August 27, 2017
Dear Diary,
I can’t believe that tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life… Freshman Orientation at Fordham University, Day One. I can’t sleep a wink because I’m so full of excitement. Earlier today, I was home alone (who leaves a kid home alone on their last day before college?) and the loneliness made me sob uncontrollably for literally like 40 minutes straight (I got it all on my Facebook Live and that’s how long the video went on before my tears fried my computer’s circuit board).
But that was a moment of weakness. I got my tears out of my system and am now full of nothing but joy for the four years to come. I bet Orientation will be so fun and that I’ll make my best friends there. Also, I am really pumped to meet my roommate, Rebecca (IDK her last name, is that normal??). She’s very mysterious and doesn’t seem to be on any social media, but I guess that’s how it goes when you do random assignment. Anywho, we’ve emailed back and forth a bit and she seems chill, so I’m sure we’ll get along great. Besides, I’m clean enough and very easy-going, so I know I won’t be the problem. LOL! Well, I’m gonna try to get to sleep now. Update you tomorrow, goodnight!

August 28, 2017
Dear Diary,
Orientation has been very lame thus far. I guess my expectations were too high or whatever, but it’s fine. Have I made friends yet? Well, not really, but it’s only the first day, it all goes up from here, you know? So yeah, socializing and befriending people has been kind tough, IDK, maybe because it’s a city school so no one wants to bother with talking to other people because they’re all so busy making their dreams come true. #BigApple #TheCityWhereDreamsComeTrue :)
So yeah, after a long day of listening to boring people speak, I went back to my room (where I am now). This morning I moved in and saw that my roommate hadn’t moved in yet. But now, it’s clear that someone else has been here and yet… there’s no one else around. One other odd thing is that the other bed has been replaced by a much smaller bed (very cool polka-dot sheets, though!), and the closet is full of tiny, doll-sized outfits. I assume this is a prank. It’s very funny, ha ha. My roommate is a prankster! Like “Impractical Jokers” (God I fricking love that show). Can’t wait to meet this goofball I live with!

August 30, 2017
Dear Diary,
Sorry I didn’t write yesterday. TBH, it was a crazy day, very emotionally draining, and I’m just trying to process what happened to me.
So, I guess I should just get into it. My roommate, Rebecca, is WHACK. And I’m scared of her. Because her pranks have gone too far and she knows a lot about my personal life and past.
You see, yesterday I awoke to see a body in that other tiny little bed.
“Hey Rebecca, you here?” I called out. The little body fricking turns towards me and it is a goddamn ventriloquist dummy. And she looks me right in the eyes and says, “Hello Margie, it’s been a while.”
So at this point, I think I’m still in a dream. I slap myself in the face a little and yet this doll is still looking at me… talking to me. And claiming to know me, too? What’s up with that??
I was like, “LOL, Rebecca, stop messing around with this doll and come out so we can finally meet in person!” and then the doll looks me dead in my eyes and opens her mouth and is like, “I know it’s been 10 years, but do you really not recognize me?”
I was so freaked out I ran out of the room and went to Orientation Day Two festivities in my giraffe-printed PJs (but I remembered to take my diary of course, teehee). I slept in the elevator last night because I was too scared to even get close to my room, but I have to go back to brush my teeth soon, so wish me luck I guess.



September 8, 2017
Dear Diary,
Well. I don’t know how to say this without sounding crazy, but it appears that Rebecca is my ventriloquist dummy that disappeared one day when I was eight. You see, I used to be really into ventriloquism and got a dummy for my 8th birthday. Her name was Rebecca, and she was a brunette with an ugly blue dress and a creepy, large smile. Over time, I got less into ventriloquism and more into magic, until one day, I realized that she just disappeared (and I wasn’t the one to make that happen! I’m an awful magician, LOL). My parents had no idea what happened to her, either. I guess I eventually forgot about her, so when I saw her lying in bed, I couldn’t recognize her. Also, she really had a huge glo up since I last saw her. She wears cool clothes and got rid of the silly braids. Same creepy smile, though.
We had a heart-to-heart where she said she left because she didn’t want to be anyone’s second choice and you know what, I see where she’s coming from, and I respect her for it. She said she had to find herself and had been living on the road and doing her thing, making music, going with the flow. She went on to tell me that she really enjoyed our time together and wanted to reconnect, so she ended up hearing through the grapevine that I’d be attending Fordham, so she decide to apply and request me as a roommate. And so here we are. I was really freaked out, but now that I’ve had a week to process and get to know her for the Rebecca she is now and not who she was, I can see she’s a really cool girl. I’m excited to see what this year will hold :) GO RAMS, lol!!

Now more than a semester into the academic year, FCLC freshman Stacey Jones is still looking for a solid group of friends to hang out with, but she may have finally found a solution to her problem.