"This is the one." I announce, looking up at the 'nineteen' emblazoned on the wooden door. Elle grins, shifting the bag in her hands and leaning against the wall beside me, a reassuring smile on her face.

"Go on!" She hurries and I nod, taking a deep breath before pushing the door open. My eyes quickly scan the dorm room, the nerves jumping around in my stomach at what's to come. The room is half empty, bland and boring, the other half full of purple flowery decor.

"Are you my roommate?" My eyes quickly fall on the short haired brunette who has shot up from her lilac bedspread, grinning widely at me.

"Yeah!" I smile at her, lowering my box onto the empty bed before holding out my hand. "I'm Savannah."

"Love it." She grins, jumping forward and grabbing hold of my hand. "I'm Elena!"

"Nice to meet you." I smile before letting go and stepping back. "This is my sister Elle." I gesture behind me as Elle drops the bag on my bed.

"That's half of my name!" The small girl exclaims, grabbing hold of my sister's hand.

"Uh, yes... yes it is!" Elle splutters slightly and I can't help the small smile that appears on my face.

"That's pretty cool." Elena states before standing back and crossing her arms.

"This is a nice room." Elle notes, glancing round. I nod to her, taking in the larger than average bed, the clean wooden desk and the two shelves pinned to the wall above it. I take step closer to the window which sits in between the two desks, glancing outside to see a few trees rustling in the wind, a small, green park stretching out below. Not the worst view to have from your bedroom. Taking a step back I glance at Elle who is looking inside the small closet on my side of the room, her eyebrows furrowed.

"I hope you don't mind that I picked the right hand side of the room." Elena pipes up, taking a step closer to me, an apologetic look on her face. "It's my lucky side."

"Lucky side?" Elle questions, eyes wide with trepidation.

"Yeah. I'm left handed." Elena shrugs before waving at us. "Haven't you heard? You should always pick the opposite. It's lucky."

"Oh." Elle replies, her eyes still slightly wide as she takes a step back from the closet. "I'll go and get another box from the car." She smiles before leaving the room. Elena takes a step back, wringing her hands together as she sits down on her bed, biting her lip. It's that move that makes me realize she is just as nervous as me, and just as desperate to make friends. We're both new here, both in unknown territory and we're both terrified. I take a step towards her and she looks up slightly, shooting me a small smile.

"I'm right handed so... you picked well!" I smile, waving at her with my right hand and she grins once more, her brown eyes sparkling as she jumps back up from her bed.

"Can I help you unpack? I got here four days ago and I've been waiting for you ever since!"

"Why did you come so early?" I ask, opening up the bag that Elle has left on the bed. It's full of blankets and hoodies, one of the most important bags I brought with me. Elena shrugs.

"I was excited to start college. Weren't you?"

*~*~*

I sit on my newly made bed, biting my lip as I struggle to contain my emotions. My pink fairy clock sits beside my bed, a photo of Elle and I perched next to it. Elle has pinned the photos of Becky and Zara on my closet, placed my childhood teddy Olive in the bottom corner of my bed. She fussed around the room, desperate to ensure that I would feel at home as possible. I can barely glance anywhere without my eyes welling up with tears and I keep my gaze on my tidy desk, brand new textbooks piled up on top of it. It's the only part of the room that's still plain and bland, it doesn't remind me of home.

Elle left half hour ago. She left me all alone to figure this journey out on my own. Why did I even think it was a good idea to come to college? I should probably just go home, run back to the library and beg for my part time job back. Elle and I could just curl back up in front of the TV, laughing and throwing popcorn at each other. Exactly the same as we were last night.

I could work at the library forever, live with my sister until we're old and grey. Every night we'd watch films, every night we'd eat junk food. I'm not sure it would help our dating lives but there's nothing better than curling up on the couch in your own home.

But not tonight. Tonight I am sat across the room from a stranger, a girl who is currently humming the Jurassic Park theme song on repeat as she pins up her movie posters. The new blue bedspread that Elle bought me feels unusual, scratchy and uncomfortable. This is not home.

Did I make a huge mistake? I saved up all my money to come here and I don't even know if I should be here.

"Hey girls!" The sound of a girl's voice startles me and I look over to the side of the room, my eyes resting on the pink haired girl in the doorway, numerous piercings and tattoos decorating her body. "I'm Laura." She grins, a wad of flyers in her hand.

"Nice to meet you." Elena grins, jumping down from her bed.

"I'm just here to let you know that there's going to be a party held every night for the first week for everyone to get to know each other." Laura smiles, handing a flyer to Elena. Elena nods, looking down and scanning the content.

"Thanks." I reply, smiling softly.

"So, will we be seeing you tonight for the first party of your college life?" Laura beams and I bite my lip once more. I don't even think I could finish one drink without thinking of Becky and how much I miss her drunken ass.

"Uhh, I think I'll probably just unpack tonight." I manage, fiddling with the hem of my sleeve, "I'll go to the one tomorrow." I smile and Laura nods, her smile falling slightly before turning to Elena.

"Same here." Elena agrees. "It's been a long day." She continues, gesturing behind her at the poster clad wall, grinning. Laura shakes her head twice before turning and leaving, slamming the door behind her.

"I don't think she likes us." Elena surmises, looking over at me wide eyed. I can't help the giggle that escapes my mouth as I lay back on my bed, glancing up at the cream colored ceiling. There's a muddy footprint in the center, and I can't help but wonder who was in this room before us, and how on earth they got their feet up there.

Welcome to College.

*~*~*

Taking advantage of having the room to myself while Elena showers I raise the phone to my ear, impatiently waiting for the person at the other end to pick up. Having spent the majority of our Summer together, being in the knowledge that I'm now two hours away from him is daunting, almost scary. Who do I call when I'm in desperate need of some cookie dough or an ice cream sundae?

Suddenly he answers, and I feel the grin spread over my face immediately as I fiddle with the hem of the blue bedspread with my spare hand.

"Haydon!" I exclaim and he laughs slightly in response.

"Hey! You sound very enthusiastic. How is it?" He replies and I scoot down the bed a bit more, snuggling into the blankets. All I want to say in response is how scary it is, how I'm not sure whether I should drop out completely and just come home, but he's been so excited for me, so supportive for the entirety of the last year, and I just can't do that to him.

"It's great. Everyone has been so welcoming so far."

"And your roommate?" He asks.

"A little crazy. Just as we predicted." I giggle as I respond and he laughs.

"Good. Make sure you have fun Sav."

"Thanks." I smile, looking down at the hem of my top. I haven't been this far away from him for over six months and hearing his deep voice is not making me feel any better about my decision to come here.

"Don't go making any new boyfriends." He chuckles and I grin.

"Never." I retort, "I already have a pretty amazing one back home."

"I bet he misses you like crazy." Haydon muses and I giggle.

"I miss him too." I assure as Elena walks back into the room, her hair wrapped up in a towel. "Elena's back. My roommate." I say into the phone as I smile at her and she raises her eyebrows in curiosity.

"Alright. I'll let you go." He responds, "Have fun."

I hang up the phone as Elena grabs a yellow top from her closet, pulling it over her head and yanking the towel off her head, letting her brown hair fall back down to her shoulders.

"Boyfriend?" She asks and I nod. "I wish I had one of those." She grins, turning back to her closet. "So, what are we doing tonight?"

"Tonight?"

"We aren't going to the party. So clearly we are going to do something else together." She retorts. "Bonding time." She grins, pulling a purple skirt over her hips. "How do you feel about Chinese food?" She asks as she runs her hands through her hair. I smile at the suggestion, thankful for the distraction that my new roommate is providing.

"I love all food." I reply and she grins.

"We're going to get on well."

*~*~*

One hour later I find myself sat in a Chinese restaurant, devoring prawn crackers as she smiles across the table at me.

"So tell me your story." She prompts, sitting forward.

"My story?"

"Everyone has a story." She nods.

"Not me." I shake my head. "Just a girl from a small town where everyone knows everyone." I remark, "It's nice to get away from that."

"I'd prefer that to the city." She objects, leaning back in her seat.

"Where are you from?" I ask.

"San Diego."

"Wow... that's like a seven hour journey."

"I wanted get away." She explains. "I've been there my whole life."

"Fair enough."

"So you don't like the small town you're from?" She asks, her eyebrows raised.

"Edgewater Valley." I reply before shaking my head. "It's full of drama."

"Isn't every high school?"

"I doubt they're as dramatic as mine."

"Let me guess, typical cliché popular jocks and cheerleaders?" She snorts.

"How did you guess?" I roll my eyes, "Unfortunately."

"We didn't have that where I went." Elena shrugs, "Most of the cheerleaders were pretty cool actually. I was friends with a few. The jocks weren't bad either." She justifies, "In our school it was the art class."

"The art class?"

"Oh yeah." She grins, "The legendary couple George and Brionie who were going to be together forever." She explains and I can't help but shake my head. "She cheated on him during our last year with Fred."

"Fred?"

"He got better grades in art than George."

"Seriously?"

"You can't make this stuff up." Elena exclaims and I giggle. "The whole art department was split in two. You had to pick a side."

"I wish I went to your school." I comment, a smile on my face.

"Believe me, you don't."

"At least you didn't have a cliché Queen Bitch." I argue.

"True." She agrees. "So... that boyfriend you were on the phone with earlier?" She grins once more, leaning forward on the table. I look down at the table, my cheeks flushing a slight red.

"Uh yeah." I admit, "He's called Haydon. He wasn't a jock."

"Good name." She nods her head approvingly, "What's the story there?"

"Uh well... he's my best friend's brother."

"I love it!"

"Yeah, Becky wasn't too pleased when she found out." I laugh, remembering when she'd walked in on us holding hands, our lips locked together until our eyes grew wide as we noticed her. She'd insisted we buy her seventeen rolls of cookie dough before she forgave us.

"Have you been together long?" Elena asks.

"Six months." I answer, smiling at the thought. Haydon had been there for me my entire last year of high school, suggesting that I get a job at the library, suggesting that I join the journalism club to help my college application. After all, I did want to major in English.

"That's a long time." Elena asserts, eyes wide.

"Any boys in the picture for you?"

"Not at the moment." She shakes her head before rolling her eyes. "Everyone I know back home are still immature teenage boys."

"Tell me about it." I scoff, "Apart from Haydon my town was filled with jerks."

"Hopefully the boys are better at college." She giggles before picking up a spring roll.

"Here's to hoping!" I laugh, picking one up for myself.

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