Pinpricks of light force my eyes to open the next morning and it takes a second for my brain to register where I am. A crack in the sheer gray curtains covering the large front window is the culprit for disrupting my slumber. It allows the sun to start spilling into the room and I grab my phone off the floor to check how early it is. 7:34. Gross. My body still hasn't adjusted to the time change.

I feel the rise and fall of Liam's sleeping chest behind me and heave his arm that is slung across my body away from me. I immediately feel cooler as I move away from his body heat and I sit up, forcing myself to the edge of his king-sized bed. His place here in Malibu feels emptier than his home in Texas with only a mattress sprawled across the middle of his living room floor. A dozen boxes fill the small space that is his kitchen and besides a small bathroom that sits between the two rooms, there isn't much else to the guest house. There is a wonderful airiness to the place due to the high ceilings and open floor plan, and sleek strands of modern lights dangle across the room so it's just as bright and inviting at night. His whole place is modern chic with white glossy cabinets, stainless steel appliances and white marble countertops. I'm envious of the fact he has a fully equipped kitchen and a bathroom that he doesn't have to share with an entire dorm floor of girls.

I push myself off of the low bed and grab my overnight bag I had stashed by the door. I wander into his bathroom and notice how every noise I make has a small echo to it. I untie my Target shopping bag and stock his shower with humidity-fighting shampoo and a conditioner that I approve of. I also stack my scent of soap next to his scent and fill the last shelf with our own razors and loofahs. I assume I will be showering here as much as possible to avoid my dorm's open shower area, so I figured the least I could do was provide us with supplies. His bathroom is small with a glass stand-up shower in one corner and a small vanity directly across from it. I look around and note that only one person will be able to get ready at a time in here.

I start the shower and immediately feel weird about the openness. My shower at home in Texas is also a wide bathtub, so a cream shower curtain covers me from the rest of the bathroom. Here it's just open. Strangers can see me in my dorm bathroom and Liam gets a full view if he were to open the door here. I'm not quite comfortable with either. I'm going to have to figure out how to maintain some privacy.

When I'm done showering, I throw on some Lululemon workout shorts and a baggy Highland Park High cheer shirt and wander my way back to Liam. I know our plan was to unpack his house today, so I don't bother making myself look cute for cleaning. Liam is now awake and looking at something on his phone, completely absorbed in his own world.

"I hope I didn't wake you up," I say as I slide back into bed. His place is a studio, so his living room is also his bedroom, which means his bed is basically the couch.

"Nah, the sun woke me up. I'm going to have to get some kind of air conditioning in here I think," Liam says as he tosses his phone to the end of the bed. He makes his way to the bathroom and I grab a box lingering at the foot of the bed. I see it's labeled "electronics" so I slide it to the opposite side of the wall. Liam is going to have to set up his own electronics as I don't have a clue where to begin with that. I grab a box that has kitchen supplies in it and head towards the kitchen drawers.

I almost have his entire kitchen unpacked and set up when he finishes with his shower. He remains shirtless wearing only black Volcom shorts while he rifles through bags to find his clothes.

"You can just stay like that ya know," I joke before Liam manages to find a teal shirt.

"Oh can I?" Liam flirts back and I run my eyes over his chest before it's covered up with his shirt. "Well I don't miss the gross Dallas heat that's for sure, but this place is still hot," he says when he's done tugging his shirt on. He wanders over to me and kisses the top of my head, "Thanks for getting the kitchen done."

I quickly show him how I set up his space and he pulls the door to the refrigerator open.

"We need to go grocery shopping today."

"There's a grocery store down the street that we can go to. I guess I can get stuff to fill my little fridge too," I say as I break down the empty boxes. I grab my phone off the counter and snap a picture of Liam's kitchen to send to Lily and Harper. We've been showing each other our new living spaces since we separated last week and I know they'll both be jealous of Liam's new digs.

Harper was the first to leave since her classes started a week earlier than mine and Lily's. Lily was eager to get to New York, so she left a day after Harper and two days ago, Liam and I had piled into his packed BMW and started our drive out here. My parents didn't want both of us driving in case something happened on the road, so they decided to drive my Mini Cooper out to me when they come for parents' weekend.

My friends and I had a tear filled going away bonfire for ourselves down at the lake before we all split ways and we all promised we'd stay in touch until we saw each other over fall break. Even though Harper and Derek stayed single through the summer, we all still managed to come together for the bonfire along with a few of our cheer friends. We all parted ways on good terms which was nice and unexpected with Harper.

"Who are you texting?" Liam asks as he peers over my shoulder.

"Harper and Lily. I'm pretty sure out of the four of us, you have the nicest living space."

"Well it's a good thing you aren't living the high life because then Harper would have to break into some nice apartment and take fake pictures to prove she has a better setup than you do," Liam jokes as he starts to grab more boxes from the floor.

"Being far away in Kentucky doesn't stop Harper from being competitive. How much do you want to bet she'll ask for my report card when we see her in December?" I joke back and I catch Liam rolling his eyes.

"I'm not gonna lie, I'm kind of enjoying not having Harper's threat of tattling on us weigh over me every day. I feel like I can't mess up or piss her off if I'm not around her all the time," Liam says as he rifles through a box labeled "random stuff."

I start grabbing hangers and t-shirts and begin filling his closet while he sets up his dresser. While keeping my gaze to the rack I reply, "I know, but you have to admit, she did get better toward the end of the summer. She only used our secret as a weapon when you joked about me finding new and better friends in Malibu. She made it clear I am only to have two real best friends and those positions were already filled."

I hear my phone ping and I reach onto the floor to grab it. Harper replies, Lucky Liam. My dorm is the size of his kitchen. And I have to share it with a girl named Zula Beth. ZULA BETH! And you can't just call her Zula or Beth it has to be her full name. Zula Beth!!

I read her message out loud and both Liam and I get a good laugh out of it. I do feel bad for poor Zula Beth though, she may have a roommate with a normal name but Harper is twenty shades of crazy. Last night, I filled Harper in on my wacky roommate and she wondered if I listened in to Zoe's thoughts a lot. She laughed just as hard as I just did when I told her that Zoe mostly thinks in a made-up gibberish language which I found out was elvish. I don't bother listening in because I don't understand any of it anyway.

When the majority of the boxes are emptied, Liam and I decide to adventure out to the nearest grocery store. This proved quite the task as I have never had to buy my own groceries before. I didn't know how many types of chicken there were, so the employee laughed when I asked him what kind of chicken normal people buy? He grabbed me boneless chicken breasts and I wasn't even sure if that's the kind of chicken I wanted. I also had no idea what the differences between organic fruits and regular fruits were, which prompted a lady to blab my ear off about pesticides and hormones. I ended up with organic fruit I have never even heard of and to top it off, everything in the deli sounded foreign and fancy. I have no idea what quinoa is or what a bacon-wrapped date is but somehow they both managed to end up in my cart as I was checking out. The cashier then scowled at me when I told her I hadn't brought my own bags to put my groceries in. I didn't know everyone here brings their own cloth shopping bags. So after an earful from her about saving the planet, I was more than ready to go back to the safety of my dorm room.

Liam thankfully was willing to help me bring in my groceries so I didn't have to make so many trips to the car. My room looks incredibly bright when I open the door and we are greeted with a bright orange tapestry taking up the entire space of the wall that sits above Zoe's bed. The jarring display of a 3-foot cloth yellow sun bouncing off a bright orange background almost hurts my eyes. In addition to the colorful tapestry, Zoe also has a bright orange quilt covering her bed and a golden lantern dangles from a hook screwed into the ceiling. Her desk is now full of oils, gold trinkets and incense burners and I wonder if she'll have any room left for textbooks.

"No wonder she wanted to wait for us to leave to decorate her side," Liam says as he takes in the space. I glance at him and then let out a breath of a laugh.

When we get done cramming everything into a fridge that is smaller than I am, I grab a bag of popcorn and stuff it into the microwave.

"Are you a bit overwhelmed Ellie?" Liam asks as he kisses me softly on the cheek. He pulls me into him and I exhale a long sigh into his chest. I'm glad that Zoe is off somewhere so I can enjoy my space for a bit.

"I wasn't expecting it to be so hard. My mom buys the groceries and cooks, my dad sets up the electronics and nails stuff into the wall. I couldn't even hand you whatever screwdriver you were asking for because I didn't know the difference between any of them."

Liam brushes the hair from my face and tilts my head so I am forced to look at him, "This is a big change for you love, but you'll get used to it. You'll be amazed at how independent you'll feel when you go back home for fall break." I forget that Liam has pretty much been on his own since he was twelve. He's used to moving and fending for himself.

"I hope so, I hope it will get easier," I say as the microwave starts dinging at me. The smell of hot buttery popcorn fills the tiny space and I pop the bag open to share with Liam. After cramming a handful into his mouth, he wipes his hands on his shirt and then grabs a stack of papers that are sitting on the corner of my desk.

"When is your first class?" He asks while pinning Pepperdine campus information to my bulletin board. After cramming my own fistful of popcorn into my mouth, I answer, "Wednesday. So I only have two days left of freedom."

"What do you want to do until you are officially a college freshman?"

"I dunno, beach time?" I suggest with a shrug. Our conversation is interrupted when I hear the access card at our door again. Zoe appears in the doorway and her outfit is as colorful as her wall.

"Oh you two are back?" Zoe asks and both Liam and I stare at her while she crosses the space into her desk chair. I was instantly relieved when I heard her think that Liam was so not her type when they first met. I couldn't imagine what I what do if my roommate had the hots for him as I did not want another Stephanie fiasco.

Her red flowy skirt skims the floor as she sits and I hear the jostle of her gold bangles as she pulls her wrist up to bring a green smoothie to her lips.

"Yeah, I helped Liam set his place up and went and got groceries. Help yourself to whatever you'd like by the way," I offer as she sets her drink down to free her hands. She gathers her mane of thick red hair and begins braiding it into a side braid. I suddenly find the urge to wash her hair again.

"Thanks, but I have kind of a strict diet. I try and eat gluten-free and I'm also a vegan. Don't take this the wrong way, but my food is usually kind of expensive so if you could just ask before eating anything of mine I'd appreciate it," she says and adds a grin to take the edge off her request.

I quickly glance at Liam big surprise right?

"Yeah of course, gluten-free is kind of a big deal here in Malibu it seems like. I've never really heard much about gluten until I came here. What is it exactly?" I ask and I immediately regret it. Her eyes light up and I can tell she loves informing people on her health choices. She drones on and on about what gluten is and why she decided to become a vegan in the first place. Liam and I bob our heads as we listen and we both muster up as much fake enthusiasm as we can. I can tell I'm never going to be able to eat meat around her without her judging me. Liam keeps glancing at the clock on my desk and I can tell he's waiting for a pause in her speech so he can dip out of here. Bastard is going to leave me alone with her and her talk of animal cruelty. When she turns around to find the soap she hand makes, Liam finds his opportunity and springs up from my bed.

"Well as much as I want to smell your handmade soap, I gotta head out before it gets dark," Liam says as he reaches for his keys that lay on my desk. He stuffs his phone into his jacket pocket and closes the distance from my bed to the door in three strides.

"Wait, you're leaving?" I whine and Liam pulls me into a hug and kisses the top of my head.

"You'll be fine El, you were going to have to sleep here eventually," he whispers. I decide to answer in my head, I know but I'm not ready to be left alone with her yet.

Ellie, she's your roommate. You have to be around her until May. Start the bonding process now. He squeezes my cheeks so that my lips pucker and gives me a big wet kiss before heading out. I lean my forehead against the door after he leaves and I feel Zoe come up behind me.

"Hey, do you want me to balance your chakras?" Zoe asks and I immediately know I am in for a long semester.