Groaning and grumbling, after fifteen minutes of internal battle, I convince my ever so whiny and sleepy brain I cannot call my soon-to-be roommate and tell her to move in later in the day.

So the option of sleeping in is really not an option. It'd be a really shitty move and definitely not the first impression I'd want to have on the person I'll be spending the next year with—or maybe even longer.

I trudge to my bathroom, and follow through with my daily routine, except the showering part. Drinking and waking up early doesn't go along that well for me. Not to mention, I'm too lazy to put in any sort of effort into fighting against my whims.

As my eyes fall on my reflection in the mirror, while brushing my teeth, I almost choke on the toothpaste.

Holy fuck, I look like shit!

A beat later, I remember I always look like shit, so it's alright.

I shrug and continue brushing my teeth in happy indifference. I have personality, no need to worry about the rest.

My hair is a tangled mess, resembling more to a bird's nest than a human's head, and my eyes are half-open with tired dark bags underneath them. The faint black smudges from my mascara are still visible, clearly, I didn't get them off completely last night.

I wash my face and put up my uncombed dark brown hair in a messy bun. Combing my unruly curly hair needs a grand motivation, one that I lack today, hence the bun will have to do.

I can cut some slack for myself. It's the last Sunday before the classes start. It's literally the best day for being lazy... and probably the last.

An anxious shiver crawls down my spine and my heart jumps up to my throat before sliding back down to my chest.

In two weeks, my internship will begin, officially kickstarting my entrance to a nine-to-five job, and boring adult life.

Gone are the days of fun, freedom, and... being lazy without feeling guilty.

Okay, maybe I'm being a little too dramatic, but this girl needs her caffeine before handling the mess that it's life.

I put on a yellow shirt and my favorite blue jeans. Aside from being comfortable, I like how the yellow of the shirt goes along with my honey brown eyes.

With my mood still not at its best behavior, I head to the kitchen and prepare cereal for myself and a cup of ice coffee.

By the time I've downed my breakfast, and I'm not as irritated at everything present in my surrounding, my phone rings.

The pitch voice of my coming roommate, announces she'll arrive in a couple of minutes.

I busy myself with tidying up the living room, gathering the magazines, comic books, and manga scattered on the coffee table, and taking them to my room while humming Taylor Swift's Sparks Fly.

My mind wanders back to last night and my make-out session with the wannabe bad boy Carter... he was a really good kisser though.

I shake my head and shove aside any thoughts of him wandering in my mind. It was just a kiss, and it's not like I'm going to see him ever again.

The doorbell rings and I sigh, tucking the wayward strands of my fallen hair from my bun behind my ear. I survey my messy bedroom, papers filled with drawings cover every surface, while printed pictures of anime characters and Pixar and Disney animations I love are stuck to all of the walls, with the highest number of them being taped to the wall in front of my work desk.

I shut my bedroom before hurrying to the front door. No need to scare off my poor roommate with those wild images.

I welcome Chloe, my new roommate, inside. Her dyed blond hair is up in a messy bun, and the dark brown root has grown over an inch, she's sporting large golden hoop earrings.

Three huge suitcases, five gigantic boxes and two small pots with jade plants in her hands Chloe enters my apartment.

The two men help her move in all her belongings, leave the boxes and suitcases in the room I show them, and swiftly take off.

Chloe's bright blue eyes survey the apartment as she places her hands on her hips, her neon pink off-the-shoulder top, and yoga pants hug her body perfectly, showing off her curves in all the right places.

"Tell me the rules, roomie," she chirps as she sits in the middle of the beige loveseat.

I shrug. "I'm not really into rules." Offering her a smile, I take the floral armchair on her left and tuck my legs underneath me. "Just don't be too loud, and don't ever wake me up early on the days I'm at home."

She giggles and claps her hands together. "Done deal, girl." She bunches up her legs on the sofa and crosses them. "Okay, so what about the chores?"

I scratch the side of my head. "Do your own dishes, and I'll do mine... and every Sunday we can clean up the apartment together," I suggest.

"Awesome." She leans over like she wants to share a juicy piece of gossip. "Can I ask you something?"

I nod. "Yeah, sure."

A bright smile flashes across her face. "Why do you need a roommate?"

"I drew out a loan and bought this place... I can't afford to pay for everything and I don't want to ask my parents."

"Got it." She nods a few times and twines her fingers together, squinting at me. "Should I expect your parents or siblings suddenly show up?"

I laugh and shake my head. "Not at all. They're not coming here, like ever, no need to worry over that."

Her smile falters and tilts her head slightly. "Any problems-"

I wave my hand dismissively. "Usual family drama."

Understandingly she nods. "Okay, I won't pry."

Chloe scoots to the edge of the seat and rests her elbows on her thighs. "I'm an ASMR artist," she pauses just to wiggle her fingers rapidly, showing off her long baby pink acrylic nails. "It'd be great if you could like... make no noise at all while I'm making the videos, they're not long, about fifteen minutes each, but you know how ASMRs work."

"Oh, yeah, totally." I have no idea how they work. But I nod anyway. "No need to worry about that. I have an internship along my classes, so I'll be gone for most of the days, and at nights I'll make sure to be extra quiet while you're making your videos."

She grins. "Thanks! Also, I make make-up tutorial clips on TikTok-"

I hold my palms up. "I'll stay out of your away."

She titters and shakes her head. "But girl I would love to have you as my model on them."

I giggle and tuck my hair behind my ear. "I'll think about it."

She claps her hands again. "I don't mean to come off as rude or anything, but are you in a relationship, and do they come around often?"

"I have sworn off men, so no, I'm single, and hopefully it'll stay like that till next year."

"Rough break up, huh?" she sympathetically asks, the corners of her matt pink lips pulling downwards.

"It was three months ago, I'm fine now." I smile reassuringly at her.

"Girl, I'm your roomie, we might even become besties, if you ever need someone to talk to, know that I'm always here for you."

The grin spilling over my face mirrors on hers and as far as first impressions go, I like her. I'm glad I chose her as my roommate.

If she stays this bubbly all the way, and we manage to build an open communication friendship, we can really become good friends with each other.

"Are you dating?" I wiggle my eyebrows making her giggle.

She heaves a dramatic sigh. "Don't get me started."

My brows jump with surprise. "It's a situationship?"

"I wish!" She leans back to her seat. "We've been dating each other for two years now, and we literally break up every month and get back together a week later."

"Wow... honestly, I don't know the details, but if I end something with a guy, it's done. We're never ever getting back together."

Just as I say the words, my subconscious starts playing Taylor Swift's We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together's chorus and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from bursting into laughter.

"I wish it was that easy," she says and I clear my throat to kill the laughter brewing in me as I cling to my straight face.

"But Carter, my boyfriend, he's really good, and I really like him."

I freeze. Carter!

The guy from last night was Carter too... damn, what a coincidence.

It's impossible for them to be the same person though... there are so many Carters out there. And he's dating her, he won't go out to a club and approach someone else if he was taken already.

Unaware, she goes on, "We had another fight last week, and he hasn't even called once ever since, or texted... though I think it's because it was my fault, I don't know. But I think I'll call him tonight to make up again."

"If you don't mind me asking, what was the fight about?"

She rolls her eyes. "Carter graduated last year, and he was already working in his dad's company, so when he got out of college his dad gave him a better position. Now you know how bitches will be, clinging to any dude they can to climb up the ladder of success and shit. There's this girl in his office, and she literally gets dreamy eyes, starts eye fucking him whenever she sees him. She doesn't even bother to hide it! Now I know my boyfriend is hot, but like c'mon! He's taken." She huffs and rolls her eyes, waving her hand and folding her fingers over her palm.

"Anyway, Carter is a certified flirt, and an all-time playboy, so obviously he notices the way she is around him, but instead of distancing himself from her, he lets her join his team for his big project! And when I tell him, I'm not fucking comfortable he says I'm insecure! Like what the hell! So yeah, we had a fight over that."

Damn. I stare at her with wide eyes. I was not expecting such a detailed explanation.

She lays her hand on her chest, apologetically looking at me. "Oops, I overshared again, I'm sorry. It's a shitty habit of mine."

"No, no it's okay. At least you got it off your chest, and who doesn't like a bit of drama."

She giggles and nods. "Thanks, bae for understanding. So yeah, we were on a one-week break, again. But once I unpack my stuff, I'll call him and we'll probably make up again."

"Good for you guys... but... don't get me wrong, don't you think it's a little toxic? Constantly being on and off?"

"That's how we roll, and so far we've made it."

"Yeah, I guess," I mumble for her sake.

With every living cell in my body, I disagree with her, but we've just met, it's too early for me to break into a full therapist Elodie mode just yet.

She drums her fingers on her knees. "Would you have a problem if Carter shows up once in a while and perhaps stays over for the night?" she hesitantly asks.

Oh shit. Sex noise? Oh, God. How did I not think about this? "Just don't be too loud."

She throws her head back and laughs. "Done, girl. You don't need to worry about that."

Before I get the chance to thank her, my phone pings. I get to my feet, confused and curious about who it might be as I walk over to the counter, and grab my phone.

I read the text message and my mood instantly sours.

'Dinner next week Saturday. We've fixed the date with your sister, so don't be late.'

I purse my lips and glare at the screen and the three letters at the top of the page saying Mom.

I resist the urge to message her back something along the lines of gee thanks Mom for asking me if I'm free that day or not.

Rolling my eyes, I shove my phone into my pocket. Chloe goes to her room to tackle the nightmarish task of unpacking. I offer to help but she says she's fine and she'll ask if she needed.

With nothing else to do for the rest of the day, I head to my room, shutting the door lightly and empty my messy desk, pulling out my tablet from underneath the pile of papers.

I chew my bottom lip, thinking for a moment before turning on my tablet, and finding the smartpen.

I stare at the pictures in front of me for a long moment until inspiration hits my brain like a strike of lightning and I start drawing a new face, a new character with her special story ready to be shown on the screen of my tablet and later on my computer.

➵ ❤︎ ➵ 

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The roommate has officially entered the story and yes, drama is coming xD

Comment your thoughts, I'd love to hear what you thought of this chapter.

I'm not a Taylor Swift fan, but I was when I was a teen before my taste in music changed and I got into other singers and bands like Linkin Park, and Bring me the horizon and bands like that. I have no idea why this chapter had 2 T Swift song references :") Raise your hand if you're a swiftie xD

Also, I feel like Elodie and Carter's theme song is going to be Sparks Fly, it actually seems pretty fitting lol.

Thanks for reading this chapter, hit that star button if you enjoyed it, and I'll try to write and upload the next chapter as soon as I can =)

Stay safe, lots of love, happy reading ♡♡♡