Chapter 1
Christen nervously toyed with the ends of hair while she watched her mom rearrange the pillows on top of her bed. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she was relieved her parents had insisted on coming with her across the country to help her settle into this new journey.
She was transferring to UNC for her sophomore year of college although technically with the amount of credits she’d racked up during the past year, she was closer to being a legitimate junior. The change came when her program at Stanford dropped in rankings after a department research scandal. Knowing how important it was to excel in a strong program to eventually get into a great graduate program, Christen realized her options were to either stay and ride out the storm or make the leap across country where she had already been accepted. She had her pick of choices up and down the East coast, but UNC felt comfortable to her.
It was going to be hard; she knew it. Never straying far from the small community she came from, Christen couldn’t understand how she’d survive except to realize she had no choice but to make it. It didn’t hurt she’d have at least one friendly face around - Kelley O’Hara, her former freshman roommate and friend from Stanford. Kelley transferred in the middle of the year to UNC on a soccer scholarship after her dismay with the team there and slightly being homesick since she was from Georgia. Christen knew she couldn’t blame Kelley for transferring because as her former team, she knew she was a star. If she wanted to make a career out of soccer finding a place that support that was key.
Kelley insisted that Christen take one of the rooms in the large house she was renting off campus with two other soccer players. The house was three stories tall and attached to another one that apparently shared a common living area. An odd set-up for sure, but Kelley reassured her the other tenants were also girls on the team. Doing the math in her head, Christen clarified it would be her, Kelley and six of the girls on the team.
..
“Well, no. Not all are on the team.”
Christen cradled her cell phone in the crook of her neck as she scribbled down notes in her planner. “That’s not what you told me when I agreed to this.” Her voice carried an annoyance because the last thing she wanted was a complete stranger in her space.
“Ok in our ‘house’ is me, you, Ali and Julie. Ali has a girlfriend by the way. Are you cool with that? “
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she shot back. Truth was, Christen was slightly curious about relationship. Over the past two years she went on a few dates here and there with guys, but no one held her attention. Occasionally, she questioned whether she was even interested in guys at all but had never acted on anything different. So she buried herself in her work and making friends to distract her from that hurdle in her life, hoping she’d figure it out eventually.
“Just making sure. It’s a new thing but I wanted to give you a heads up. Ok then the other house is Alex, Allie, who isn’t on the team anymore since she decided to quit after last year, Tobin and an open room.”
“So everyone is on the team, then” Christen questioned. From what she was hearing, there wasn’t anyone unattached from it.
“No Allie isn’t on it anymore, didn’t you hear me?”
“But she knows everyone so I’d say she is at least on the inside. Forget that though, an open room? Are they gonna find someone or leave it?”
“They were going to have Ali’s girlfriend fill it but I don’t think that’s going to happen. They don’t want to be “living together” as she says. So it’s up in the air for now. But don’t worry about it, like I said only a small living room connects the house and it’s not like they can wander up to our bedrooms easily.” Kelley explained.
“I can live with that for now. I guess I should just be grateful I won’t be stuck in the dorm again, right? Or with a random roommate?” Christen tried to hide the resentment in her voice. She missed her friend desperately when she up and left right before the semester started in January. Loneliness set in for the first week but when she was stuck with Margaret Johnson, a transfer from Malibu who complained endlessly about missing her boyfriend, she yearned for the previous silence.
“I’m sorry! But look at us now! This will be fun, I promise you.” Her voice was actually convincing and Christen knew Kelley was right.
“Alright, well I guess I’ll see you in two weeks then? Let me know if you can think of anything else I’ll need or you want me to contribute.”
“Sounds good, I’ll see you then!”
….
Snapping out of her daydreaming, Christen told her mom to stop fluffing each of the pillows for the second time. “Honestly mom, it’s fine. Can we go grab something to eat since I’m starving? I don’t want you guys to miss your flight either.” She looked down at her watch. The truth was, she was hoping for some alone time in the house before her roommates were due to arrive.
“Sure we can go, sweetie. Let me see if your dad has finished replacing all of the light bulbs.” As much as Christen appreciated a clean and organized home, her parents were a little over the top. Just this morning alone he had replaced all of the light bulbs, air filters, window screens and batteries in the smoke alarms. “Can’t be too safe,” he told her. She hoped her roommates lean towards being appreciative than annoyed.
They headed out of the front door and piled into the rental car they were using for the second day in a row. Making the decision to ship Christen’s car cross country, it hadn’t arrived yet so they settled for navy Toyota Camry. “Can we just go somewhere close?” she asked, peering out of the window.
Her mom turned around to look at her from the passenger seat. “Are you ready to be rid of us already?” Christen didn’t mean to wound her mom with her words. “No, mom. I just don’t want us to get lost and for you to miss your flight.” She gave her best reassuring smile to convince her but knew it would fall short. Her mom chose not to call her out, thankfully, and they pulled into a small cafe with outdoor seating. Even though It looked like it might rain at any moment, a few people huddled under the expanded umbrellas with their food. “Can we eat inside?” she asked.
Everyone was in agreement that indoors would be better so they walked up the path and her dad held open the door for the ladies. Christen’s mom went first with her following on her footsteps. A person exiting the cafe must have not seen her coming because in a split second Christen’s new, starch white shirt was drenched with hot coffee.
“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry I didn’t see you!” Christen could feel liquid streaming down her forehead, cheeks and down her chest. She feared opening her eyes in case anything would get in them, ruining her contacts. Feeling something against her cheeks that resembled napkins, she assumed it was her mom helping her in her moment of distress. When it felt safe, she slowly opened her eyes to see a girl about her own age, unrecognizable standing in front of her. The look on her face was filled with anxiety; her cheekbones high and chiseled, gold speckled brown eyes wide as a doe. Christen’s somewhat bad mood soured further and she snapped. “Don’t!” Taking a step back she scrunched up her face to give off a ‘leave me alone’ look.
“I’m so sorry, please, let me help you get the coffee out of your shirt. Or no, let me pay for your shirt.” The girl fumbled with her wallet, dishing out a twenty and holding it forward.
“I don’t need your money. It’s fine.” Christen’s voice couldn’t have convinced anyone that it was actually fine.
“Oh. Can I at least pay for whatever you came in to get?” The girl was not getting the hint. Before she could reject her again, Christen’s dad laid a hand on her shoulder and assured the stranger it was just an accident and no need to make it up to them.
Christen took one last look at the girl as she shuffled out of the cafe like a puppy with it’s tail between it’s legs. Good, she should be embarrassed. She needs to watch where she’s going.
“Christen, are you okay?” Her mother had squared her body towards her, a look of concern spreading across her face. “I’m fine mom, I just smell like coffee now.”
“That’s not what I mean. You weren’t so sympathetic to that poor girl. It was an accident. I’ve never seen you react like that.” Her mom had a point. Normally it’d be something she would laugh off because her own clumsiness seemed to pop up at the most inconvenient times, making her the target of many family jokes.
Sighing, she nodded. “I’m fine. Just a little stressed about meeting my roommates and being ready for class on Monday.” The rest of lunch was spent trying to de-stress Christen about her transition. It must have worked because by the time she got back to her house, she felt a lot better. Her parents opted to not even come in the house in case they got too comfortable. Exchanges of hugs and kisses were over and Christen waved them out of sight. She felt the tears forming in her eyes for a second but blinked them back before they could fall. Looking up at her new home, she realized the driveways were empty and she had at least the rest of the evening to explore and get comfortable.
The houses shared a large porch, wicker furniture way too nice for a college house decorating it. A glossy black front door opened to an open floor plan revealing a narrow living room big enough for a two seater couch against one wall, a plasma tv against the opposite wall and a coffee table separating the two. You could see the kitchen behind it, exposed brick lining the walls and complementing the countertops of the large breakfast bar big enough for three or four people to sit at. It would be big enough but still cozy for them all to be in at the same time, she thought. The staircase which looked newly sanded and painted was on the right of the kitchen, meaning you had to either go up or down through it. Between the living room and kitchen was a huge set of sliding doors, white in color. Unlocking them, Christen exposed what she now realized was the joint common room. It was beautiful - a massive u-shaped sofa big enough to hold them all focused around an old fireplace and even bigger flat-screen tv. Whoever had decorated had great taste, greys and pops of blue offset the same brick she saw in their kitchen. Behind the couch was a rectangular kitchen table, a vase of flowers in the middle. Remind me to thank Kelley again. This would be way better than staying the dorms, pending she actually like the roommates. Eye the same set of white sliding doors on the other side of the house, she crept over to open them. Realizing they were locked, she felt better about the security of her own room which was up on the top floor. The second floor housed two bedrooms and the biggest bathroom while the third held two smaller rooms and a functional bathroom. Since she was the last one in, Christen accepted a room on the third floor with Julie. Kelley pronounced herself as the ‘finder of the house’, therefore she got what could only be considered the master bedroom on the second.
Christen took the rest of the evening to add finishing touches to her room. If she felt like she was organized at home, she would be successful at school. Each pen was in place, her linens were crisp and clothes arranged by color, season and style in her closet. Before she knew it, it was almost ten thirty and a yawn escaped her mouth. Time for bed. Her dad had hooked up her cable, so Netflix in bed was the way to end the day.
While she was in her bathroom brushing her teeth and taking out her contacts, she thought she heard a noise downstairs. Listening carefully, she was now sure she wasn’t alone. Shit, where are my glasses I can’t see. Forgetting the glasses, she picked up the plunger next to the toilet and started walking downstairs, tiptoeing in her socks.
There was no movement on the second floor. “Kelley?” she whispered. Nothing.
Voice carried but she couldn’t make out if if it was man or woman’s. Taking one step at a time she could hear the voices getting louder, with a little bit of laughter. Her vision was extra blurry and she could barely see that she had left the common door open before going upstairs earlier. Peeking her head around the side of the door, she saw a figure sprawled out across the couch watching tv, possibly eating something from a plate or bowl. Embarrassed by her appearance of frizzy hair, no makeup and pants free legs, she ducked back to go upstairs. Unfortunately, it was too late.
“Hello?”
Christen let out a soft sigh and peeked around the corner again. “Hi. I’m Christen, Kelley’s friend. I uh- heard something and wasn’t sure what it was. Sorry.” She didn’t want to be rude so she shuffled out into the opening, praying the girl wouldn’t judge her bare legs.
She couldn’t see her really, just a messy bun on top of her head with brown or maybe dirty blonde hair. She had sweats on, signaling she was lounging around, too. But the girl didn’t say anything in return.
“Ok, well, I’ll just close the door if you don’t mind and head back up to my room.” She turned on her heels, almost slipping on the freshly polished wooden floors.
“Tobin.” The voice sounded hesitant, unsure of whether she should be giving out that information.
“Oh. It’s nice to meet you, Tobin. Sorry again to interrupt you. Maybe we’ll meet again tomorrow when I can actually see and I’m dressed,” Christen joked, pointing to her bare face.
“Yeah….” Geez, she’s not very talkative.
“Well, goodnight. ,” she added before starting upstairs. While she couldn’t see it, she heard the theme song to a tv show begin again.
Safely nestled in her bed, Christen finally relaxed. Tomorrow morning Kelley would arrive bright and early and she’d start her new adventure. She actually felt secure in the house and began to imagine what it would be like to have lots of roommates. If it was anything like she had seen in movies or read in books, she was about the have the ride of her life.