Jessica

University California. How I had gotten accepted I had no clue. The grounds were lush and green, the hills rolling smoothly and not looking out of place or disjointed. New students milled around the space, laughing and chatting with each other. I looked at the sheet of paper clutched in my hand which told me where to go and my class schedule.

I had spent the summer prepping for university. I had taken two part time jobs on and slaved over them, working overtime as frequently as I could to take in enough money to pay for my tuition. My family had pitched in as much as they could afford. It wasn't much, but joined in with my pay slips I had enough money to pay to go to university and a little bit more. The little bit more had been dumped straight in the bank, where it would give me less than one cent in interest every so often.

I had visited the Los Angeles campus quite a bit too, trying to get a feel for the place. Anytime an open day was coming up I had been there, front and center. I had become familiar with a few of the professors, which was a large burden taken off my shoulders.

I pulled a suitcase behind me, packed with almost everything I needed - at least for most of the larger items. My clothing and stationary was still at home, waiting to be collected in a few days. Or hours, depending on how long it took me to get settled in and take a quick round with the orientation tour. Beside me, a girl with long, dark hair walked. She was a fair bit taller than me, which was not surprising due to my small frame. Spider bites decorated her bottom lip and another ring was stuck through her nose. A few more pieces of metal were through her ears, and she wore a simple hoodie, jeans and Doc Martin combination.

'Diana, what do you think?' I asked. She simply shrugged at me, flicking her hair out of her face. I had chosen to forgive her, and our relationship was rocky at first but was now becoming smoother. She had two suitcases behind her as she was trying to take all her things across in one go. Personally, I didn't think it would work, but Diana was stubborn enough to cram everything in. She had left behind a few of her most precious items though, such as her record player and most of her records. I had snickered when I learned this and was intent on telling her she couldn't get them, as she had stated quite clearly, "one trip. That's it. Then I'm done, over with."

I suppose I had a smirk on my face because she glanced down and asked,

'What are you smiling at?' Quickly trying to think up a convincing lie, I nodded my head in front of us where a few boys were milling about.

'Cuties at twelve o'clock.' Diana stopped in her tracks as she took in the three boys.

One had black hair, styled into a side fringe, short and it seemed as though it fell into his eyes a lot. A smattering of tattoos trailed up and down his arms and there was the telltale glint near his mouth, indicating a lip piercing. He was also very tall. The second boy was quite a fair bit shorter, the top of his head not even reaching the other man's eye level. He had shoulder length brown, wavy hair which was stuffed under a cap. Tan skin indicated that he was in his natural habitat here in California, and a muscle shirt showed off his strong arms. Neither man had any suitcases and were pushing and shoving each other playfully. My eyes landed on the third of the trio, my jaw falling open. Why did I have to pick that group to gesture to?

The third boy was fresh out of high school, a suitcase rolling along the path behind him. He had on a jean jacket and skinnies, a plain band tee underneath. His hair was stuffed under a beanie, but I knew from a long time of knowing him it was flaming orange. I also knew of the nose ring, and I saw tattoos trailing up his arm; a recent addition. I wondered what he had gotten. In addition to his hair and facial piercing about the freckles dotted about his face.

He looked over and I felt my heart clench for Diana. I reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently.

'Ignore him.' I murmured, continuing to walk.

'It's - it's...' She spluttered, not taking her eyes off her former boyfriend.

'Yes, I know. I have eyes. Let's go.' I pulled her into the dorm building, going up to a table and smiling at the student sitting behind it.

'Hi, I'm Jessica. Jessica Drew.' I said. The student smiled politely and ticked off my name, grabbing a set of keys out of a plastic tub next to her and passing me one.

'Your dorm's 134A. Just go up the stairs, it's easy enough to find. Who's your friend?' The girl had an Australian accent and brown hair. She had a fringe and a slightly crooked nose, as though it had been broken. 'Excuse me,' she turned around and coughed, covering her mouth.

'This is Diana Bates.' I said, seeing as Diana was still hung up over the fact of who was outside.

'Okay, um. Room 139A.' The girl said. 'By the way, I'm Erin. I'll be your hall monitor or whatever. Me and uh,' she looked over our shoulder before nodding her head at the door, 'him. The brown haired guy, Vic.' We turned and saw the guy from outside walk in, the black haired guy and Alan beside him. It was too much for Diana, who raced towards the stairs after grabbing her key off Erin and muttering a hasty "thank you."

'What's up with her?' Erin asked leaning forward to watch the suitcase thud up the stairs.

'Anxiety.' I lied quickly. 'Large crowds and new people aren't a good mix.'

'Oh, well. I hope she feels up to meeting people soon.' Erin said sincerely. 'Hey, Vic!' She called over the brown haired guy. 'This is Jessica. She's one of our hall students.'

'Hi Jessica, nice to meet you.' He said, shaking my hand. 'This is Andy,' he introduced the black haired guy who gave me a wave, 'and Alan.' Alan looked at me at shock and didn't say a word.

'We've met before.' I muttered, before saying louder, 'nice to meet you. I'll just, uh, go and find my room.'

'Okay, need any help just give me a holler. My number's on the sheet you're holding.' Erin said brightly, not catching on to the fact that something was amiss. I had wondered why the jumble of numbers down the bottom was. I had assumed it was the university's or something.

'Alan Ashby,' Alan said to Erin as I walked away.

'Room 139B. Here's your key.' Erin replied, still chirping away happily. I scurried up the stairs, taking note of the room numbers on either side. I had learnt that there was an 'A' and a 'B' side to each set of hallways, and the hallways were parted into groups of ten. The A side seemed to consist of the girls' dorms, while B was the boys'. I turned into the hallway 130A - 140A, already spotting Diana at her door. I continued along the hall, reaching the middle room on the left side where a whiteboard was stuck to the door and big brass lettering bearing the room name. I unlocked the door and stepped inside.
It was spacious, but that was possibly because all the furniture was pushed back against one wall and there were no curtains up. It was all carpeted, except for a tiny area where an ugly linoleum patterning decorated the floor. A bench was there, and so were a few powerpoints. I assumed that was the mini kitchen. I dropped my stuff off to one side and went back out, locking the door and turning to go visit Diana, who seemed to be in the act of unpacking. Turning around, I nearly bumped into Erin. She smiled up at me, saying,
'What do you think? There's space on the whiteboard for you to write your name or whatever. They'll be taken down in a few weeks or so though.' She continued to rabbit on, and I tried to inch past her. She stuck a whiteboard marker in my face and I took it, scribbling my name in the bright blue ink.
'I'll just, uh, go.' I said, stopping her in her tracks. 'I heard that there's an orientation going on and Diana and I would like to catch it.'
'Okay, have fun!' She skipped away, going into her own room and shutting the door.

Notes

Chapter one, off we go! You like?
Title cred: Let Live - OM&M