by Mitch Goth
the question first.
"Yeah," Evan nodded.
"Unless you specify otherwise, Antioch will put you in a gender neutral hall," Emily explained.
"Gender neutral?" Evan wondered, not recalling that portion of his admission papers.
"Yeah, a hall where gender doesn't matter. Women can room with men, whatever their preference. I think it's awesome. I hate how so many other places think that just because we're different sexes we should be divided. Separate but equal never works, why do people keep trying, you know?"
"Yeah," Evan agreed. He'd managed to comprehend every word she said, despite his flustered state of mind. He watched her as she went back to unpacking her things. She already seemed so at home, so calm and collected. Evan wondered why he couldn't just be like that, why he couldn't live life without worries like this girl seemed to do.
"Sorry," she turned back to him with a smile, "I'm a pretty vocal activist for a lot of things. Sometimes I come across a bit weird. I figure if we'll be living together I should try to make a decent enough first impression."
"It's fine," Evan stepped back into the hall, "I'll be back," he disappeared quickly.
Emily walked out into the hall just in time to see Evan fade into the bathroom. It took her a moment to see Brad standing close by, massive grin still on his face. She gave him a subtle smile back.
"Brad Beverly," Brad greeted, stifling laughs as he spoke.
"Emily Atkinson," Emily replied, confused. "Do you know what's wrong with that guy?" she aimed a finger down the hall where Evan had fled off to.
"I don't know," Brad shrugged, "I assume everything is."
"Yeah, that might be a safe assumption," Emily figured, looking down the hall, puzzled.
Just then JP walked up to them, finally coming upstairs from the cafeteria. He looked around for a moment, then gave a concerned look to the both of them when Evan was nowhere to be found.
"Where'd Evan go?" he inquired.
"He ran off to the bathroom," Emily answered.
"That guy," JP sighed. "I'll go help him."
"Somebody ought to," Brad snickered.
11
In the bathroom, Evan leaned over the sink, trying to collect his mind. Although, every time he tried to calm himself, his brain just ran away again. He was too flustered to think straight. Everything was so different than what he expected, so different than what he was used to. Brad was right, this was all surprise immersion therapy, and Evan wasn't sure he could handle it.
As the culture shock kept his mind racing, questions raised up in Evan's brain. What on earth was he doing in a place like this? Why was it all so different? How did a place like this even come to be? So many questions, so little answers.
Evan looked up at himself in the mirror. He didn't look like anything this place was used to. He didn't look like the average Antiochian, he looked too normal. There was no eccentric underside to him, he was plain, he was run-of-the-mill. Why did he think he could come to terms with a place so different?
Just then, JP came into the bathroom and appeared in the reflection from the mirror. Evan paid him no mind. He was too busy having a minor breakdown to say hello.
"How's life, Evan?" JP wondered.
"How do you think it is?" Evan retorted. "I don't know what the hell I'm doing here. I don't belong here. I'm not the regular Antiochian, JP. I'm not, I'm just regular."
"Regular Antiochian?" JP chuckled. "Those words just don't go together. Antioch isn't a normal place. But it's not a place only for weird people either. It's a melting pot, a place where cultures and ideas come to mix together. That's what makes it so unique, that's what makes it so dangerous and revolutionary. This place is not normal, but it needs normal people to keep order, to keep it grounded. There's no such thing as a regular Antiochian, because they come from all places, normal places included."
Evan finally turned around and looked at JP, his mind cleared, if only slightly, "Thanks."
"Don't worry about it," JP shrugged, "it's what I do."
Just then, the bathroom door opened. Before Evan could wrap his mind around it, a girl had wandered it and began washing her hands off. They appeared to have paint or some ink of artistic expression on them. In mere seconds she was gone again, and in that amount of time, Evan's head was refilled with jumbled thoughts.
"The bathrooms too?" Evan groaned, leaning back over the sink and went right back to staring at himself unsurely in the mirror.
"Bathrooms are gender neutral, that's just how this place works," JP explains plainly. After a few seconds of observing Evan's still, stressed expression, JP chuckled quietly and patted Evan on the shoulder. "Welcome to Antioch."
JP walked out of the bathroom, still wearing a smile. This left Evan alone with his bran again. The last thing he wanted to be left alone with.
All the questions returned to his mind. JP's words were in his head as well, which lessened the stress slightly. But he still couldn't think straight, he still couldn't comprehend all this school's quirks and odd rules. To Evan, Hogwarts seemed more normal than Antioch at this point.
He let out a long sigh, staring at his reflection with a blank, indifferent expression, "This place is too damn weird."
Book 2 of The Antioch Adventures coming soon!!!
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About the Author
Mitch Goth currently resides in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he attends Antioch College. When not writing, he spends his time investigating the paranormal and indulging in a good book or movie. Welcome to Antioch College is his twelfth book.