My name is Marco.
That's all that I used to be able to say about myself. We've all lightened up a little since the end of the war, but we can still be paranoid. But hey, a little paranoia can be healthy sometimes.
My last two years at high school I actually applied myself. I never liked school, but I was always pretty good at it. I got straight As my junior and senior years, and made the National Honor Society, which is the only reason I am starting college with my friends. If it weren't for scholarships, I don't know what I'd do. My father pulled down a nice fat salary, when he was working, but we had the mortgage and so many other bills to pay off. And then my senior year Dad got sick. Lung cancer, they said. It was treatable, but it took all of my college money and all our savings, and he had to stop working. So I worked as much as I could and still have time to study.
But the scholarships, the scholarships saved my life. Kept me from flipping burgers forever. I thank God everyday for those scholarships. Of course it means working hard in school, but I don't mind that. I get to spend four extra years with my best friends, far away from the memories. Yes, there are good ones, but sometimes I feel that the bad memories outweigh the good.
The fall of 2003, I felt like the fates were in my favor. I was starting college at one of the best Christian schools in the country, and one of the more expensive school, but I was only paying for room and board. I was starting school with my four closest friends. But I will admit, when my two best friends and I all just "happened" to be rooming with a Hanson, I began to wonder if the Ellimist had stepped in again.
I walked into my room to find that my roommate had already started unpacking.
"Hola, yo, I'm Marco, I guess we're roommates, hey?"
"Isaac, nice to meet you. Yep, I guess so." I could hear traces of an accent. While I knew that I had a touch of my father's Venezuelan accent, he sounded almost "hickish," to a point.
"Dude, you look familiar, your last name wouldn't be Hanson, by any chance, would it?" He laughed.
"Yeah, it would by any chance. You a fan?"
"I used to be, a bit. But two of my best friends, Rachel and Cassie, well, mostly Rachel, are obsessed with you guys. We've also met you once before, at a meet and greet, I think. Hey, are you the only one of you three who's going to college?"
"That's cool. Actually, no, I'm not. Now that Zac's old enough, we decided that we would all go to college. And this happens to be the Christian school with the best music program, that also has other degree programs."
"So all three of you are here? Rachel will flip if she gets to meet Taylor. Tobias, her boyfriend, might have a little competition," I joked.
"Seriously?" He asked.
"I doubt it. Tobias and Rachel are seriously in love. They've been dating since we were, like, fourteen or fifteen. I think he may be planning to propose soon." We chatted for a few more minutes as I began to unpack and hang my own pictures. Pretty soon Zac and Taylor came bounding into our room. After brief introductions I left them to check on Jake and Tobias.
I was quite shocked to find out that each of was rooming with a Hanson, but I wasn't surprised at Rachel and Cassie's reactions to the news. After we calmed them down, we all went down to the common room and sat and talked. The plane ride had been stressful. We'd all flown before, as birds and as flies, but not in a plane, well, not as humans in a plane. That was a little bit scary, especially when we hit turbulence.
The day seemed to slip through our fingers unbelievably quickly. Before we knew it, we were walking back to our dorm rooms. Tobias and Rachel had gone for a walk, so Jake and I decided to go up to my room and talk for a bit. When we walked in, Isaac was already there, strumming his guitar.
"Hey Marco," he said.
"Hey Ike, this is my best friend Jake." Jake reached out to shake Isaac's hand.
"Hey, Jake, it's nice to meet you."
"Likewise. I just have to say, in case Marco didn't already, that my girlfriend Cassie and my cousin Rachel are major fans of you guys. Not only that, but they're also going to school here." We all laughed a bit at the face Isaac made.
"Yeah he told me, but I almost forgot to ask you something. They aren't, like, obsessive screaming teenies, are they?" Jake and I exchanged a look.
"They can be, but I'm pretty sure they'll behave. The amusing thing is that Rachel's boyfriend Tobias, another good friend of ours is Taylor's roommate. And Taylor is the one that Rachel used to have a crush on." Isaac laughed at that.
"What are the odds of that?"
"It gets even better, I'm Zac's roommate, too."
"Dude, I pity you, you have no idea what you're getting into." Jake made a face.
"He isn't that bad, is he?"
"Well, he used to be a lot worse, but the thing about Zac is he's really smart. He does is study in half the time as everyone else, and then bugs you while you're trying to finish."
"Oh great," Jake replied, sarcastically. "Maybe we should stick you and Zac together, dude," he said to me. "Wait, on second thought, I don't think the world's ready for that yet." We all laughed. We chatted for a little while longer, and then we all decided to hit the sack. Classes started early tomorrow, and we didn't need to be late.
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The next day started well. The five of us and our roommates seemed to be starting our own clique already, not that any of us were exclusive snobs, we were all just sort of used to hanging out in certain groups. Breakfast was okay, we mostly all had cereal, and then we had some big assembly where the president welcomed all the freshmen to the school. Neither Jake or I had any classes until afternoon, so we decided to go and hang out in his room for a while.
"Dude, this is awesome. I mean, it's going to be hard, but we can handle it, we've tackled worse."
"Yeah, I know, but at least we aren't fighting any evil aliens now."
"Praise Jesus!" I cried, raising my hands in the air. Jake laughed.
"But still, we need to be careful, you never know . . ."
"Dude, it's been over two years. Why are we all still so paranoid?"
"I don't know, Marco, I think it's going to be a long time before we learn to trust people and let our guard down." He sighed.
"So, what do you think of the Hansons so far?"
"They're a lot more grown up than the last time we saw them." We both laughed at the memory.
"Yeah, I mean, the last time you saw your roommate, you were a cockroach in his salad." He laughed at my comment.
"Yeah, that's fun to think about. Still we have to be careful that they don't find out about us. I mean, it's not like any of us are going to go up to people and say, 'Hey, I can turn into a bird of prey, wanna watch?' Although, the idea of Taylor walking into his room and seeing a red-tailed hawk on the top bunk is sort of funny." We laughed.
"Or Zac walking in and finding a Siberian tiger sitting at your computer." We were both laughing at the mental image, when the door opened, and we immediately changed the subject.
"Hey Zac," Jake said, "How was your class?"
"Dude, it rocked. I seriously love Calculus." Jake and I looked at each other. I knew we were both thinking that we should get Zac together with Ax. However, that would be very difficult considering that Ax no longer lived on Earth.
"Well, chicos, I'd love to hang around and chat, but I have a class soon, so I will now be off. See you later!" I said as I walked down to my room to grab my books before heading off to my Sociology class.