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After finishing, I waited at the side for Brandon that finished soon after.

“Where are you living, man?” Brandon quickly asked while approaching.

“Room 201 House 13 on the 12th Campus Lane. What about you?” I asked him back.

“Cool, we are going to be roommates! I’m in room 105. Let’s go together, I’ll have my folks give us a lift.” He pulled me along with his arm around my shoulders.

As we were getting close to the car, a middle-aged man exited from the driver’s side.

“Hey, pops! We are giving a lift to Ed here! We are going to be roommates.” I was surprised to suddenly be called Ed but chose not to comment as I didn’t really mind it.

“Hello, sir. My name is Edward Strauss and as Brandon said I’ll be his roommate.” I still had to introduce myself as it was proper manners to do so.

I extended my hand for a handshake and he firmly gripped.

“Nice to meet you Edward. I’m Benjamin Tennyson but you can call me Mr.Ten like Brandon’s friends do.” Brandon’s dad nodded, probably from my show of proper manners, before introducing himself.

Mr.Ten is a tall and strong man, if I had to guess he is already in his late 40s early 50s from the silvery hair and the small wrinkles near his eyes and mouth but his posture is straight and commanding.

“You can put your case in the back together with Brandon’s.” Saying that, he entered the car again while Brandon and I went to the back to put my bag in there.

“My pops might look scary but that’s just his front, my mom says that he has the face of a tiger, the body of a bear but the heart of a golden retriever.” I laughed at Brandon’s comment harder than I probably should.

After putting away my bags, we got inside on the middle seats.

“Hi, dear. My husband said your name is Edward, right? Nice to meet you.

How tall are you? It’s rare to see other boys bigger than our Dondon. By the way, my name is Brittany but you can call me Mrs.Ten or Aunt Brit, whatever you feel more comfortable with.” Brandon’s mother in the front passenger seat turned around and started firing rapidly.

She was a short woman with blond hair and small exquisite features, she had some light make-up that despite being a mother still gave a youthful vibe.

“MOM! You promised to stop calling me that after high school!” Brandon was embarrassed from being called his pet name.

“Shut it, Dondon. I gave birth to you so I can call you whatever I want.” She just shot a glance at him, silencing whatever protest he might have wanted to make.

“Hello and nice to meet you, Mrs.Ten. Last I measured, I was 193 cm.” I could see from where Brandon got his personality as his mother was as enthusiastics, if not more, as he was.

On the short trip to our future house, she bombarded me with different questions from where I was from to how many people I had in my family while Brandon gave directions to his father.

Even when the orphan bomb dropped when she asked about my parents, she was quick to defuse it and not make the atmosphere tense or awkward.

Though, I also shared a little more of my story, not to make the situation too heavy, about being adopted by Grandma Rosaline.

She even managed to pull out her phone and introduce me to Brandon’s older brother and younger sister through photos while also showing some embarrassing photos of Brandon, much to his dismay.

Arriving at House 13, it was a three-story house painted to Stunfork colors that would be my home for at least the next 4 years.

Mr.Ten parked in front of the house behind a red mustang.

After getting out of the car, we picked our bags and entered the house.

Inside there were a lot of people walking to and from, presumably the other freshmen and their relatives.

As for the place itself, there was a communal living/dining room as soon as you walked in with an open kitchen at the back, and to the right of entrance there was a staircase by the wall that led to the upper floors.

It seems the ground floor is all communal rooms while the upper floors should be the rooms of each student.

We decided to go up to put our bags down and arrange our things.

I parted with Brandon and his family on the first floor as my room was on the second.

Mrs.Ten offered to help me unpack but I declined as I didn’t pack much to begin with, while Brandon on the other hand had five big ass cases.

According to him, two of them were for his personal football items and weights he uses to train at home.

After a quick unpacking, that is just putting my clothes inside the closet and my backpack on the desk I looked around the room.

It was a simple arrangement with a wardrobe, night stand, single bed and desk.

I then pulled my phone and started making a list of things I would need since I didn’t bring anything.

“I’ll have to change the mattress since it is too thin.

I’ll need sheets, pillows and pillow cases, blankets and a quilt for the cold.

An AC for the hot weather.

A carpet would be nice.

That should be enough for now.”

I decided to hit the nearest Malwart to get everything I needed for my room as well as food.

‘I hope we don’t have a Cookie Monster in our house.’ It kinda pisses me off when someone steals other people's food, even though the Cookie Monster was my favorite Muppet.

‘It’s rare to meet such nice people like Brandon and his family. It must be my improved luck working. From my observations so far, they look like the type of people that would always stand by their friends.’ I decided to stop by Brandon’s room to see if he wanted anything. Since I was already going to Malwart anyways I might as well ask.

I picked up my phone and wallet and after locking my room.

“No no no no! I said to put the desk under the window, not the bed! Benji, move the wardrobe a little more to the right facing the bed.” As I got near I could hear Mrs.Ten voice commanding her husband and Brandon to move stuff left and right to make the room look good.

Knock Knock*

I lightly knocked on the open door to get their attention.

“Oh, Ed! Do you need some help?” Mrs.Ten immediately asked after seeing it was me.

“No need, Mrs.Ten. I’m doing a quick Malwart run and wanted to know if you will need something.”

“How thoughtful of you. Hmm, let me think for a second.” Mrs.Ten replied and went silent while making a mental list of things Brandon might need.

“I guess some groceries so Dondon can snack between meals and maybe another set of beddings.

Benji, give me the keys. I’ll go with Ed while you and Dondon finish unpacking.” Mrs.Ten said while picking her handbag.

Mr.Ten had a conflicted look when he heard his wife asking for the car keys, which did not go unnoticed to her.

“Benjamin~ … the keys.” Mrs.Ten narrowed her eyes and smiled while calling her husband but even I could feel that that smile was anything but friendly.

“Let’s go, Ed!” Mr.Ten fished the keys out of his pocket and gave it to his wife who gladly took it and left the room.

I quickly followed after Mrs.Ten, getting into the passenger seat.

After some small chats about nothing in particular, Mrs.Ten cleared her throat before asking.

“Ed, I’m sorry if I’m prying too much but how are you going to pay your tuition? Since you said you lost your grandma, your last relative, then what about the money? Do you want me to refer you to a part-time job?” Even though her questions might sound intrusive I didn’t have any adverse reaction like I did with the driver as I could feel that she was legitimately worried about me when asking.

‘Wow, it’s rare to see someone this worried about someone they just met.’ I was really touched by her concern.

“No need to feel sorry. As for the money, my grandma left me enough so I don’t have to worry during college.

Moreover, I also got a full scholarship as a student-athlete.” I could see her visibly relaxing while muttering “Good good.” after hearing my reply.

“Then you must be really good! Dondon only got a 50% scholarship.” Mrs.Ten was back to her cheerful and carefree persona.

“By the way, do you already know what your major is going to be?” She asked to continue our conversation.

“I’m not 100% sure but probably I’ll take Film and Media as my major.” Mrs.Ten’s eyes shone brightly at my answer.

“Really?! Then I’ll be your direct Alumni hehehe.” She laughed really excited at my answer.

I was also surprised as I didn’t think she graduated from the Film and Media at Stunfork.

“If you have any trouble with the courses you can always consult with me!” She declared proudly, sticking her chest forward.

“Oh right, I don’t know if the old witch is still lecturing but try to avoid Prof.Bridget’s Film and Media Analysis. She gives a ton of work and detracts just as many points for no reason at all.

Also avoid Prof.Stanley’s Media and Society as he is super strict with attendance and used to mark us as absent if we were late by just 5 minutes.

Also …” Mrs.Ten was clearly excited remembering her college days and kept talking about places to go and avoid as well as which teachers were good and bad.

I was thankful for all the information she was sharing but it was overwhelming.

For the rest of the drive we spent the majority of the time with her talking and I would give some replies from time to time.

Arriving at Malwart, their parking lot was full and we had to spend some time looking for a spot to park.

“What are you going to buy, Ed?” Mrs.Ten asked as we entered Malwart.

“I need some sheets, pillows and a new mattress, as the one provided by the administration is too thin for me.” I didn’t want to say I thought it was gross as Brandon looked fine with it.

“Also a carpet since I like walking barefooted and an AC unit since it’s been so hot lately.”

Mrs.Ten just nodded.

“I want to buy some groceries and snacks for Dondon, so why don’t I help you first and we can buy groceries later?”

“I’ll take your offer as I frankly have no idea about how to choose them as it was my grandma that chose everything before.”

We quickly made our way through the list I had made before.

I bought a carpet that should cover almost the entire surface of my room and picked a small portable AC unit.

When we reached the bedroom section I was really glad I had come with Mrs.Ten.

“Come here, Ed. Check this one out, see if you like it.” she beckoned me while also patting the mattress she was seated in.

“Hmm … a little too soft, I want a mattress with a little more bounce to it.” I said while bouncing a little, testing the elasticity.

‘A mattress a bit bouncier would be perfect to bone a chick in.’ I’m not gonna be a hypocrite. I spent 45 years in my last life without any action.

When I was a child it was okay since I didn’t have a sex drive nor knew anything about it but during my teens it was hell.

Being interested in sex but unable to do it.

Even if I wanted to take one in the ass, I had no feeling from the waist down and that includes my bony ass.