Study Girls (girlxgirl)

Chapter Two- I Settle In

"Cool name. Nice to meet you, Selina," she said, holding her hand out for me to take. 

I did so, and upon doing so I realised that she had a very firm grip. 

"You should come to one of our parties," she said, then, letting go of my hand. 

Ah, so she had been the one to cause so much ruckus. 

I would bear that in mind. 

"Maybe tonight," I said. 

She smirked, as though not entirely believing me. 

"Sure," she replied, before turning her attention back to Winona, "What are you doing?" she asked. 

"Just playing a game, and- yes!" Winona exclaimed, doing a little happy dance on the spot. 

"Why is she dancing?" Zara whispered to me. 

"I just won!" Winona said. 

"Ay! Look at you go," I said, with a grin. 

Winona turned to me with an expression of appreciation. 

"Yes, well...just so you know, Cooper, the invite is there," Zara told me again. 

I nodded my head in understanding, but I wasn't entirely convinced I was actually going to attend said party. 

Maybe in a million years, but I doubted I was going to become a party girl any time soon. 

Either way, Zara fluttered her fingers at me, as she headed into the kitchen down the hall. 

Winona and I weren't alone for all  that long, before a guy stepped into the dorms. 

I turned to him, and raised an eyebrow. 

"Are you supposed to be in here?" I asked him. 

"Is Lily here?" he asked. 

"Lily?" I wondered. 

"Lily Everett," he answered for me, "Sister of Lance Everett, my best friend since college...you get the deal." 

I shifted the weight between my feet, then. 

"Right, yeah. I get 'your deal', but Lily isn't here. Sorry," I told him. 

He sighed. 

"What's your name?" he asked me. 

"I'm Selina," I said. 

The corner of his mouth twitched up slightly, as his blue eyes met mine. 

"Well, Selina, good to meet you. I'm Ulric West," he replied. 

I gave an understanding nod in response to that, but then felt myself considerably lost for more conversation. 

"I better get going," he stated. 

"Yeah. Nice seeing you," I said. 

"Yeah, you too," he said, with a subtle nod, and then he wandered out of the halls. 

I took a moment to just think to myself, as I watched Winona continue to play her game. 

It had been nice of Zara to invite me to her party, really. 

I just wished that I wasn't so damn sensitive all the time, especially when it came to the opinions that others had of me. 

That fear in itself was enough to deter me from going to most social events, since the age of fifteen. 

Maybe it was time to just bite the bullet and go somewhere. 

Or not...

Either way, I had a consideration to make when it came to this whole party thing. 

I also knew that I just had to take time to adapt to my life here at Cambridge. 

I couldn't let my social anxiety hold me back from making new friends. 

I needed to try to step out of my comfort zone. 

That was the thing though, really. It felt like my comfort zone was about five tiles wide, surrounded by concrete walls and then concealed by bubble wrap. 

"You okay, Selina?" Winona asked me, then, probably upon realising how deep in thought I appeared. 

I just gave a subtle nod in response. 

"I'm fine," I stated. 

"Good," she smiled, "Now, I'm hungry. Want a grilled cheese?" she offered. 

"That would be cool. Thank you, Win," I told her, then. 

"You know you're the first person to call me Win," she told me, then. 

"Really?" I asked, evidently surprised. 

"Yeah! I like it, though," she said. 

The two of us wandered down the hall and back into the kitchen, and with Winona as the new friend by my side, I felt a little more settled.