Strings

Chapter Two | Meeting Meg.

Chapter 2. 

By the time I had finished unpacking and putting everything in its place, I was tired. The drive here had been tedious and exhausting even though I spent more than half of it sleeping. I was about to collapse on the bed when the door opened and the girl with the black hair came bouncing in. She threw her harms around me and pulled me into a tight hug. 

"Hi, nice to meet you, finally! I'm Meg!" She exclaimed, grinning. I noticed that her eyebrows were blonde, so her hair was dyed. She has eyes just like Nathan's--bright blue, but their resemblance stopped there. 

"I'm Guinevere, but you can call me Gwen if you'd like," I said sheepishly, smiling back. This girl was bubbly and loud, the exact opposite of me, quiet and reserved. I would never just run up and hug a complete stranger.

"I know! When I got your information in the mail I tried looking you up on Facebook but I couldn't find you! I figured we could get to know each other and exchange numbers but I guess that didn't happen! My room mate last year was a really studious foreign exchange student who hardly talked to me and never left our room except for meals and classes, or to practice her flute, it was awful." She is still grinning as she speaks. She walks over to her bed and sits down, kicking off her boots. She also pulls her hoodie over her head, and I think that she and Nathan must be from somewhere down south because it's not that cold, it can't be lower than 60 degrees outside, even with the sun low in the sky. "Man, it's hot in here," she says, then gets up to adjust the temperature. Each room has it's own adjustment box for the air conditioner, which I suppose could come in handy. "Sorry I wasn't here when you got here! I could have helped you bring your stuff up, my boyfriend and brother helped me."

"Oh, no, it's fine. Your brother, Nathan? He helped me carry my bags upstairs. He seems nice," I say, sitting back on my bed and slipping my TOMS off my heels with my toes, then crossing my legs. 

"Right! He told me that when he kicked me out of Asher's--that's my boyfriend--bed. He said you were very pretty and quiet and that I should come down here and introduce myself! But not before making him very uncomfortable with Asher's and my love making noises. Asher is his best friend, it was stupid of him to think sharing a room would be a smart idea though! Not with me around!" She flops back down on her bed. Her brother thought I was cute? 

"How long have you two been dating?" I ask, just to keep the conversation going and hoping she continues to talk and I can just listen. That's how I make it through most conversations. I don't like talking about myself so I just let the other person talk.

"Two years, almost! Our anniversary is next month, isn't that cool? We started dating my freshman year, when he and my brother were sophomores. What about you? Got a beau back home? If you don't, my brother is single." 

"Oh, no," I say, looking down at my hands and blushing. Her brother? I hardly know her, let alone him. I've never had a boyfriend. It's not that guys haven't liked me, it's just that I can't talk to them, forget flirting. I get nervous. They lose interest, that's just how it is. 

"How come?"

"I don't know, there's just no one that I've been interested in that liked me back." Which was sort of true, except I haven't really been interested in anyone. And no one's been interested in me.

"I understand that. I've had about ten boyfriends before I started dating Asher. The first two months I was here, even! I had three, but they all sucked. They said my arms were too muscular, that I talked too much. I'm a drummer! What do they expect, I have twigs for arms? And I don't talk too much, do I?" She sits up and flexes her arm for me. It is muscular, but it isn't bulky muscle. Just muscular from use.