August   When Frankie had been accepted into the Alexander Institute of Arts and Sciences – San Francisco, her older sister, Theo, had told her that, besides the art studios and the library, her favorite thing about the school would be the Trader Joe’s on campus.   She was absolutely right.   For AIASF and AIAS, it’s big sister campus in southern California, all enrolled students were there because they had been accepted onto the coveted roster, to have their entire undergraduate life financed through the schoolwide scholarship, funded almost entirely by the generous donations made by alumni. It was uncommon for a student to transfer out, uncommon for someone to transfer in, and downright rare for two people in the same household to get accepted back to back. Theo, being a year older, had been accepted first, on one of the performing arts scholarships. Both sisters wanted to go to AIASF, but because of the odds against them, Theo had refrained from gushing too much about the campus. But when, by some miracle, Frankie had received an academic scholarship the following year, it was all that the two could talk about for the several months leading up to the start of Frankie’s freshman year. She had refrained from making the hour and a half trip down to San Francisco from San Pablo, wanting to keep the majority of her experience fresh for when orientation and moving week came, and she was not disappointed.   Moving week came, and Frankie tried to wait for a day during which that her mother could take off from work and accompany her and Theo down to AIASF, but her mother wouldn’t be available until Saturday evening, and Frankie could not wait that long. With the help of an uncle Frankie had packed her small number of belongings away and she and Theo went to AIASF together, stopping at the administration buildings to get her house assignment and ID before entering an entirely new world. While AIAS had been called a true college town because of its size and isolated location on the outskirts of Topanga, California, AIASF had been called a city within a city. It took up the entirety of a pseudo-peninsula on the east side of San Francisco, sectioned off by the freeway, and otherwise surrounded by the bay. There were stores and buildings galore, including a gargantuan student center, a similarly sized sports center, and even a movie theater and nightclubs nestled among the library, the class buildings, and the dorms; Frankie could see the Trader Joe’s attached to the student center (there was a Safeway as well, according to Theo), and she already knew what her first place to visit would be once she settled in.   She had been assigned to the Second House, which housed academic scholarship students, as opposed to athletic (First House) and visual and performing art (Third House) students. Theo was, of course, a Third House resident, but she had not moved out of her dorm over the summer, to make things easier on their mother. Instead they both traveled to the Second House to check Frankie in and get her mail and dorm keys together, saying goodbye to their uncle in the process.   The upper floors of the five story dorm building were divided by underclassmen and upperclassmen; Frankie’s dorm room was located on the third floor, and the sight of it had blown her away. It was three times the size of the tiny bedroom that she and Theo shared in San Pablo, and, being designed uniquely by one of AIASF’s interior design and art alumni, was done simply but beautifully in pale hardwood flooring, with a light brick accent wall to accompany the other white walls. There was a full sized bed in a white frame, a matching full sized bed in a white frame, a matching full sized mirror propped up in the corner, and string lights already on the brick wall. Frankie’s toffee brown face lit up with awe as she took in her surroundings.   “It’s awesome, right?” Theo commented as she