Chapter One

     I closed the door to my car and walked to the trunk, popping it open and taking my luggage out. I rolled my black suitcase behind me and carried my brown, leather satchel. My blanket that was hand-crafted from my deceased grandmother lay rolled up and attached to the handle bars of the suitcase. I stared at the college in front of me: Celestial Wood College.

     My dream college.

     I tugged my suitcase behind me and held onto my satchel as I made my way towards the school, more specifically, the main office.

     Upon approaching the school, I noticed it was a really pretty navy blue and tan colored building. The school mascot hung on a banner above the doors leading to the front office. It held the mascot of an oak tree filled with sparkles all around it—most likely representing stars.

     I pushed open the door to the main office. It was made of wood but painted navy blue with a clear coat.

     "Hello," I said, approaching the woman sitting at the desk in the main office. She had her blonde hair in a tight bun above her head and wore a blue blazer with—possibly—a blue skirt. She had black framed glass that sat upon the top of her nose and a pen in her hand, poised to write.

     The woman looked up at me upon hearing my greeting. "Good afternoon," she responded with a smile. "Name?"

     I returned the smile. "(L/n), (Y/n)."

     The lady rolled her chair off to the side as she scrounged through a grey file box to my left. "(L/n), (L/n), (L/n)," she repeated. "Found you." The lady pulled out a pale folder with my first and last name written in cursive on the front and tab of the file folder.

     "Your dorm is on floor four, room one-hundred and sixty-three." The lady handed me a key inscribed with the room number on the tag.

     I muttered a small "thank you" before dragging my stuff over to the elevator. I punched in floor four and began to ascend. I double checked my pockets for my phone, wallet, and a piece of paper Mark gave to me last year. It had his phone number written on it plus some information about him and when we should meet up next. He gave it to me after the basketball season, once we knew each other more. He was my first friend that I ever had.

     When I got home that day, I texted the number and never heard back. After a week, I thought he gave me the wrong number. I went looking for him during school and couldn't find him. I haven't seen him since then.

     I let out a sigh when I heard the elevator ding. I walked out with my stuff behind me and looked at the area around me. The elevator entrance led to a staff room directly in front of me. The walls stretched out into a circle around me. I decided to take a right and see where that would lead me.

     I followed the path of the long hallway before seeing the first door: 160. I continued along the pathway, leading me to room 161, 162, and officially, 163. I stuck my key in the keyhole and turned it, unlocking the door. My hand gripped the door knob and twisted it open, revealing a large room. It held three beds, two of which were connected in a bunk bed in the far right corner of the room, while the other sat off to the left side of the room. A large nightstand was place between the three beds and sat below a window. There was a big cabinet at the foot of the single bed and two at the foot of the bunk beds. There was also three desks along the wall of the door and a door next to the single bed's dresser.

     I opened the door and saw that it lead out to a small lounge area. The walls were tan—similar to the bedroom—and held a window behind a couch that was on the wall to the right of me. There was another door on the left wall and a door directly in front of me. I walked over to the door on the left and saw that it held a bathroom. It had a single toilet, sink, and shower. There was a wastebasket to the side of the toilet and several towels in the small cabinet beneath the sink.

     Walking out of the bathroom, I went to the door that was across from my room. I opened the door to reveal another room. It was a similar set up except there was only two of each items and there was no bunk beds.

     Jotting this down in my head, I went back into my room and began unpacking my clothes. I set my suitcase atop the single bed and unpacked several shirts and hangers. I opened the wardrobe and hung the shirts on the silver bar above. I took all of my pants and folded them on the bottom, below my shirts. There was three drawers below. I filled one of them with my undergarments, another with my socks, and the last one with my shoes. I then tucked my suit case underneath my bed.

     I struggled to push it back. That was when I noticed that there was only half of the open space underneath the bed. The other half was filled with two drawers. I applauded this place silently in my head before sliding my suitcase in the empty space. I grabbed my satchel and took out all of my school supplies. Leaving it on the bed, I dug out my other belongings. I put all of my books in one drawer and my sketchbooks in the other. I then stuffed all of my school supplies back in my satchel. Having everything cleaned and put away, I lied down on my bed and let out a sigh of relief. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and checked my messages to see if there was anything from Mark.

     Nothing.

     I shut off my phone and laid on my bed, wondering if he ever will respond to me. That was it though, I was stuck on this string of hope for eternity and couldn't shake it off.

     That was when I knew I could find a way to shake these thoughts out of my system. I pulled my phone out of my pocket again and turned on my music. I placed it on the nightstand and grabbed one of my sketchbooks from beneath my bed, specifically my black, leather one. I reached into my satchel and pulled out my shading pencils, blending stumps, and some thin-lead, detailed pencils just for sketching.

     I skimmed through all of my other works, swallowing a knot that had formed in my throat. I flipped to an empty page and began sketching another picture that fits the others in the book.

     Drawing the background, I began with a small house, more specifically, a small room in this small house. It showed the conjoining of the two walls and a small window on the left wall. In middle ground, it showed a fire taking place, blurred out a little bit thanks to the blending stumps. Then, the foreground was a drawing of a girl—me.

     The day my mother died.

     There were several bruises on the girl's arms and legs. She had her legs pulled against her chest and her head down, crying.

     I shaded in the fire and the shadow of the girl. I tinted the window behind the girl and the walls behind her, making her pop out.

     Knock! Knock!

     I jumped at the sound. I quickly picked up everything. I turned off my music on my phone and stuffed it into the pocket of my jacket. I picked up all of my pencils and the sketchbook and shoved them into the drawer.

     Knock! Knock!

"Coming!" I shouted, straightening myself up the best I could without a mirror. I rushed over to the door and took a deep breath. "Hello—Bedelth?" I was in complete shock at the sight of her. I knew she would be here, but I didn't know she would be dressed as a slut.

"Hello, (Y/n)," she said, chomping on her gum. She twirled her fingers in her curly brown hair. She was wearing a bright pink crop top with black spanks and black pumps.

"What's the occasion?" I asked. "Going out to a club?" I said in a snotty, high-pitched imitation of her.

     She scoffed. "What do you take me for? A pig?"

     I sat there impatiently, waiting for an answer.

     "No, I wish, but no. It's the first day of getting used to the college and I want to look my best."

     It was my turn to scoff. "So you mean by looking your best, trying to draw attention to your slutty self?"

     She smiled. "Why, yes! Now we are on the same page. We all know that I have had way more boyfriends in my life than you." She paused for a minute, contemplating what to say next. "If I'm right you've had zero your whole life. You've never even had your first kiss!" She gasped before snorting like the pig she is.

     That was when I had enough of her. I slammed the door in her face and trudged back over to my bed. I laid back down and closed my eyes, hoping to think this was all a dream and that I would wake up, still with my parents and in elementary school where no one was rude to me.

     I heard the door handle jingle with the keys of a person from the outside. I sat up straight in my bed, excited to see who I was rooming with. I was surprised when I saw two males enter the room. One had dark brown—almost black— hair that was dyed red in the front. He had dark brown, captivating eyes and a strong built to his body. He looked almost familiar if I thought about it...

     The other had brown hair that was dyed green in the front. He had mesmerizing blue eyes and a happy smile plastered on his face. He was a bit scrawny in built to the other man, but a bit taller.

     Both of them wore blue jeans with normal tennis shoes from Nike and a navy blue hoodie with the school logo on it. They were in a conversation that I couldn't hear when they walked in. The male with red hair set his bag on the bottom bunk while the male with green hair set his bag on the top bunk, totally oblivious to my existence.

     "Bitch scared the shit out of me. I swear, Chica is one of the worst chickens in the history of chickens," the red head said. The green-haired male laughed before his gaze locked with mine.

     "Well well, looks like we have a female roommate." The green-haired male made his way off the top bunk and towards my direction. "Hello," he said in an Irish accent. "The name's Sean or Jack. Whichever you like."

     "Nice to meet you, Sean. My name's—"

     "(Y/n)." My gaze turned from Sean to the red-haired male. I knew he looked familiar. The way he said my name just fit all the pieces of the puzzle together, even if it was much deeper.

     "M-Mark?" He nodded his head. I felt a dam explode inside of me as tears flew out of my eyes and down my face. I ran up to him and hugged him tightly, afraid I may never see him again.

     He hugged back before whispering in my ear, "Don't cry. You're too beautiful to have tears coming out of your eyes."

     I smiled at his words and hugged him tighter before letting go. I wiped the tears off with the bottom of my shirt.

     "Wait. So does that mean?"

     "Yes. I believe we are roommates for six years," Mark said.