Chapter Text
Ah, college. The beginning of adulthood. Alice had dreamed about it ever since middle school. She was already bored by the stupid subjects they forced her to take there and wanted more. At first, she thought high school would give her this ‘more’. More interesting classes, clubs, people...but in the end, it turned out to be just like middle school for the brunette. Classes were still boring as hell, she didn’t like any of the clubs she had at her school and the people...well, they were the same as in middle school, except older. And dumber. She hated most of them.
Her only friends were two brothers called Samuel and Nathan. Samuel was two years older than Alice, but he’d been her best friend in the whole world. The two had a lot in common. They loved the same music, movies, shows, subjects… They spent almost all of their free time together until Sam had to leave for college to study history.
Then, she was left with Nathan, his younger brother. Nathan and Alice were the same age, and had things in common, but not as much as Sam and she did. But they got along very well, like brother and sister, with a few arguments here and there that never lasted long. When they had to choose in which university they wanted to spend the next four years of their lives, their choice was obvious. They’d go to the same place as Sam. A good university, slightly remote from big cities. It was situated in the middle of the mountains and the forests and the closest town was about one hour away. Nathan chose to study history, just like his brother, and Alice settled for film studies, in the hopes of becoming either a writer or a director. Maybe even both, if she was lucky enough.
When Alice and Nathan got out of the bus that took them to campus, they immediately started looking for Sam. There were a lot of people around the bus, and it was difficult to find someone you hadn’t seen in two years in there. But when her eyes settled on a tall brown-haired boy with a cigarette in his mouth, she didn’t think twice about it and dropped her bags on the floor, running towards the boy. Once she got to him, her arms were tightly wrapped around his neck and her head was on his shoulder. Sam didn’t have time to see her properly, but he knew it was her.
After he passed his cigarette to his brother, who had followed the girl, he held her close to him and buried his head in the crook of her neck, taking in her scent. It hadn’t changed much, she still smelled of Calvin Klein perfume and mint chewing gums, but the smell of cigarette smoke had been added to the mix. They stayed like that for a while, just holding on to each other without talking, until Nate cleared his throat to remind them of his presence. Sam let go of the brunette gently, a wide smile on his face. She took some time to take in his features.
Sam had changed in the two years he was away from Alice. He was significantly taller, his hair was now slicked back, he was a little more muscular than before...and he was more attractive than he’d ever been. But then, Alice had changed as well. Her brown hair had turned into a dark maroon color, she had started smoking, had lost a few pounds and her olive skin was slightly darker than before. She had never looked better.
“Good to see you there, kids.” Sam smiled, patting his brother’s shoulder.
“Kids? You’re only two years older, poser.” Nathan said back, pulling the older sibling into a warm hug.
“It’s good to see you too.” Alice said, taking her bags back in her hands.
She looked around, and couldn’t help but smile. The place was absolutely beautiful. She felt Sam’s arm around her shoulders and turned her head to face him.
“Pretty nice, huh?”
“Yeah. Better than the view we had before, that’s for sure.” Nathan chuckled, Sam’s other arm around his shoulders as well.
“How about I walk you to your dorms, you drop your bags and I show you around campus? That way we can catch up a little.” Sam offered, putting his cigarette back in his mouth.
“Don’t we have to go to orientation or something?”
“Nah. It’s tomorrow, anyway. So?” He smiled.
“Fine by me.” Nathan shrugged and both brothers looked at Alice, waiting for her answer.
“I’m in.” She nodded, and the three of them were on their way to the dorms.
The ten-minute walk to the dormitories was loud. Nate and Alice were updating Sam on their lives and high school, while he explained how great college life was. He talked about the crazy parties, the clubs, the classes, the teachers, the buildings...everything seemed amazing there. Alice couldn’t help but smile was she looked at Sam, who was saying how much he loved his studies and telling Nate all about them. She had rarely seen him that passionate and happy about something he did, and she felt the same happiness and enthusiasm about it all. She couldn’t wait to start her new life as a college student.
Once they got to the dorm building, Alice took her key and was the first to discover her dorm room. It was alright, nothing too fancy, just the minimum. She noticed her roommate had arrived before her as there were bags on one of the beds. She took the other one by default and went back downstairs to see if Nathan was done as well. In the hall, Sam stood by the door, staring into nothing. Alice came behind him and gave him a scare. He turned around quickly, startled, and was met with a devilish laugh from Alice.
“That was perfect.” She said, still laughing at his face.
“You’re in so much trouble, Ali. I’m gonna get my revenge for that.”
“Sure.” She said mockingly, before stepping outside and taking a cigarette out of her tote bag. She put it to her mouth and lit it, looking at the night sky. She heard Sam scoff behind her and turned around to face him. She raised an eyebrow as he stepped out to get right in front of her. “What is it?”
“Before I left, you were always going on about how smoking was terrible. Look at you now. Funny how time changes the way you think.” He shrugged and smirked, taking the cigarette from between her lips and taking a drag off it. He looked straight into her eyes as he blew the smoke, watching as she grimaced when it hit her face.
“Rude.” She groaned, making Sam chuckle.
She took her cigarette back and turned her back to him, resuming her stargazing. She was almost hypnotized by the starry sky and didn’t notice how Sam was looking at her. He had missed her more than he would admit, and having her right in front of him was still surreal.
Sam and Alice had always had an ambiguous relationship. Sometimes, when people saw the way they acted, talked and looked at each other, they’d think they were dating. The two always denied and brushed it off, but they both secretly thought about it. After all, they were the perfect match, they enjoyed pretty much the same things but still had those differences that made them so compatible. But even though they both wanted it, they never did anything remotely romantic together and dated other people.
While looking at her, Sam thought about it again. It was a different situation now that they were in college. Maybe he’d find the courage to tell her how he felt. Maybe she’d say she feels the same and everything would be fine. Just as he was about to touch on the subject, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned his head to see Nathan, a wide smile on his face.
“What took you so long? And what’s with that stupid smile?” Sam asked his little brother.
“Guess what?” Nate replied playfully, earning an intrigued look from Sam. “I talked to the very nice lady at the front desk and…”
“What?”
“I got us a room! Like, together!” Nathan said excitedly, which made Alice turn around.
“So...we’re gonna be roommates?” Sam asked, a smile slowly forming on his face as Nate nodded quickly. “That’s awesome!” He laughed and took his brother in his arms, patting his back and then backing away to take a good look at him. “Let’s get going, I have a thousand things to show you. I hope you’re not too tired.” He looked at both Alice and Nathan, who just shrugged.
During their little private tour of the campus, Sam showed Alice and Nate all of his favorite places. That went from the football field bleachers to the stairs of the library, through that one bench on a hill a little further away from the buildings, that overlooked the forest and the mountains. The visit lasted for about 3 hours, during which the trio spent a lot of time laughing and acting like they were the only ones on campus. It reminded them of those moments they shared back in Boston, where they’d just sneak out at night and have fun in the streets, not doing anything in particular. It was those moments Alice had missed the most, and she was glad they could have all of this back here.
When Sam was done with being the guide, they all said goodnight and went to their rooms, Sam taking his things from his dorm to the room he now shared with his brother. Alice went straight to her room and got to meet her roommate. It was a beautiful blonde girl named Elena, who studied journalism. It was her first year as well. The two girls spent some time getting to know each other and got along well pretty quickly.
When she went to bed, Alice couldn’t help but think college was going to be the best part of her life. She was reunited with her best friend, she had an amazing roommate and was going to study the subject of her dreams. With these thoughts in mind, Alice went to bed, ready for her new life to finally start.