Chapter 106

                                    

                                          
It had already been a long day of driving. And it didn't help much that everyone had to get up and head out at an early time this morning in order to get to their location at a decent hour. The drive from Crestmont, California to Tempe, Arizona had lasted roughly five hours and 40 minutes, give or take some time due to traffic. While Matt and Lainie had agreed to rent a U-HAUL truck to transport a few furniture items amongst other things, rather than carpooling together, Justin and Clay drove their own cars. The three vehicles played follow the leader along the way as they drove down the highway together, heading towards the college that the two boys would be attending for the next four years.
                          
A couple of days prior to the five-hour roadtrip, Amber Foley had shown up to the Jensen household to surprise her son with a car of his own. Sure, the single mother hadn't always been around. But she had wanted to do this one thing for her son, and the woman had been working multiple jobs to save up the money for it. Justin had been quite surprised by the action, but he had also been very gratefull and accepting of the car. While she was there, Amber had also taken the time to talk with Matt, Lainie, and even Clay to thank them for everything they had done for her son and how accepting they were of him. 
                          
After a decently long drive and hours of listening to a bunch of songs on the radio, everyone eventually arrived to an apartment complex just a few blocks away from the main college campus. A couple of months back, Matt and Lainie had signed a lease for a four-bedroom and four-bathroom apartment for Clay and Justin to live in while they were attending college. While Mr. and Mrs. Jensen had paid rent for the two boys, the two other roomates they would be staying with had paid their share of the rent as well. The two other roomates that would be living with Clay and Justin were Christopher Wilkins, one of Clay's South Dakota friends, and Tyler Down. 
                          
After sharing greetings, introducing Christopher and the parents to each other, and catching up for a few short minutes, everyone got to work by unloading items from vehicles and carrying them up two flights of stairs to the third floor, where their apartment was located. With today being Move In Day, other families and college students were there was well, unpacking their own belongings and transporting them to their respective apartments. At one point, Clay, and Christopher were helping Matt navigate a black leather couch up the two flights of stairs that led up to the third floor.
                          
While the three were reaching the top of one staircase and slowly turning to start going up another, Matt decided to have some fun of his own. Carefully walking up the stairs backwards as he was stationed up front, Mr. Jensen smiled to himself. "Pivot!" The man instructed, and Clay immediately smiled to himself as he saw what his dad was doing. As they transitioned from one set of stairs to the next, the older man kept repeating that same word a few times. When Matt said "pivot" once more, Clay popped up from behind the back of the couch, fighting to hide a smile as he did so. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!" The blue-eyed male said, attempting to look fairly annoyed with his dad as they had re-enacted the funny couch scene from the classic tv show, Friends.
                          
"Ok, just from witnessing that, I can tell that we'll get along really well." A voice spoke up from behind the three couch-movers. Clay glanced back at a girl who was smiling at him, and he flashed her a friendly smile of his own in return. After getting the couch up the rest of the stairs and into the apartment, the three worked to place where they wanted it. The 20-year-old then quickly made his way back down to the main level, and he ran into the same girl from before as he descended the stairs. "Hey. I'm Clay Jensen, by the way." The friendly male said, introducing himself as they headed down the stairs together. "Emma Tompkins." The girl stated, pausing to offer a hand to her new friend. Giving a soft smile, Clay took her hand and politely shook it before the two got back to work by transporting their belongings up to their respective apartments, which just so happened to be on the same floor.