Matthew Rodgeman's Story

Larsen pushed open the door with her free hand, the other was holding her carry-on bag, which, apart from the small backpack over her shoulders, was all the luggage she had. She looked around the large interior of the building, as she took it all in, she nearly forgot what she was doing, where she was. She quickly snapped back to her senses and hurried over to the receptionists desk.
"Name, dear?" the receptionist asked her, barely looking up from her computer.
"Larsen McDowell." she responded as she shifted her backpack on her shoulders. The woman immediately typed in the name, and only a second later said, "Ah, yes, so your room would be 508, I assume you got the key in your mail?"
Larsen nodded confidently in response, then the receptionist gave her some quick directions to her room before returning to rapidly typing. Larsen went to the elevator and pressed the down button, and when it arrived she tapped the button for floor five. Emerging from the elevator, she headed down the hallway, easily able to find her room by following the order of the numbers. She reached into the back pocket of her white jeans to grab her key and stuck it in the lock, turning it open. She stepped into the room and looked around, immediately dropping her bags at her feet. She ran over to the large window on the opposite wall which had a gorgeous ocean view. She smiled widely as she continued looking out the window, while thinking about her room mate, Matthew somethingorother? She wondered what he would be like, more so she wondered why they had been paired, the letter from the school she had gotten really did make her wonder...

Matthew looked at the school as his limo pulled up in front of the door. What he felt as he glanced at the building was half excitement, and half terror. He was half glad to finally be free from his parent's home, to live independently and make his own decisions for once. But the idea of going to this school irked him some. For one thing, he was apparently being forced to share a room with a girl that was supposedly his soul mate. Once again, adults trying to dictate his life and make his important life decisions. It was not something he appreciated, and he was going to complain about it the first opportunity that he gets.

The limo also wasn't his idea. It was his father. He insisted that it was important to make a strong first impression, and it all begins with the first arrival, even though he was sure no one was going to see him enter, it didn't matter.

As the limo parked in front of the building, Matthew opened his door, much to the annoyance of his driver, who had been trying his best to park the car, get out of his seat, run around the limo, and get to the door before Matthew had the chance to open it. The driver did pop open the trunk and pulled out Matthew's luggage, which Matthew took from him.

"That'll do, Isaac." Matthew told the driver. "You can go back home now. Tell me dad I made it here safe."

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?" The driver asked.

"Go." He said bluntly as he turned to walk into the school.

Inside the school, Matthew walked up to the receptionist. "Matthew Rodgeman." He told her.

"Here you are." The receptionist said, reading off the computer monitor. "Looks like you're in room 508. Do you have your key?"

"Right here." He said, producing the key card from his front pocket. "By the way. There's something I need to complain about. It's the whole 'soul mate' thing. I don't feel comfortable rooming with a complete stranger of the opposite sex."

"I'm sorry Mr. Rodgeman." The receptionist told him. "But room assignments are final."

"There must be somebody I can talk to." Matthew insisted.

"Final is final." The receptionist told him. "But wait until you meet your roommate. Maybe you'll change your mind."

Seeing that this argument was going no where, and anxious to get to his room and put his things away, Matthew decided to make his way to his room. "I'll be back." He told her as he walked away.

He walked to the elevators and pushed the up button. The door open, Matthew walked in, and he and the elevator worked themselves up to the fifth floor.

Down the hallway, Matthew walked until he reached room 508. He slipped in his key card, and the door opened. Matthew walked into his room and looked around. He was very impressed with the room that he didn't notice the baggage lying in the middle of the floor, causing him to trip onto the floor face first. "Aaaah!"

(I'm not sure if we're allowed to post a second time yet, so if I find out I'm not supposed to have posted again I'll erase this post. )

Larsen was jolted out of her thoughts when there was a loud crashing noise behind her. The commotion made her quickly turn away from the window, and the first thing she saw was a boy, her room mate, she guessed, sprawled out on the floor face down. Her eyes widened in horror and her jaw fell slightly. Right by the boys feet lay Larsen's luggage. It didn't take her long to piece things together.
"Oh crap. Oh my gosh. Are you okay?" she asked him, talking very quickly. She crouched down next to him, mentally scolding herself for leaving her luggage in a place where anyone could trip over it. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left my bags right out there..." she looked at him, shaking his shoulder slightly, "Is anything broken? Are you concious...?" she asked, feeling like an idiot. What a great way to meet your roommate, at this rate, it was sure to be a GREAT year...

Matthew attempted to pull himself up from the ground while hoping that no one was around to see this embarrassing incident, which was all made incredibly hard when a girl came rushing to his side and shaking his shoulders.

"I'm fine." He told her, trying not to sound cross about her frantic behavior. "I only fell a few feet. I tripped while walking. There was no way I was going to create enough momentum even to give me a bruised knee." He picked himself up and rubbed himself off.

He looked at the girl who was fretting over him just a little while ago. "You must be Larsen." He said, smiling and holding his hand out for her. He may not be entirely comfortable with his rooming situation, but he wasn't about to take it out on this girl and be rude towards her. "My name's Matthew. Matthew Rodgeman. But I assume you've already heard of me."

Larsen let out a sigh of relief as the boy said he was, in fact, okay. As he smiled and extended his hand towards her she loosened up a bit and smiled back, shaking his hand firmly, "Yep, that's me. And yeah, I guess I've heard about you, well at least about us being... Room mates and all." she said, deciding to leave out the part about soul mates. It was a little awkward to think the boy she was just meeting now was apparently the one she'd fall in love with? She wondered if he had the same thoughts on his mind. He probably did. Most likely everyone coming to school was wondering if that was really true?Finding their soulmates? The thought was kind of nice but Larsen always thought of it as the kind of thing she'd like to do on her own accord. She didn't ever expect she'd have someone else arranging her love life for her, her school, no less... She was curious what Matthew thought about all this,but she hoped they didn't have to talk about it too much. She'd rather get to know him first, become his friend, then decide for herself instead of just doing whatever the school hoped her to do.

She was a little confused by Matthew's reaction to her answer, "What... Am I supposed to recognize you?" she asked, but it was kind of mumbled so he probably couldn't hear it. She just let it slide and smiled back at him, her whole face brightening up, "It's nice to meet you too. I hope you don't see me as some forgetful irresponsible chick now because of that luggage incident... I'm actually not usually that way, at all." she chuckled a bit as she bent down to pick up her luggage, then turned around to throw it on the bed. At that moment as she looked around the rest of the room and saw that there only seemed to be one bed there. What on earth is this school thinking? Larsen shook her head to herself and felt a bit awkward as she kept looking around the room, seeing a couch against the wall opposite to the bed. Well, that could do. She picked up her luggage and tossed it on the couch instead before she fell back on it. She blew a piece of hair out of her face, and you could see her face was reddening quite a bit.

"I hope you don't see me as some forgetful irresponsible chick now because of that luggage incident."

Matthew chuckled at this. "Don't worry about it all. I'm not quick to judge. Doing something once isn't enough to tell me what kind of person you are. Do it three times, then I'll start to judge you. But seriously, I understand. You just got here and got really excited. And I can't blame you, just look at this place."

Matthew watched as Larsen moved her stuff over to the bed. As she did so, he noticed the same thing he assumed Larsen was also wondering, based on the look on her face. "Is this the only bed?" He said aloud, looking through every door to make sure there wasn't a secret bedroom. "Well, that won't do." He turned back to Larsen, looking less than pleased. "It's like they assume we're already married. It's a lot worse than I imagined. Whatever happened to family friendly values? I'm going to complain. That's what I'll do. I'll get this whole thing straightened out."

By the time he finished his rant, Larsen had already moved her things to the couch and fell against it. "That's a kind thought." Matthew told her, anticipating her intentions. "But what kind of man would I be if I let a woman sleep on the couch while I take the bed? You move back to the bed. I'll take the couch if it must come to that, but I am determined to not let the day go by without this injustice being taken cared of. It's not that I don't like you as a room mate, but hopefully you can see how terribly inappropriate this whole thing is."

She did a little mixture of an amused smirk and a smile as Matthew ranted on about the dorm arrangements. Larsen herself was not exactly a ranting type of person but when other people did it constantly she found it to be strangely entertaining.
"But what kind of man would I be if I let a woman sleep on the couch while I take the bed? You move back to the bed. I'll take the couch if it must come to that, but I am determined to not let the day go by without this injustice being taken cared of. It's not that I don't like you as a room mate, but hopefully you can see how terribly inappropriate this whole thing is."
Larsen tried to keep her face straight as she nodded, "No no, I definitely get what you mean. This is ridiculous, whatever this school is trying to do." she found herself doing her best not to laugh.
"You uh... You sure seem to have a lot of strong opinions, huh?" suddenly her face grew thoughtful, "I guess a better way to phrase that is that you have strong conviction. But that's a good thing, right?" she smiled slightly at him.

"I believe it's good to have principals. It's like the old saying go, 'If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything'. And if you believe in something, you've got to stand up for it." Larsen nodded along with him, and mentally came to the conclusion that she'd get along well with this roommate of hers, so far he seemed like a more than decent guy, and she admired people with strong values and convictions.
"Oh, yeah, of course I feel the same way." she managed a small smile, but she felt like she was lying somehow, because lots of the time she'd felt herself be a little afraid to speak up. She only envied the people who could do it all the time, "I mean, like I said, I think conviction- as long as they're good convictions, makes a really really great quality for a person to have." she nodded firmly and then thought it was a little odd how she was getting into such a deep conversation with someone she didn't even know a couple minutes ago. She put her hands on her hips and her eyes wandered around the room a bit, and through an opening in a door that was slightly ajar, she could have sworn she saw the surface of a swimming pool.
"Whoa, no way." she walked over to the door and pushed it open, and sure enough, she found out she had guessed right. She turned around to look at Matthew and grinned, obviously pretty excited about the fact that they had a swimming pool right in their room.

She smirked, "I'll never understand the 'logic' behind that." She decided to walk around the pool, circling it once. Then she headed out to wander the rest of the dorm. Walking into the kitchen she nodded, "Pretty nice kitchen as well." She went over to the pantry and opened it up, not sure what she'd find in there.
"Holy schnikes they sure gave us a lot of food..." she said, stepping back to examine the massive stash that was there, an amazed look on her face. She turned around to look at Matthew and let out a bit of a laugh, "Hey, you think maybe we could barter some of this to get us an extra bed?" she joked.

Matthew followed Larsen into the kitchen. When he saw all the food, he was pleased, but not surprised. This place already had everything, so why not a fully stocked kitchen? "I wouldn't be surprised if we had a personal chef in a cupboard or drawer somewhere." He joked.

"Hey, you think maybe we could barter some of this to get us an extra bed?" Larsen asked.

"Good luck with that." Matthew answered. "Who do you plan to barter with? The school? No way they're having a shortage of food. The other students? No doubt they have the exact same arrangements as us, one bed, two roommates, and more food than they know what to do with. Maybe you plan on driving down to the city and bartering with a mattress store there. I doubt any one of them accepts food as payment. Nice plan though." Matthew said, trying to sound encouraging. "Although, I think I'll go back to my original plan: Complain until something gets done. I'm going to head on down to the receptionist and figure out who's in charge of these room arrangements. You want to come with? They may take us more seriously if more than one of us complains."

She smirked a bit, "You know, I WAS joking about the whole bartering thing..."
"Although, I think I'll go back to my original plan: Complain until something gets done. I'm going to head on down to the receptionist and figure out who's in charge of these room arrangements. You want to come with? They may take us more seriously if more than one of us complains."
"Uh, yeah yeah, sure." she said, even though she had a feeling that it wouldn't make a difference at all. Oh well, her and Matthew had been getting along well enough so far, so why not go lend some help if he really wanted it? She mainly was thinking it would be good to accompany him so she could make sure he wouldn't make too big a fool of himself, but of course she kept this to herself.
(I had to... XD)

Matthew marched out of the room and walked towards the elevator, making sure that he wasn't losing Larsen, while still keeping a brisk pace. "Forgive my speed, but there's no reason to put this off any further. The school needs to know that what they're doing here is wrong."

He walked into the elevator, pushed the button for the first floor, and watched the doors closed. Even while waiting in the elevator, he was acting as if he were in a hurry, fidgeting in place waiting for the door to open again. Once it did, he stepped out quickly, even before the door got to open all the way. He approached the front desk and saw the receptionist he talked with earlier. "Hello. Remember us? We just saw our room. We're not pleased. It's bad enough you're forcing us to live co-ed, but giving us only one bed. That has got to be some kind of sick joke. I demand to speak to who ever's in charge here. This will not stand."

Larsen had to jog slightly to keep up with Matthew's speed. She managed to keep up with him for a while, but got slowed down when she had to pass through a group of students standing around and talking. By the time she got around the corner, she could just see the elevator doors sliding shut. She sighed and pressed the down button and waited for the elevator to arrive again. A couple minutes later it arrived and she punched in the main floor button. She stepped out into the lobby but hung back as she saw Matthew storm towards the counter, she wondered how long it would take for him to realize he had left her behind.
As he approached the receptionist and started on his rant, she walked up to him from behind and patted him on the shoulder, "You tell 'em Matthew." she said with a teasing smile.

"Yeah, Peter Pan's great," Donni said with a smile. "So, you wanna' check this place out?" he grinned and turned to look at Ava to see her holding out a soda can for him to take. "Thanks," he said, taking the can and popping it open. He took a gulp of the cold drink, and grinned at Ava."So, you up for it?" he asked, referring to his earlier question.

(Sorry For The Short Post!)


"Hello. Remember us? We just saw our room. We're not pleased. It's bad enough you're forcing us to live co-ed, but giving us only one bed. That has got to be some kind of sick joke. I demand to speak to who ever's in charge here. This will not stand."
The receptionist looked up, startled, at the sound of the man's voice.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, rufflig through her papers for a second. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She noticed the girl walking uo behind him. "You tell 'em Matthew," she said. She looked like she was trying not to laugh.

"Oh, and um... also, sir, we didn't force you to share a room. It was in the contract?" the receptionist gave them a nervous smile and held up a blank contract, about ten pages thick.
"But, we don't actually have any, um, spare mattresses... but I could give you some sheets? Or there is a city a few miles away, you could buy a sleeping bag... or something," she blushed. "Sorry I couldn't have helped any more."

"Spare me your apologies." Matthew told the receptionist. "I asked to speak to the person in charge. I want to see the person who's responsible for this catastrophe. Now I want his name and how I can reach him. And don't tell me about the contract. I want answers. So stop giving us the run around." He was getting very impatient. He looked over to Larsen, not even noticing that she just joined him. "This is unbelievable. Why can't these people just be straight forward with us?"

Donni followed her into the living room, and his eyes widened slightly.A laugh escaped his lips. Ava flopped down onto the couch, giving a small laugh as she did so. Donni walked further into the room, away from the doorway he had just been standing at. "This place is so cool," he breathed, so low that Ava probably didn't hear it anyway. He looked arund the room, taking in the flat-screen TV situated above the fire, the large couch and the balcony, which hadan amazing view. He turned back to Ava for a second, giving her a small smile, though he didnt really see if she had been looking at him or not. He glanced at the unusual painting on the wall as his eyes swivelled around the whole room.

"All Students Have Permission To Enter Other Parts Of The School Grounds, excluding classrooms. This includes our restaurant italian restaurant, Bello, the Disney Theme Park, the Star Cafe, the pool, the gym, the game room and many more. Please ask at reception for places to visit."
Donni's eyes lit up as the femalespoke through the intercom.



"Spare me your apologies," the boy said. "I asked to speak to the person in charge. I want to see the person who's responsible for this catastrophe. Now I want his name and how I can reach him. And don't tell me about the contract. I want answers. So stop giving us the run around." The recptionist was slightly taken aback. "Well, you see, he is actually in London at the moment. But his name is Ted Marvolo. I can't actually give you, um, his like phone details and stuff without, like, his permission," she blushed and looked down at her feet as the voice spoke over the intercom.

Matthew turned to the girl. "This is unbelievable. Why can't these people just be straight forward with us?" she heard him say. The receptionist gritted her teeth. "I am being straight forward with you sir. I am telling you that you agreed that you would share a room, we have no spare mattresses but we do have duvets and pillows, and that Ted Marvolo, the person in charge, ho you requested for, is currently unavailable. I am only a receptionist after all. I don't have much influence." She finished her senetnce with a small hmmph, something in between annoyance and pride. And she was proud of herself. It was her first time she had stuck up for herself in, well, anything, really.

"This is unbelievable. Why can't these people just be straight forward with us?"
Larsen shrugged, really not sure what to say, "Wish I knew." She felt a little stupid standing there, not saying much, but she wasn't really the assertive type, and arguing with people made her uncomfortable.
After the receptionist released some whole angry speech on Matthew, she blinked, surprised that the seemingly sweet and timid looking lady had that in her. She just kind of stood, blinking in surprise, then an announcement came over the intercom.
All Students Have Permission To Enter Other Parts Of The School Grounds, excluding classrooms. This includes our restaurant italian restaurant, Bello, the Disney Theme Park, the Star Cafe, the pool, the gym, the game room and many more. Please ask at reception for places to visit."
Larsen's face lit up with excitement, "The theme park!? No way!" she almost started to run off but then turned back to face Matthew, "You coming? Come on, we can get some extra sheets and pillows and work out the sleeping arrangements later, lets just enjoy our day, shall we?"she smiled and looked at him expectantly.

Matthew could tell he was going to get no where with the receptionist, but at least he had a name. "Ted Marvolo." He murmured to himself to insert it into his long term memory. He wanted to ask the receptionist the soonest he'd be expected back, but could sense that he had already put her through enough. Larsen suggested going out to the park. The idea did tempt him. "Yeah, I'm coming." He said at last, following the roommate. "No point stressing over things you can't change." He said, catching up to her. "For the moment, anyway." He amended.

(Ack, sorry for no posts in so long >.<)

Once Matthew caught up with her, Larsen started to walk towards the door as he followed behind her. As she pushed the door open and took a step outside, she looked at Matthew, "So, what would you like to do first? I mean, we don't HAVE to go to the theme park first if you don't want. Or at all. I mean, I dunno, are you a theme park sort of guy?" she asked and looked at him, feeling rather stupid for asking, but hey, it was true that not everyone enjoyed then as much as the next person. "If you're not, we could probably find something else to do, walk around to get familiar with the place, go swimming, or we could always ask the receptionist for other ideas." she shrugged and finally stopped talking, feeling like she had just been babbling, so she decided to finally let Matthew have a word in.