Bound in Ruins
Prologue
Sophia
"Alright sweetheart, I'm only an hour away if you need anything!" My uncle, Calum stated, squeezing the life out of me as he dropped my off at my room.
Today was my first day of freshman year at New York University, and I knew that this was tough on the both of us.
"Please, give me a call if you need anything. I'll be here before you can even blink," he replied kissing my forehead.
I laughed nervously, "Don't worry, I will use all the Krav Maga moves you taught me."
Laughing, he spoke "You better. Love you, Sophia."
"Love you too," I replied.
He walked out the door, leaving me alone in my college dorm.
Breathing in, it felt surreal that I was here.
After constant back and forth discussions with my uncle Calum, we'd finally agreed that I could live on campus rather than commute from the Upper East side, which would normally be an hour commute if lucky.
I was even more fortunate that I talked my uncle out of an apartment with a security detail with me at all times. He was protective beyond words.
Plopping on my small twin sized bed, I appreciated the difference in space around me.
All my life, I had been surrounded by the luxury of a penthouse overlooking Central Park and New York in the Upper East side.
Looking outside my window, I admired the people walking outside with their friends. The buzz on this campus was electrifying, and I was exciting for this fresh new start.
"Whoa, my bad! I can be a klutz like all the time," A girl stated stumbling into the room with bags in tow.
Standing up to my greet myself she beamed at me, "Hi, I'm Sophia."
She ignored my handshake and pulled me in for a tight hug, "Girl, we're roommates! That's practically like sisters. I don't do shakes, I'm a hugger."
Laughing against her hold, I sighed in relief.
I had a nice roommate, thank goodness.
"I'm Lennox Rose. We're about to have the ride of our lives in here," She stated as she let go of the hug.
Laughing, I went to help her grab some of her suitcases.
"Thanks, girlie. I tried getting my idiot friends to help but they're so useless I swear I second guess why I'm even friends with them bozos," she spoke as she dragged the rest of her stuff inside the room.
"Don't worry about it," I told her as she finished setting down the rest of her stuff.
Plopping her hands on her hips, she looked at me, "Get dressed."
I looked at her confused, "We're going out tonight."
"Out as in where, exactly?" I asked.
"Dress into something edgy, we're crashing a senior party." She stated wiggling her eyebrows.
I smirked, already liking the energy from my roommate.
"How long do I have?" I asked, plopping from my bed and rummaged through my clothes.
"It's 7 now, we can head on out whenever. It's actually a bonfire so nothing too crazy. My boyfriend's roommates are hosting it and he's a senior so you'll get to meet a bunch of people today. You're welcome." She told me shooting me a wink.
"Thanks?" I told her.
She laughed and waved me off.
After twenty minutes of getting dressed, I opted in for a black short skirt and an off the shoulder blouse. Brushing my hair, Lennox paid attention to my every move.
"Is something wrong?" I asked confused.
"Has anyone ever told you how crazy pretty you are? Jesus girl, your hair is longer than a damn horses tail," She stated running her ringers through my long black hair.
When I meant black, I meant pitch black.
I was a black haired, blue eyed replica of my mother.
I was grateful to have had her looks as she was absolutely beautiful.
"You're going to make the guys there shit themselves when they see you," Lennox stated laughing just as I finished applying some gloss to my lips.
"I doubt that. New York is filled with beautiful people," That was nothing but the truth.
"Yeah and you're one of them," She replied giggling.
"Come on! Let's get this show on the road!" She squealed opening the door, ushering for me to follow behind.
Walking about 4 blocks from campus, Lennox and I chatted about some mutual interests we had.
She was a lot more similar to me than I had thought. Her edgy personality was contagious, making me wish I had been more outgoing like her growing up.
"There she is!" I heard a guy say as we entered the house that was filled with people.
"Here I am," Lennox replied back, kissing the boy who hugged her tight.
"Reese, this is my roommate Sophia. Sophia, this is Reese." She stated as he extended his hand out to shake.
"Nice to meet you. I apologize in advance for her. She can be a handful," He told me jokingly.
I laughed, "You're a lucky guy. She seems great." Winking at her, Lennox shot me a genuine smile.
"I like her," Reese told Lennox, causing us both to laugh.
"Me too," Lennox agreed.
"Well Sophia, make yourself at home. I live here with my two roommates that I'm sure you'll also meet." And with that, he grabbed Lennox to the stairs and disappeared, leaving me alone in a room filled with people drinking and chatting amongst each other.
This scene was different than any other I've been a part of.
Posh parties, elite dinners, all the extravagant events one could think of.
I breathed a sigh of relief in the change of pace.
I noticed a fire in the backyard, probing me to walk out to the bonfire.
A few people gathered around the fire, as the sun set, the breeze began to pick up and the weather became less hot.
Sitting on the log, I pulled out my phone to see if I had missed any texts from friends back at home.
I had only really one good friend from private school, but even she would be busy today as today was her first day at Columbia.
"This bonfire too boring for you as well, huh?" I heard someone say.
Fixating my direction to my right, I noticed a guy with long blonde hair looking at me.
He didn't look like your typical New Yorker, and by the sound of his accent, he was definitely not from here.
"Not boring at all. In fact, I'm having the time of my life." I told him jokingly.
He laughed in response.
"Oh yeah, I can tell. I've never seen you come around here though, are you with someone?" He asked.
Definitely not a New Yorker.
Nodding, I respond "I'm Sophia, Lennox's roommate."
He nodded, "Ah, yes. The be dreaded Lennox. Good luck with that."
I shot him a confused expression, "I'm kidding." He responded.
"Lennox is great." He added shooting me a wink.
I nodded in response.
"I'm Alexander, but my friends call me Xander." He stated lifting his cup.
"Nice to meet you," I told him.
"You as well. You're a freshman?" He asked.
"That I am. And you?" I asked.
"Last year. I'm actually studying abroad for college as you Americans call it. University back home didn't quite pique my interest," he added taking a swig of his drink.
Knew it.
"The accent? Is that an English one?" I asked.
He smirked, "It is. I'm from Manchester across the pond."
"And you decided to come all the way to NYU for school when there's Oxford. Why's that?" I asked intrigued.
Taking a sip from his drink, he took a second before responding, "Sometimes you just need a break from it all. The mum and dad were quite a bit to handle."
I felt my heart sink a little.
Glancing away from him, I fixed my attention to the bracelet on my wrist.
"And you?" He asked.
"I'm here like any other person, for a nice college experience. I live upstate with my uncle." I replied.
"Uncle?" He asked curiously.
He was prying a bit too much for a person who'd only known me for five minutes.
I shot him a half smile, "It's been just me and my uncle for a while."
He nodded slowly, "Right."
Nodding, hoping he hadn't pried for any more information I fixated my attention back to the fire. I couldn't quite make out his facial features, other than that he had light eyes and his hair had been pulled back into a small man bun.
He definitely looked more manly than any of the guys that I was friends with.
"Want to get out of here?" He asked standing up.
I looked at him as if he was crazy for asking such a question.
"Uh, as in... what exactly?" I asked mortified.
He laughed as he inched closer to me, "Not like that! What the hell, I'm not a barbarian."
I laughed embarrassingly, "Why should I trust you?" I asked.
"Well for starters, I'm Lennox's boyfriends roommate. You are in my house after all and I have yet to murder you. That's already a good sign. Secondly, you look absolutely out of your element and look like you could get the hell out of here," He stated lifting out his hands to pull me upward.
I hesitated, but let him pull me up to my feet to stand.
As I stood up, I got a better view of him.
He had blue eyes, just like mine.
His smile grew wider, as we were now both face to face.
He stared into my eyes for a second too long, causing me to look away at how intense his stare had been.
Laughing the awkward off, he jerked my hand to follow him.
Walking out of the house, we began walking on the sidewalk to an unknown destination.
"Where are we going?" I asked walking beside him.
"Anywhere but there. Don't worry Soph, I'm a proper Englishman. Only gentlemen behavior coming from me," he stated causing me to bust out laughing.
"You've known me for a solid ten minutes and already are calling me nicknames," I said.
"Soph suits you." He said softly, putting his hands in his pockets as we walked.
Only my close family and friends called me that.
It felt nice having him call me that.
"So what's your story, huh?" He asked as we walked along the streets.
"You're just super nosey, aren't you?" I asked.
He chuckled, "Curious. You seem mysterious. Why's that?"
"Not mysterious. Private, sure. But I've literally only known you for-"
"I get it, a few minutes. But truly, you have something that's led you to where you are right now."
"Why do you think that?" I asked.
I took a glance at him and noticed he was staring down at me intently as we walked with a smirk on his face, "You're defensive. And really not trying to talk much about you at all. Let me guess, NYU was your first choice but the Mum and Dad wanted you to go to Columbia instead."
I felt my heart beat quicken.
I looked at the sidewalk ahead of me while walking.
"Actually no. My parents passed away three years ago." I told him.
Not wanting to gauge his reaction, I looked at everywhere other than him.
He had stopped walking, causing me to stop as well.
"I'm sorry Sophia. I didn't mean to pry like an arrogant asshole. Shit, I'm so sorry." He said sadly.
I shrugged, "You didn't know. Don't apologize for that."
"No but I can be a little too curious. Just do me a favor and slap me next time and I'll shut the hell up," he said.
I let out a laugh, "What makes you think there will be a next time?"
He shot me a wink and continued to walk, "I have a feeling, after tonight. There will be plenty of next times."
"You have a head filled of aspirations my friend." I responded.
"Not aspirations. Goals," he corrected.
I shot him an intrigued look, "And your goal is to hang out with me again? Seems like a very sad goal."
"Nope, not sad. You, mate, look like you could use a mentor your freshman year. I'll be just that before I jet back home after Graduation." He replied.
"So you leave in May then?" I asked.
I felt somewhat sad at the realization that he'd be leaving just short of a year.
Why was I even getting sad about this?
I just met the guy.
"I do. So our time Soph is limited, let's not take it for granted now, shall we?" He asked half-jokingly.
"Sure thing Xander," I replied.
We talked for what felt like hours, and surely enough hours had passed.
"Wait, you're going to get hit by a car. Xander, get out of the way!" I shrieked as he lay on the concrete street.
"No I won't. The lights from the car if one comes will be bright enough for a warning. Come join," He told me as he patted the spot beside him.
"You're crazy," I told him walking over to him hesitantly.
"Just relax. Lay down," He stated.
Nervously, I did so and laid beside him.
"Do you see that?" He asked, pointing at the night sky.
"See what?" I asked confused.
"That," he stated pointing again.
"All I see are stars," I told him.
"Exactly."
"That's where your Mum and Dad are," he whispered.
My insides warmed at his comment. I never really thought about where my parents were, but up in the sky with the stars was a good thought.
"I hope so," I told him.
"Oh I know so," he replied softy.
I let out a breath I realized I hadn't been holding.
I never really took in the beauty of the stars in the city. It was rare that one could see them here, as the city tends to be filled with lights from buildings, and not the night sky.
Feeling his hand squeeze mine, I smiled at the small contact.
He gave me a feeling in my stomach that I hadn't ever felt before.
I relished in the moment, never feeling so safe before.
It wasn't until I saw a bright light flash at us and we heard honking where we both jumped and screamed.
Running off the street, Xander grabbed my hand and ran to the sidewalk, causing us both to laugh.
"What a mug," He said, catching his breath in between laughs.
Laughing, I noticed he turned around to look at me and then down at our entwined hands.
Letting go immediately, I felt my face blush.
I felt him stare, "Uh, I think it's time we call it a night. Don't want to be late for my first class tomorrow."
"Right," he responded, smirking a coy smile.
"Right," I agreed, laughing nervously.
"Let me walk you to your room," he urged.
The city had been quieter, signaling that it must've been hours after midnight.
We had talked on our walk back to my dorm, and the conversation had been quite easy.
"This is me," I told him as we entered the front of my hall.
I felt a little nervous.
I had really enjoyed my night with him, even it was only for tonight.
"Thank you for tonight. I know that hanging out with your roommates girlfriends roommate or whatever I am wasn't what you had planned," I rambled.
He smiled, "No. But it was better."
I shot him a genuine smile as well.
"Well, I'll see you around then." I told him.
"How about tomorrow? After your classes. We can catch up on how awful your professors are and bicker about how New York is overrated." He suggested.
"New York definitely isn't overrated." I responded defensively.
"Then it's settled. Tomorrow, you and me." He added.
"I see what you did there," I said laughing.
He smiled, "Don't make me regret it." I told him.
"You absolutely will not regret it," he promised.
A promise that he fulfilled the next day, for me to only regret nine months later.