❪ ﹟ELEVEN  ❫ ࿐ྂ
━━ NEW YORK CITY !

MOVING TO NEW York was probably the easiest decision Carina had made in a long time. When Martha slowly breached the topic of college to the four then-high school students, now graduates, a little after Richie and Amber's attacks, they all came to realize it was the perfect escape. They'd be able to leave Woodsboro in the past, as well as all of the ghosts that haunt them there. New city, new start.

So, all of them applied to Blackmore University, right in the middle of New York City. The thought process had been that it was easier to blend in in the middle of the city. (If she were to look back on it, it seems that none of them thought about how easy it would be for others to hide too). When they all ended up receiving acceptance letters, it seemed like fate. Tara talked to Sam, who was adamant about coming with them to New York. No one objected, and Carina could see Tara was glad to have her sister stay with her after all those years of the opposite.

So, just like that, the decision was made. Sam and Tara made plans to find an apartment together and put out an anonymous ad to find a third roommate. They'd originally asked if either Carina or Mindy wanted the third room, but the two decided to rent out an apartment in the same building and find a third roommate themselves. That way, they all had someone they could trust with them and none of them were left with complete strangers. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for Chad. Despite being offered each of the free rooms in the apartments, he made the decision to live on-campus in the dorms with a random roommate for the first year.

Because of that decision, the girls picked out an apartment complex only a ten-minute walk from campus. It was easier than they thought because money didn't come to be an obstacle like they first expected. They all got a wealthy sum of compensation after Woodsboro, and Sam and Tara had Sam's years of savings. Carina had more money than she really knew what to do after getting her mom's inheritance, as well as a hefty trust left to her by her mother's grandparents, whom she never got the chance to meet. They left it to her with clear instructions she got it on her 18th birthday, and after seeing the amount, she could only assume they were well-off and didn't have anyone else to give it to. Shortly after making down payments on apartments across the hall from each other and moving in, the four put up their respective anonymous ads for roommates.

Carina thought it would be nice to meet new people and make friends, even if the idea of living with and trusting a stranger did make her a little anxious after everything. She just had to keep telling herself that the chances of something like Woodsboro happening again were really low and it would be good to get out there. And if she made Dewey's old contacts that she still talked to do background checks on all of the applicants, no one gave her a hard time.

They got plenty of replies for their ads right after posting them. In the end, after running extensive background checks, Sam and Tara settled on Quinn Bailey, the daughter of a police chief who had a clear record and a nice personality. Carina and Mindy ended up clicking best with Amaya Oliver, who was from Texas originally and seemed to take no bullshit. She and Mindy got on like a house fire. Both girls moved into their respective apartments once they were confirmed as top choices. Chad has yet to meet his roommate since he's not due to move in until a week or two before classes start, but he knows his name is Ethan Landry and Carina had a background check run on him as well.

Which leads them to now, a month before classes are due to start. Everyone is piled into Sam, Tara, and Quinn's living room, and Carina looks around and smiles at the people around her. Mindy, Tara, and Amaya are all piled on the couch, Sam and Quinn are each in an armchair, Chad is sitting in front of Sam, and Carina is sitting in front of the couch. Amaya and Tara are laughing about some video game they both play, and Chad and Sam are arguing about something she hadn't caught. Throwing her head back, she rests it on the couch cushion and locks eyes with Quinn under the brim of her hat. "What are they talking about, again?"

Quinn shrugs, laughing a little bit. "It started out about some TV show, but they lost me when they started talking about aliens." Without meaning to, Carina laughs obnoxiously at the other girl's words.

She can see Chad look in her direction out of the corner of her eye, so she tilts her head in his direction. However, the brim of her hat blocks her vision from looking at him fully, and he scoffs. He leans forward enough to grab the hat off her head and throws it on the coffee table in front of them as he leans back again, smiling when their eyes lock. "There you are," he says, voice so fucking soft she melts. "What're you laughing at?"

"Nothing," she shrugs at him, returning the smile with a blush high on her cheekbones. She hears Quinn scoff above her and looks back at her. "What?"

"Nothing," she takes her voice up in pitch to mock Carina lightly. Knocking her leg against her side, she smiles and quiets down enough for Chad not to hear. "If anyone else took that hat off your head you'd be throwing a fit."

"No, I wouldn't."

"Yes, you would."

Unlike Chad, Tara and Amaya could hear the conversation Carina and Quinn were having and had no reservations about sharing their input. She scoffs lightly and rolls her eyes at them, turning to look at her friends. "Shut up."

Tara raises her hands in surrender, and Amaya sticks her tongue out at her. Laughing, she revels in how light she feels surrounded by these people. Before the Woodsboro attacks, she never would've taken the time to appreciate this moment with her friends and how lucky she was to be having this with them.

Stuck in the moment, just thinking about how happy she truly is, she misses Mindy calling her name until Amaya leans down to snap in her face. "Rina!"

Blinking, she shakes her head a little to clear it. "Sorry, what's up?"

"We're heading across the hall, it's getting late."

Nodding, she pushes herself up from where she was sitting, shaking out her right leg where it's started to fall asleep. Chad frowns, "You're leaving already?" The question seems to be directed at all of them, but he's looking at Carina. She nods, giving them all tiny smiles. "Yeah, there's a farmer's market tomorrow that we wanted to stop by, but it's pretty early so."

Mindy and Amaya are herding by the door, so Carina makes her way to join them. On the way, she bends down to snag her hat off the table, pulling it on for the short walk across the hall. If possible, the frown on Chad's face gets deeper with the motion. He doesn't say anything, but Carina can read the dislike clearly on his face. She tries not to shrink in on herself. The short walk across the hall really shouldn't make her want to pull the hat on to hide the nasty scar on her face, but it does.

"Alright, sleep well guys! We'll see you tomorrow!" Sam calls out the departing words as the three open the door, and they all call back various goodbyes.

Walking the short distance to their own apartment, Carina can't help but think she hopes for more nights like that to come.

━━━

     The next day, Carina, Amaya, and Mindy do end up making it to the farmer's market a few blocks over. They're walking up and down the isles when Amaya's eye snags on a candle booth she insists on visiting. Deciding to go with her, the two leave Mindy at a different stand.

     A couple of minutes later, a new candle now successfully purchased, the two make their way back over to Mindy only to find her already talking to someone. Mindy's smirking lightly, and the girl in front of her is smiling with a blush high on her cheeks. Amaya looks at Carina, raising an eyebrow in question. "Do we go over there?"

     "Umm," she doesn't really know. She can tell Mindy is flirting with the girl, and she doesn't want to interrupt and ruin her chances. "Probably not. Let's walk around some and wait for her to come to us."

     "But we can ask her about it, can't we?"

     She nods. "Oh, definitely."

     Leading the way, the two of them walk back toward the candle stand, stopping at a few more tents and looking at what they hold. Almost fifteen minutes later, Mindy comes up next to them, a smirk present on her face. "Guess what?"

     Carina, who's debating ruining Mindy's fun about this, doesn't think fast enough. "You got that girl's number?" Amaya is still looking at the necklaces in front of her, and Carina chokes on a laugh. She always forgets how quick on her feet their roommate is.

     Mindy scowls lightly, but her eyes ruin it. They're shining. "How'd you know?"

     "We saw you talking to her when we were about to come back over after visiting the candles." Carina smiles at her friend, happy to see her happy. "What's her name?"

     "Anika." Mindy scuffs the toe of her shoe on the ground. "She's going to Blackmore, too."

     "That's awesome," Amaya tells her. Just shortly after moving in together, she had told both her and Mindy that she was exclusively into women, and Mindy had been thankful to have someone to talk to about it who understood in a way that Carina couldn't. Stepping away from the tent, she turns to look at them over her shoulder. "Was there anything else you guys wanted to look at or did you want to head out?"

     "I wanted to get some flowers from the vendor near the exit, but that was it." Carina likes having flowers in the apartment pretty constantly, enjoying the pop of color.

     "I'm good," Mindy answers as the three of them make their way toward the exit.

     They make a quick pitstop for the flowers and Carina tries to not let it get to her when the vendor very blatantly stares at her scar as she puts together a bundle. After wrapping them, she pays for them quickly, the smile she gives the man a little strained. She knows both Mindy and Amaya noticed, but they don't say anything as they step onto the sidewalk and make their way back toward the apartment and she doesn't bring it up.

     Instead, she tilts her head toward the sky a little and lets the sun hit her. Despite that minute in the end, it was a good day, and she tells her friends as much. "It was a good day."

    "Yeah," Amaya agrees. "Yeah, it was."

     "To many more." Mindy knocks her shoulder against Carina's, and this time the smile gracing her face is real when she answers. "To many more, indeed."

madi speaks! 💌
god i love writing them so much