I was jolted awake with a sharp pain through my head and I looked around to kill whoever did this, to my surprise, it was none other than my wonderful best friend. He looked down at me with his signature smirk and I gave him the best glare I could conjure.
"What the hell's wrong with you??!" He bit his lip to keep himself from grinning.
"Nothing. It was merely payback." He shrugged although I did not miss the playful glint in his eyes and glared harder at him, hoping to burn a hole in his large duck head so he'd shut up.
"Get up lazy ass. We need to find our rooms as well." He offered his hand to me which I just smacked away earning an 'ow' from him and standing up on my own and stretching out like a cat. And then a thought struck me as a bolt of lightning and I turned towards him with wide eyes.
"Wait... where are my bags and my documents?" I looked around the wide hallway. Only a few students lingered about, probably rushing over to their friends to catch up or something.
"Your bags are right behind you-" I turned around and found them right beside me actually and let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "AS per your documents, there with me." He said waving the papers in the air for emphasis. I stepped forward and tried to reach for them but he held them up, out of my reach. Sucks for having a short height.
"Not so fast, lil'ntugget." He chuckled.
"Wait, what?" I looked at him with a with a weird face and a permanent frown plastered onto my face.
"I just found a nickname for you, lil'nugget." He ruffled my head then started taking the bags from behind me.
"Are you serious? No, no, no, no, you aren't going to call me that!" I waved my hands in the air as he continued to pick up the bags, ignoring me.
"Of course I will." He turned around and gave me a wink before walking towards the gate on the far end of the huge ballroom. Yeah, I'm just going to call this hall a ballroom.
I sighed before grabbing the last bag that Kieran had left behind for me and started making my way towards him who, by the way, had already gotten a good distance away from me and I had no idea how. What is it with him and his large strides?
"Uh, sorry." While trying to catch up with him, I had bummed into someone but I didn't have time to look who it was so I quickly walked past the stranger and hurried towards Kieran who surprisingly had turned around and was well watching something behind me. I turned around to look at whatever he was looking at but of course found nothing as per usual.
"What are you looking at?" I asked him once I was standing directly in front of him. I noticed how his eyes were dark and his jaw clenched. I looked down to see that his hands too were clenched into fists. I cleared my throat which surely grabbed his attention. That always does the trick.
"Oh, we should get going." He quickly muttered and started walking again, not once glancing behind. I frowned but nonetheless followed him.
"You know if you keep making me walk like this for hours, I might take you up on your offer of carrying me." I sighed as I dragged myself and the bag with me down the hall. Literally, we'd been walking for what felt like hours with Kieran walking fast and me trying to catch up with him. I huffed.
"Is that supposed to impress me, lil'nugget?" I could feel his smirk in his voice which made me more annoyed than I probably was right now.
"Kier-"
"We're here!" My head shot up at his voice and I looked around to find that we really were here. The corridor held several doors leading to god knows what's inside those rooms on both sides of us. The hallway was empty but I could hear the faint voices from behind the doors. A large red carpet was covering the whole floor with the walls painted in a white contrast.
"Your room number is 306, mine is 312." I walked to a door over to a door to check what room it was; 117. I frowned.
"Wait, what?" Kieran looked up from the paper and gave me a questioning look.
"What?" He came up behind me and directed his eyes towards the way mine were. I saw his mouth form a huge grin and I don't why but suddenly I felt the urge to smack that grin right off his face.
"Does this mean I get to carry you?" I elbowed him and he let out an 'ow' and something like 'aggressive women'. I turned around and raised an eyebrow at him receiving a sheepish smile in return. I shook my head at him.
"So shall we get going?" I sighed.
"We shall." I grabbed my bag and started walking towards Kieran who was looking at me with a smirk. I gave him a flat face and we started searching for our dorms.
"What on earth did I ever think of applying in this fortress?" I exclaimed as I struggled to carry the one bag while climbing the stairs. Kieran, on the other hand, being the 'Perfect Guy' he is, was easily climbing up the stairs taking 2 at a time and each time he did, I glared daggers in his duck head.
"It's the best university in all of America right now?" I think he meant it as statement but unfortunately for him, it came out as a question.
I huffed, "More like best for making people walk for hours just to get north to south from campus. I bet we'll be spending 20 minutes just getting from one class to another."
He stopped walking before murmuring, "You got a point."
Hah! He too believes me!
"Why can't they build the campuses like buildings so we won't have to walk and walk for hours, literally?" I finally managed to pass 2 steps, balancing the bag perfectly on my left shoulder and was about to take the 3 one when the bag decided to go back to being the naughty bag it is and slipped right off my shoulder but I grabbed the strip just in time to stop it from rolling down the stairs. Well, that's the last thing on my to-do list right now, the first being taking a long, long nap.
"What makes you think that you won't have to walk in a building?"
"They have lifts in the building, you idiot, not these stupid smaller than the foot sized steps." I put my foot on the next step in a vertical position and huffed, "Yup, just what I said, smaller than the foot sized steps!"
"Maybe you've grown your foot a bit longer." I glared daggers at him again and muttered an 'idiot' before continuing to struggle with the bag that was causing nuisance for me for the past hour. Hell, I don't even know what time is it!
"What time is it?" I looked up and saw him reach into his pocket and takeout his sleek Iphone 8. You know the best part about it? It was full black! And everytime I looked at it, my mind goes haywire. I wish someone would give me that as a gift someday. Hang in there people, let me just see my perfect dream...
"9.27" My head snapped up to him and I swear I had a crack, oh god, fuck me for not being careful with my petite body. He stuffed his black beauty back in pocket and continued walking upwards while I on the contrary was still struggling with the bags.
"Really."
"Really." He turned around and winked while I just rolled my eyes at him.
"I can't believe its been so long..." I looked around in wonder noticing for the first time that everything was dark outside by now, the only light source being the bulbs that were lit up in the hallway below the stairs. Isn't it too dark in here? Why haven't they put up a bulb or maybe two above these stairs? Am I creeping out or is this place really creepy?
"I can't believe we slept for just half an hour!" Kieran exclaimed from where he was, waving his hands for effect and I chuckled at him forgetting about the creepiness that had been crawling up on me just a second ago.
"By the way, do you know there's only 2 steps left until we finish the stairs?" My head shot up and I quickly saw light coming from somewhere above Kieran and I squealed not caring as the bag slipped down my shoulder and started rolling down the stairs again.
"Um, lil'nugget, you might want to look behind you?" I gave him a confused face but did so as he said.
"NOOOOOOO!" I quickly launched myself towards the bag that was now a good distance away from me but nonetheless I reached it in no time and quickly picked it up all the while ignoring the annoying laughter of an ugly narcissist who was laughing his ass off at me. I stood up and glared at him before taking in all the stairs that were now in front of me and I'll have to climb them once again.
I groaned, "No, no, no, I'm not climbing them again!" He chuckled.
"You better hurry up or I might just leave you here.." I fake gasped at him.
"You can't do that! I'm you lil'nugget!" He gave me a flat face and it was my turn to chuckle.
"Try harder!" He called back and I muttered 'fuck off!' and I heard a chuckle from him.
First thing to do: Improve muttering skills while climbing these stairs ONCE AGAIN.
I groaned before beginning the hard path that lay beyond me. More like an ugly narcissistic dracula.
"You ready?" Kieran asked me as he put the key into the keyhole.
I nodded, "Yes."
"Alright then." He turned the key all the way round until I heard a 'click' sound, you know the one you hear when you finally succeed opening a door with the use of a debit card although we were no thieves here and were using an actual key to enter the room and a real one too.
"1..."
"2..."
"And..."
"3!" We pushed the door open and I froze mid-step.
Ahem, well, I'll tell you what got me to freeze. It was a middle sized room with the same white walls and the same wood furniture, you know, the usual stuff you'd find in an average university dorm. Well that's exactly not what surprised me, it was the different colors inside that room, yes you heard me, the colors. The room wasn't exactly like the boring dorms you'd find but it was a bit extraordinary. My definition of extraordinary?
First of all, the view. There was a huge window on the exact opposite wall of us which was stretching across the whole wall but stopped just above the study tables. And the view, well I think you get it. Secondly, they had given us a couple of different colorful pillows for each bed plus the bed sheets too were colorful and a separate mat for each. Lastly, they had provided us with cabinets and shelves. Like I'd been praying the whole time for this since I'd brought a lot of showcasing things with me and I just found the perfect spot for them! Yeaah!
So yeah now do you get why I froze mid-step? If still no, then you're a dumbass and I hate to be the one to break the news to you.
"Wow, this is amazing.." And just as he said it, he went running off to the left looking around the doors searching for well something as I gave him a weird face which of course he couldn't see. And just as he was being all crazy, he stopped right in front of a door that was in the same line as mine, took out a key from his other pocket, opened the door and went in. It was quiet for a few minutes until I heard a loud roar and hurried towards the room.
"WHAT THE HELL BRUH??! WHO ARE YOU??!" Oh no. I mentally scolded my legs to hurry the fuck up for once in their lifetime!
"I should be asking you that question since you are here in MY room!" I reached the doorway just in time to see Kieran and another guy who was a few inches, probably 1 or 2 inches shorter than Kieran with brown hair that were all over his forehead, covering his greenish-gray kind of eyes and a muscular build.
"What are you talking about? This is MY room!" The other guy said, his voice a bit lower than before, not too low though, just not high enough to be considered as a roar.
"Wait, if its my room and if its your room too, then...." Kieran trailed off and I decided to interrupt so the two won't start building each other's graves right now. Literally, I could feel the anger radiating off them from where I was standing.
"That means you two are roommates and now you two are going to properly introduce yourself to each other without chopping off the other's head." I gave them a sickly sweet smile which clearly the other guy found amusing. Well that was expected at least.
"And who are you supposed to be, sexy thing?" He tilted his head to the head and gave me a smile that I think was supposed to be flirty in his mind. Keyword: suppose.
"That, 'sexy thing' is actually my best friend." Kieran glared at the guy while putting air quotes on 'sexy thang'. I chuckled at his demeanor before shaking my head in amusement.
"And....?" The other guy gave him a flat face and that was my cue to tune out their bickering hoping that they won't just kill each other for now and take a look at their dorm, which was, I think, a few inches bigger than mine and my eyes narrowed in thought. If that is true, than clearly I'm going to be visiting Ms Whiffpiff soon.
Anyways, their's too had the similar white walls and the same wood furniture although the room was darker since there were two separate windows beside each bed, narrow, rectangular shape. They too had gotten the numerous pillows and the colorful sheets with the exception of cabinets. The other guy had already unpacked his stuff so there was a little less space for Kieran although he didn't have much, just 1 bag and suitcase that I noticed. What could someone carry in 2 bags? I, for one thing, cannot!
I turned back to the boys and saw them still arguing with each other. I took a deep breath before deciding to step in again.
"Would you two SHUT UP??!!" I glared at them as soon as I gained their attention and they immediately shut up, all the while glaring at each other as if hoping to burn a hole maybe?
"Idiot." I heard the other guy mutter but clearly I wasn't the only one who did.
"Asshole." Kieran muttered next to me. I face-palmed.
"Dork."
"Bastard."
"Dick!"
"Pus-"
"OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Both the guys turned to look at me with weird faces like I was mad or high on drugs. Morons.
After giving them both a good glare from my side, the other guy went back to his bed and started doing whatever he was doing before Kieran interrupted so I figured they won't be fighting for now at least. I turned to Kieran.
"Kieran, I'm going back to my room. See you in the morning." I walked towards the door pushing him out of the way in the process.
"Wai-" I walked out and slammed the door shut behind me cutting off any protests from Kieran as I made my way to my own room and immediately frowned. My bags were outside and the door that I'm 100% sure I left open was now closed and there was no sign of my key! No, no, no, no, no...
I rushed over to the bags as fast as my legs would take me and was surprised for a millisecond when I reached the bags in less than 30 seconds. Record time, should be put up in world records.
I started searching for the key around, over, under, beside anywhere that I could think off but to my barely there luck, I found nothing, like absolutely nothing except for the dust on the ground, proving that the place needed some cleaning.
So the next thing I know is that I'm knocking on the furiously, thank god no one was in the hallway or they'd for sure think I'm crazy. I was about to knock for the gazillion time when the door was pulled open with force by a girl in blonde locks with green eyes that matched her tan skin, probably an inch higher than me but still not long enough to reach Kieran's height.
"What?" The girl that stood on the door asked me in an annoyed, high pitched tone which I clearly disliked but succeeded in keeping my face devoid of any emotion. I wasn't going to make enemies on my first day, even if she'd going to be my roommate. I cleared my throat.
"Before you stepped in here, the door was open with a key right inside the keyhole and these bags-" I said gesturing towards the bags that were lying all over the dirty floor, remind me to wash them as soon as I get settled in, "were kept inside the room, so what I don't understand is how are they're outside, all of a sudden?"
"Wait, why were you having the key to this dorm?" The girl completely ignored my question and asked one of her own which I clearly disliked but I let it slide by this time since I got a feeling that she's going to be my new roommate. You know the feeling you get in the pit of your stomach and you just try to ignore it as much as you can.
"This dorm is mine that's why." I crossed my arms and gave her a sweet smile, shifting my weight to one foot. Her eyes widened in realization and her expression turned to one of pure shock.
"Wait, what?" She blinked at me as if seeing me for the first time. I raised an eyebrow in question and she shook her head probably to clear up her thoughts. What, didn't she hear me?
"Oh, I'm so sorry, come in, come in." She opened the door wide and moved aside so I could enter. I bit my lip, frankly to prevent myself from bursting out laughing right here. I can't help it, the girl does look a bit funny, you gotta admit that plus her reactions too.
"Do you need some help with the bags?" I opened my mouth, probably to refuse her offer politely but then closed it as soon as she pushed me out of her way and grabbed the bags, pulling them inside. I frowned at her as I just stood there looking at the girl in confusion. I wonder how am I going to survive living with her, she's the complete opposite of me!
After the girl had managed to get all the bags inside the room, she stuck her head out the door and looked at me in confusion while I just stood there thinking how am I going to survive living in here, "This is your room right?" I gave her a weird face as I tried to figure out what she was up to now. The girl's a surprise bomb, she'll do the things you'd lead expect her too, like doing the unexpected.
"Hello?" She waved in front of my face and I backed away just a bit, but not enough for her to notice.
"Oh, um, yeah. Of course!" I gave her a fake grin.
"Then why are you standing outside?" She gave me a confused look and gestured me to get inside.
"Oh, uh, sorry. I was just thinking about something." I smiled sheepishly at her before stepping inside. The first thing I noticed was that the girl had already taken the bed on the right so I was left with no other option but to take the left one instead. It's not like I care. All I need is a place to sleep.
The bed bounced just a bit as I sat over it and I smiled. I looked up to see the girl had finished setting the bags aside and was now locking the door. A though struck me all of a sudden and I perked up, "You never told me your name..." She turned around at my voice and gave me a smile which of course I returned easily.
"You never told me yours too." She shrugged and I gave her a small smile. She shook her head in amusement while walking over to me and held out her hand as soon as she was towering over me. I raised an eyebrow at her and she gave me a small smile, "Alicia. Alicia Abrams. Nice to meet you."
I eyed her hand for a moment before finally shaking it with a smile, "Raven Walker. Nice to meet you too." She removed her hand before placing her both hands on her hips and looked around the room in mischief as if glancing it for the first time.
"So Raven, we're gonna be roomies." She said after what felt like forever. During the silence, I felt uncomfortable and had been shifting on the bed again and again which I still don't know why hadn't grabbed Jessica's attention. Strange.
"Yup, seems like it!" I nodded in agreement with her ignoring the bad feeling in the bottom of my pit.
"Wow, I can't believe it. I'm finally going to have a roommate, a real one indeed." Alicia had a far away look on her face as she stared at the wall behind me still not meeting my eyes. "No siblings, no pranks, no boys. Just us."
Now I was really starting to get nervous as I swallowed the lump in my throat before questioning in what I assume is a normal voice. "You never had a roommate before?" I raised an eyebrow at her in question.
"Nop!" She popped the 'p'and I just looked at her in surprise, my eyes wide. Really? How come she never shared a room with someone?
"What about college? Or highschool? Or maybe at home?" I heard her sigh as she moved to sit on her own bed, legs crossed, elbows on knees and her heart shaped face in her hands. She looked somewhat in distress. She took another deep breath.
"Of course I did. Well, I guess I just weirded people out..?" It wasn't a statement, at least I was sure of that. I frowned at it nonetheless.
"Why?" I asked warily. Mom always said not to pry in someone's life unless they themselves tell you something that they wish to tell you. She looked at me and sighed again.
"I'm a social pariah. Well at least I know I was in my high school although I'm not so sure about it here. I'm an illegitimate child. I was not supposed to happen. More like a mistake. So my own mother, step dad and siblings made it their responsibility to make me a total social outcast as I said before a social pariah. So I understand if you don't want to be friends with me-" I opened my mouth to interrupt her but she held up a hand and I quickly closed it. "My parents aren't here doesn't mean that my brother won't cause hindrances for me. I know he will and if we do become friends right now, sooner or later you will leave me too just like everyone else did. Trust me, I've gone through that many times now and I really don't wish to go through it again. It would be better for the both of us if we just kept our distance."
By the time she was finished, I stared at her in shock. This girl in front of me who I've not even met an hour ago just told me her whole life story like that not even caring for who knows I could be some spy or kidnapper or well someone who could put her in danger in less than a second. Really, I cannot believe my ears or my eyes for that matter.
I shook my head from my trance-like state before jumping off the bed and wrapping my arms around her in a tight hug. I could feel her go stiff from my sudden action. Believe me I, myself was cringing mentally at my sudden outburst of emotions. This is the least I expected from myself-cross my heart and hope to die.
Eventually she hugged me back after a few minutes, slowly but gradually. I was the one to pull away while I rested my hands on her shoulders.
"Alicia, I don't know you nor do you know me and that is why I don't know what goes on in your life but from what I heard right now, the only alternative that I can come up with is that you need to stand up for yourself. Whether if it means going against your own family. You know I just cut off from my father right before I came here and you know why? Because he isn't the father that every girl wishes to have. The only thing that I see him as now is a spoiled brat, a total control freak who just wants everything his way. That's what you need to do as well, Jessica. You need to open your eyes, look around you and see things more clearly, according to how you want too, not how the world wants you too. Okay?" I looked at her with genuine eyes as I could see her bright green eyes were glassy by now which reminded me of little Sophie and I smiled at the memory.
After what felt like a century, Alicia gave a single nod which could have been easily missed if I'd not been directing my attention towards her fully.
"And by the way, I don't care what others say, I just want a friend and I think I found the one for me." I gave her a teasing smile as she wiped away the tears that had managed to spill. Upon hearing my words, a wide grin broke out onto her face and the next thing I know is that I'm being squished so tight that I can barely breath.
"C-can't b-breath.." She immediately pulled away and I took in some fresh air before giving Alicia a smile.
"So, friends?" I held out my pinky to her.
"Friends!" She locked hers with mine within a second and we laughed.
I think I made another good friend for the rest of the time here. Gotta inform Kieran about it as soon as we meet up again. I bet he'd be desperate to meet her as soon as I finish. Hehe^-^