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College move in day had approached with rows of cars unpacking their belongings and parents crying as they dropped their children off to start new beginnings. The campus was buzzing with possibilities and dreams as introductions were being made and friendships being formed. Lucy climbed out of her dad’s SUV and smiled looking at all of the chaos around her. She tried not to make it obvious she was sizing up the women around her, but she let her eyes linger a little too long on a few of the girls filing into the dormitory. She wasn’t paying attention when she felt a cart bump into her. She grumbled for a moment and turned to see who the student was that was not paying attention when her eyes fell on the most beautiful blonde she had ever seen.
“I am so sorry. These carts really do have a mind of their own.” The blonde stated while cringing and trying to steer the vessel away from the smaller woman. When she finally looked up, she stumbled for a moment at the sight in front of her. She paused. “I-I-I really didn’t mean to hit you.”
“Oh, it’s just a scrape. No big deal.” Lucy rubbed her hands together and looked down shyly before looking back up at the blonde still staring at her. She heard her dad clear his throat to get her attention. “Maybe I’ll see you around.” Lucy smiled in return as she faced her parents trying to hide her blush and continued unpacking.
“Now Lucy, don’t forget, we are sending you here for a business degree. It’s important to go to classes and make sure the professors know you are part of the Tara lineage.” Her dad’s voice was stern. “I don’t want to receive any calls that you are up to shenanigans here and I won’t be bailing you out so you better stay focused.” Lucy just nodded and rolled her eyes as she loaded up her final box.
“I’m going to run ahead and grab my dorm key.” Lucy pulled out her photo ID as she headed into the fluorescent lit building trying to find the blonde girl. She looked among the faces, but no longer saw her. She stood in line waiting for her room assignment. As she approached the front of the line, she tried to make small talk with the others in line around her, but her mind could only focus on the blonde walking somewhere around the building. “Hi. Lucy Tara. Freshman.”
“You are in West 121. This is your room key and this is your mail key. There are some rules on the first page in the folder and the hours of the front desk. We are here if you have any questions.” The slightly older guy handed her the keys and a folder of information she knew she would not take the time to read.
Lucy turned to meet up with her parents who looked disgruntled to be standing amongst the common folk. Her dad was bouncing between his feet and her mom was carrying a sad expression on her face. As her dad steered the cart towards her room, she tried peaking through the opened doors on her floor. They reached the room and Lucy gave a gentle knock before she pushed open the door. Her roommate had not arrived yet, but that was ok. It would give Lucy time to claim the bed she wanted and the more comfortable chair. Lucy knew her roommate from high school, they secretly dated, but her parents did not need to know that bit of information. It had ended when Lucy was forced to go to prom with a guy her mom chose and her and Marcella remained friends. Lucy was nervous about rooming with a stranger taking advantage of her money. She wasn’t thrilled about rooming with her ex, but atleast she would be comfortable.
Her mom unpacked with vigor and made small talk as she made Lucy’s bed. Her dad hung up clothes in the closet and made comments about Lucy not choosing an apartment off campus. Lucy wanted the full college experience though. The brunette placed her computer on her desk and organized her storage bins by the foot of the bed. At some point Marcella walked in and they awkwardly hugged as the parents started conversation. There were already kids running up and down the halls and Lucy internally was smiling at the fun she was about to have. Her older siblings had told her all about their college stories, but they were all mild to what Lucy had put her parents through already.
“Lucy, do you think you’re going to rush too?” Marcella was trying to talk to her.
“Oh. No. It’s not really my thing. I think I’ll just focus on classes.” Lucy had been a cheerleader, but the thought of joining a sorority made her want to gag. She would not complain about being surrounded by that many women in a house, but she would not be able to tolerate the drama. Lucy gave her a small smile before falling back onto her bed.
“Lucy, get your dirty shoes off your bed. I just made it.” Her mother was already chastising her. Lucy rolled her eyes and sat up on her bed. Her mom walked over and helped the small brunette up before giving her a hug. “We have a lot of expectations of you. You can call any time if you need to.” Her mom gave her one final hug with tears in her eyes.
“Lucy, remember what I said. Stay focused.” Her dad gave her a hug before her parents walked out the door.
Lucy followed her parents towards the door and looked at people in the hallways before going for a walk. People were not going to meet themselves. She stopped at each open door to introduce herself and get a feel for each individual. Internally she was categorizing people into different categories: nerd, fun, hot, straight. It was when she finally got to the room across from hers when she froze. There was the blonde reading a book at her desk. Lucy had a big smile on her face as she knocked on the door.
“Hey! I didn’t properly introduce myself earlier, I was too busy getting run over.” She gave a small chuckle and watched a smile form on the blonde’s face. “I’m Lucy and I will be living across the hall so if you need to borrow a cup of sugar or something, find another door because I definitely didn’t pack any.”
The blonde was laughing. “Good to know. I’m not really into baking though and that would be against the rules.” She pointed to the rule sheet hanging from her desk. “I’m Kate”
“Well Kate, rules are meant to be broken and they cannot expect us to live on only dorm food and takeout.” Lucy eyed the blonde smiling at her and decided she would spend the school year finding ways to make that smile a regular existence. “I’ll be across the hall if you need anything.” She raised her hand and waved like a small child and bounced her way back to her room.
“Marcella, get your shoes on. We need to test the quality of food around here.” She waited for her roommate to join her before sticking her head into the room across the hall. “Do you want to head to the cafeteria with us?”
Kate peeked up at the energetic brunette at her door “No, thank you. I need to get some reading done for class.”
“Class? They haven’t even started yet and I hear nutrition is important in brain function.” Lucy was trying to tease her a little.
“No. I’m good. I want to get ahead so I don’t fall behind.” She gave a small smile and went back to reading.