Twilight Java

Chapter 1

She reminded me of Madeline.

She stepped inside, nodding her head at me awkwardly as if debating whether or not to joke about me sticking my bottom out to her. I straightened myself out.

"Sorry you had to see that," I laughed nervously, trying to break the ice. She found this funny as she giggled loudly.

"Don't worry about it," She let some of the bags slip from her arms. "It was quite the warm welcome." We both snorted at this.

I held my hand out. "I'm Callisto."

She shook my hand, eyebrows raised as though impressed. "Veronica," she said as though it were unimportant. "That is such a cool name."

"My mom is really into astronomy," I smiled, thinking back to my mom and all the books she had on constellations, galaxies, planets and everything pertaining to the cosmos. Veronica seemed to not understand how my name related to astronomy so I continued, "It's one of Jupiter's moon's. Second largest, actually."

"Ah I see," She said in realization.

"You can call me Callie or Lyss for short. I'm fine with anything."

"Good to know. Well, I'm glad to have met you under good terms and I hope we have a great year together."

I grinned at her, "Me too."

"By the way, I'm not tryna sound rude or anything, but I'm going to be setting up my furniture so do you think you could like..."

"Oh yeah, of course," I reassured. There was no other way for her to politely tell me to get out. "Can you just make sure my boxes don't get crushed or anything, cuz I'm not done and I have a lot of important things in here." I slid them to my side of the dorm, and some on top of my dresser and desk, out of the way from where I assumed movers would come in.

"Yeah, I don't think they'll be stepping there but if I see it I'll tell them to stop."

"Great, thanks." I smiled at her before grabbing my personal bag with my wallet, keys, phone and campus map. "See ya later."

I gently closed the door, hoping that nothing would happen to my camera. If it got ruined, I know I would be ruined. It was something I had been saving up for from my part time and odd jobs, along with a small percentage of my mom's income. My camera was my pride and possession, and it allowed me to capture moments you don't always see with just your eyes. Photography was one of my greatest passions, along with writing. It would only make sense that I majored in journalism and minor in photography.

I tried not to think too much about my camera when I remembered that it's safely cased in my bag, and is out of reach if anyone came in. Walking down the corridor, I brushed past all unfamiliar people. They all looked so different from one another. Not in a simple, gender/race way, but in the way they dressed, walked and represented themselves. I wished I could have taken their pictures.

Arriving at the lobby of the dorm, I stopped in the sitting area to examine the map and where I could go. I became oriented upon finding my residence hall, and seeing all the areas to go to around it. I didn't want to push anything today so I just left to go outside where many freshmen were also scrabbling around and trying to move themselves in. I found some benches under the trees and decided I could sit there for a bit to kill time.

I sat down and went through the map. The campus was near a river so I'll have to visit that soon. I scanned the map to find the library, stadium, admissions office until I felt a buzz. Excited, I reached into my bag to see that my mom messaged me back.

I hope your first day goes smoothly. BE CAREFUL IN THE CITY ! hopefully you don't get a mean roommate like in the movies...... And make sure your camera is safe

I giggled at my moms use of caps and ellipsis then typed back.

I met her. She's pretty cool. For now. My camera is fine. I'm outside right now so I'll call you later.

I looked up when I finished typing, my grin slowly vanishing. I sighed then briefly looked around, taking in who was around me. Scanning the area, my eyes come into contact with a boy conversing with someone his age who had been looking at me. He noticed it too and smiled, I smiled back. He felt older than me, for his face looked more matured with a stubble and more defined cheeks. His dirty blonde hair glistened in the sun, but he also made me feel uneasy. Call it generalizing, but I immediately thought of all the terrifying news stories about girls at college parties accompanied by a mugshot with men that looked just like him. I sighed, pushing that thought away as I went back to my college map.

The place was big, but I'd get used to it quickly. I couldn't wait to explore the city and see what it was like living in such a vibrant place, filled with opportunity and enjoyment.

I didn't know how much time Veronica would need to get her furniture inside, so I fished out a crumpled university information booklet from my bag. I had read it front to back numerous times, but I just needed something to kill the time. Eventually I gave it up and returned to the dorm, her furniture all arranged. She noticed me as she was tidying up.

"I was going to tell you it was finished, but I didn't have your number, sorry."

"That's ok, do you want it?"

"Yeah that's probably best since we're roommates."

We exchanged numbers then went back to setting up our items. I checked up on my camera, letting out a quiet sigh of relief when I saw nothing damaged and it turned on properly. As I was arranging trinkets, pictures and other items of mine, Veronica spoke up.

"Not to be nosy, but I saw your 'The Neighbourhood' poster in your box and I felt tempted to steal it."

This would be a good year.