Dorm Room

1. Back on Campus

I flip my head up as I hear my name being shouted from above me. Pushing my sunglasses to the top of my head, I squint up at the bright light of the sun to see Tremaine Bryson hanging out of the top floor window. He smiles with his perfect pearly whites and my stomach does backflips. Here I am again, at his mercy.I barely smile back, trying to keep up my cool persona as I push my shades back over my eyes and proceed to the doors of the dormitory, my suitcase following closely behind me on its wheels.

The campus is buzzing with people, both old and new, and you can usually tell which is which. I've seen plenty of parents getting emotional on the way over, and I expect it'll continue for most of the day while people get settled in. Not that I'll notice much. I fully expect to be wasted and dancing on a table by the evening.

As I step into the elevator alone, I check myself out in the mirror. My long dark hair is still looking sleek and I've managed to keep my makeup in tact on the ride over, despite my dad squeezing my face into his chest when he said goodbye. You wouldn't think I'd just spent the whole summer with him. Being at home was great, but I'm ready to come back to college. Last year when I started my business degree at Queensway college, I never expected to meet the people I did. I came away with more than a years education. I came away with a new best friend, a love interest and a crew of new people in my life. To be honest with you, I could really do with buckling down this year, and getting better grades.

I fully expected college to be one big party but me and my friends had taken it a little too literally last year. I spent most of the year drunk out of my mind, forgetting the night before and falling asleep in class. Not to mention finding myself in some awkward but hilarious situations. Man, I really do need to study.

As the elevator stops and the doors open in front of me, I see the familiar corridor that is my second home. I'm getting more excited at the prospect of seeing everyone, and I know tonight we're going to party hard. There's no classes until Monday so we've got 2 nights left to party.

I walk along the corridor until I reach number 22, my room. I try the handle, and I'm glad to see its unlocked. That means my roommates already here. As I push open the door, I hear an excited squeal from beyond it.

Peyton's bleached blonde hair greets my peripheral vision as the door opens, and before long I see her excited features coming toward me. She opens her arms and pulls me in for a hug. I abandon my case and throw my arms around her, hugging her excitedly. The summer has been too long. I love this girl.

"You're here!" She exclaims, and I can't contain my smile. "I've missed you, girl," I tell her, pulling away and taking off my shades, setting them back on the top of my head. The dorm looks exactly the same as it did when I left it for the summer, but somehow it feels different. "Do you know we got new roommates?" Peyton asks me then, cutting to the chase. She says it quietly, as if someone might hear, and I wonder if maybe they're already here.

Peyton and I were beyond lucky last year when we got moved into a 4-bedroom dorm. By some crazy stroke of luck, there weren't enough students to fill it out so we got it to ourselves. We liked it that way, but we knew it would change at some point. Her news didn't come as a surprise to me, but still, my heart sinks a little.

"Are they here?" I ask quietly, my eyebrows raising in wonder. My eyes dart down the dorm, wondering where they would be. "No, not yet," Peyton says, pushing her hair behind her ear to reveal some diamond stud earrings. Peyton's style is a lot more classy than me. Don't get me wrong, she's not the Virgin Mary, but she doesn't take risks like I do. She's nervous and self-conscious about her body, where I wouldn't think twice about showing off my stomach or my legs. I like to look good, and I put a lot of effort into everything I wear. A lot of people in the past have thought I'm concieted.

Peyton herself said when she first met me, she wasn't sure about me. She said it was something about the way I walked in with my shades on and a confident attitude, she thought I was in love with myself. I suppose it didn't help that I ended up in a car with Trey on the first night, and then rumours flew around. Okay, so maybe not all of them were rumours. It was a crazy night, and not one of my proudest moments.

I've barely started unpacking my things when we hear a knock at the front door. Rather than go straight to the door, Peyton pops her head in my bedroom and gives me a look. It's one of pure anxiety. We're both nervous who we're gonna get. We've had such a good thing going, we don't want anyone to mess it up."Answer it!" I tell her, getting up off the floor to follow closely behind. I need to see this. Peyton peeps through the spyhole first.

"What does she look like?" I almost whisper.

"Black girl. Long black hair."So that makes two of us.

When Peyton opens up the door, I never expect the image in front of me. While Peyton smiles in a friendly manner and attempts to greet the girl, there's only one person our new roommate is looking at. Staring past Peyton, the girl throws abandon to the wind and bursts in the door, her shock clearly as evident as mine.

"Nahla!" She yells, throwing her hand over her mouth.