Chapter 10

My dearest, dearest Roma,

I'm sending you a couple of new pictures, just as I promised.

Here you can see me playing with my parrot. I don't think I told you about her. Isn't she pretty?



And she can speak too. To tell you the truth I was a bit skeptical about that when I bought her, but after about a week she started to repeat some of the words she'd heard. Now it is hard to silence her at times. Thankfully she lets me sleep at night.

That photo of me playing with her was taken by Bella. I think we started to get along pretty well. I suppose she regrets being mean to us in the past. I hope she really isn't as selfish and unkind as she acted. She's my sister after all, and I don't want to loose her.

On a lighter note, I made a couple of friends here and some of them turned out to be members of some kind of a super secret organization. They invited me to their hideout and asked me to join them.



This whole secrecy is a bit funny to me. It's all about parties after all, but I like them, so I joined.

Bella, on the other hand, neither wants nor needs secrecy when partying.



She makes no effort to hide that the real reason she came here for is to have fun. I don't think I've ever seen her learning.

I guess you already know our younger brother, Henryk, will be joining us next year.



About a week ago he came here with two of his friends to see what awaits them at the Universal University.

These are all the new photos I have. I can't wait to see you again!

Love,

Bill

Chapter 9

The sound of the doorbell woke Roma. She waited a moment before getting up to make sure that it wasn't just a dream. When she heard it again she got out of her bed and grumbled on her way to open the door. It was her birthday and someone dared to wake her up at 8am! This was just outrageous.
The person responsible for that appalling behavior was a delivery man with a parcel in one hand and some papers in another.
-Good morning miss! Is your name Roma Castillo? - he asked, consulting the papers.
-Yes it is.
-Very well. Please sign here... and here... Thank you. This parcel is for you. Good bye!
She went back inside with the parcel in her hand. It was in a shape of a cylinder, wrapped in a colorful paper and tied with a red ribbon. She cautiously unwrapped it wondering who sent it to her.
When she took the lid off the box she saw that it was full of deliciously looking and smelling chocolates. There was a letter too. Roma couldn't resist and settled herself on the sofa with the chocolates within her reach



and started to read the letter:

My dearest Roma,

as you know I'm not able to come for your birthday because of my exams. This box of chocolates is just a token. We'll celebrate properly when I come home (you'll get a proper present then too). And now get up and make sure everything is prepared for your birthday party!

Love,

Bill x

PS. May your adult life be as sweet as these chocolates.


***


Roma looked around. Everything was ready for the party. The guests were supposed to start coming in about half an hour, so she had some time to take a shower. Just when she was leaving the bathroom, her first guest came.
It was not going to be a huge birthday party. Roma only invited three of her school friends (all of who were strangely drawn to swinging on the door of her fridge) and Adam, the only of the group that welcomed her in Challengeville that she still stayed in touch with.
The party was held on the lawn. It was sunny, as always, so there was no reason to stay indoors. Everyone was having great time playing kicky bag, having pillow fights or just chatting.



When the time was right they all gathered around the birthday cake and cheered



as Roma blew the candles, made a wish and spun into a beautiful adult.



The party finished late at night and left everyone in great moods.




After the younger guests had left Adam approached Roma and said:
-I saw the painting you're now working on. It already looks really good. I can see you've already made a huge improvement. You are talented and you'll be able to make huge money just by selling your paintings. But you have to start somewhere. I have an offer for you. A friend of mine is opening a gallery soon and he's looking for some young, promising painters. I think you two should meet and work together. It would be such a great opportunity for you.
He gave him his friend's phone number, she thanked him and promised to call him the next day.
That evening Roma fell asleep with a smile on her face. Everything was going so well.

Chapter 8

My dearest Roma,

I arrived at the campus a couple of hours ago. The journey was rather comfortable, but I was happy to finally get off the bus.

The first person I met at the Universal University campus was this very nice lady who showed me the way to the dorm I'm staying in (you can see it in the picture).



I quickly picked a rather modest room,



left all my stuff in there and went on to investigate the place that I'll be calling home for the next four years. I took a couple of pictures so that you could see what you're missing ;)

I was the first student to arrive at this dorm, and the only other person there was a cafeteria worker.



We chatted for a while and he told me that I can help him in the kitchen if I ever run out of money. When he was telling me about various places around, the first group of students arrived. I was surprised to see my sister among them.



I wasn't exactly happy to see her here, but we'll see how things go...

Anyway, here's a photo of a little learning area upstairs.



I can see by the condition of all this stuff that there were whole generations living and studying here before me. Kind of makes me feel special, but I think I'd rather sit on a decent sofa while learning, not wonder what is that thing making strange noises every time I move.

Oh, I almost forgot to write you about this strange tradition they have here. When I arrived that lady I wrote you about earlier gave me some random pieces of clothing,



told me to change and throw my old clothes away. That was weird! I think I need to go shopping tomorrow before classes.

And that's all I have to tell you about my student life so far. I miss you very much and I'd love you to be here with me. I'll call you tomorrow!

Love,

Bill x