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The thing about college was, you never knew who'd you be roomed with. That's what Erin Gilbert came to realize when she walked into her Harvard dorm room the second week of college. She didn't get a roommate, which was fine with her. She really wasn't one for socializing, which is how she got into Harvard. With really no friends in high school, she excelled at academics. As soon as she could, she had applied for Harvard and got accepted almost instantly. When she had first stepped onto the campus, she knew that this is where she had belonged. That this was her home, and would be her home for the coming years. The fact that she got her own dorm? That was also a bonus.
So imagine her surprise when she walks into her dorm a week later, ready to start on her latest project, when someone she doesn't recognize is in the middle of the room...fiddling with something that looked strangely like her old radio from when she was a child. "Ummm, what are you doing in my dorm room?" Erin asked, clearing her throat. The woman looked up, her hands paused over the radio. She had short blonde hair that appeared to be fluffed beyond human measures. She had on combat boots, black khakis that stopped below the knee, a white tank top that looked slightly burnt tucked into her pants and to top it all off, a grey doctors coat thrown over her person.
The woman hopped off her chair, putting down her tools with a smirk. She lowered tinted yellow glasses that seemed to come from a steampunk world and offered her hand, "Jillian Holtzmann, engineer major." She spoke, her voice oozing with confidence. She stepped towards Erin, "I'm your roo..." She went to say, but tripped over her laces that were untied. Erin's eyes went wide, rushing to the fallen blonde. "Oh my god! Are you okay?" She asked. Jillian rolled over, her back making a loud cracking sound when it met the floor. "Man that felt good." Jillian said, her face sporting a massive smile. She looked up at Erin, seeing her concerned face. "Are you an angel? I think I fell all the way to heaven." She said, a teasing grin on her face.
Erin huffed, getting up from the floor. This having a roommate thing was going to be fun.
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It's been close to a month, but Erin was slowly starting to come to terms with Holtzmann. That's what she had asked her to call her, Holtz or Holtzmann, never her first name. Erin didn't both asking why.
The one thing she hated though was that the engineer was a slob. Always clothes thrown about her side of the room, metal pieces sticking from underneath her bed. Wires dangling from the ceiling. As a woman that liked to keep things organized and cleaned, it took all her will power not to throw out Holtz's things. She could just hear that smirk in her mouth if Holtz caught her throwing away her stuff. Would probably make a joke about if she had wanted to touch her things, she could've just asked.
"....." Erin heard, making her jolt from her thoughts. She looked up from the book she was studying for tomorrows test, "What was that?" She asked, looking over at Holtzmann's side of the room. She had on a pair of goggles that was tinted yellow, a smear of something Erin didn't care to ask about on her cheek. She was still working on that radio, which she came to learn used to be her mothers who passed away some years back, and that the radio stopped working after she died. Holtz has been trying to get it to work ever since.
Without looking up, Holtz reasked her question. "I said, can you really play all those instruments on your wall?" She spoke. Erin looked over her shoulder at the wall, which held a total of twelve different instruments that Erin had learned to play herself. From a Violin and Ukulele to a Keyboard and Saxophone. Erin looked over at Holtz, "Yup. Taught myself how to play, you find yourself with lots of spare time with no friends in school I found." "That's cool." Holtz said, a shrug in her shoulders. "I once ate fifteen cold hot pockets in a row." She said offhandedly. She saw Erin's mouth open and close, trying to phrase why. "My girlfriend at the time told me to, since I may have accidently blew up her bathroom." Holtz said.
"Ahh." Erin said, going back to the book, when she whipped her head up and that she swore she heard her neck snap. "Did you say girlfriend?" Erin asked. Holtz looked up, eyebrow raised. "Yes indeed." She said, "I would have thought with all the flirting I do with you, someone as smart as you would've figured out I was gay by now." She told her, and left it at that.
Erin ignored the butterflies that erupted in her stomach at that.
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Erin had no idea why she agreed to Holtzmann in coming to this party. Scratch that, she knew why. She knew why she got those butterflies at the reveal that Holtz was gay. Why she accepted her slob of a roommate, instead of demanding for a new roommate. She had a crush on Holtzmann. She had looked up the symptoms of a crush, and save for having fantasy dreams about her, she ticked every box in the "crushing on x person" category.
But she stayed silent, cause even if Holtzmann flirted with her, that didn't mean she actually liked her.....did it? That didn't matter now, because she was alone. Alone, at a party because Holtz went to get drinks, with a creepy student named Kevin trying to sweet talk her. He had nice features, if Erin was being honest with herself, but she wasn't interested. It seemed Kevin cheated his way in here however, since he didn't seem to get the hint.
Before she could try and punch him, she felt arms wrapped around her waist and two drinks appear before her. "Hey baby, got those drinks." The familiar voice of Holtz filled her ears like water for a dying man. "Hello Kevin, leave my girlfriend alone and beat it." Holtz told the big oaf of a man, glaring at him from behind her glasses. "And don't even think of saying what your about to say, cause it will not end well for you." Holtz threatened, daring him to say something. Kevin huffed, stomping his way off.
Erin turned around, a big smile on her face. Holtz's face was a breath's away from hers. She could feel her breath mingle in her mouth. Before she lost the nerve, Erin closed the distance and pecked Holtz's lips with her own. "Thank you." Erin whispered. Holtz smiled, pecking back her lips. "Anytime, i'd fight off two thousand bees for you." She said, then went on to explain why fighting off two thousand bees would be more heroic then fighting off anything else.
Erin listened with a smile on her face, Holtz's arms around her waist. She could get used to this.