile at the prospect. "You will be housed here for the entirety of the first semester, and possibly into the second. During that time I will be watching all of you very, very carefully. If any one of you shows a sign of inappropriate behavior, that student will be severely disciplined. If I receive any sort of complaint from any of the girls, I will not hesitate to take any necessary action, including expulsion from the school. We will go over the rules of this house one by one, and I expect them to be followed."
She turns to flip a chalkboard over which is covered with very tiny writing, numbering rules one through forty. "Rule One!" she says, striking the board with a pointer. "All students will maintain a sense of proper decorum at all times. Rule Two! No student may entertain a student of the opposite gender in their room at any time. Rule Three! All students will..."
Miss Stoller goes on for the next thirty minutes with her list of rules, making it quite clear that she intends to run the place like a convent. You notice that one of the guys chuckles when she reads the rule about not peeking through keyholes - he immediately gets saddled with bathroom-cleaning duty for a month. You keep your own mouth shut through the rest of the list.
"Which brings us to Rule Forty-Seven," she says, pointing at the last rule. "Any inappropriate behaviour not explicity covered by the above rules will nonetheless be dealt with accordingly. Any questions?"
One of the guys raises a hand. "Do the girls get this same lecture?" he asks sourly.
"A young woman knows these things implicitly," Miss Stoller replies with a frown. "It is only necessary to keep boys like you from corrupting them. And if I suspected you were being cheeky with me, young man, I would give you dishwashing duty for a month. Copies of this list of rules have been included in your orientation packets for further review. You are all dismissed to complete the task of moving into your rooms." She turns on her heel and walks out.
"Damn, what a bitch," one of the guys says. Everyone nods in agreement. You all head out of the cafeteria to your rooms. As you do, you notice that you've all been spotted one to a floor, presumably to keep you separated and incapable of conspiring amongst yourselves.
You finish moving your few items into your room in about an hour, and you're about to hit the showers when there's a knock at the door. You open it, and are quite surprised to see standing there.
"Hey, !" she says. "It's great to see you! Wow, this is so cool, we're actually next door neighbors! Can I come in for a bit?"
You start to invite her in, but then remember Miss Stoller's warnings. Perhaps it would be best not to tempt fate on the first day. |