As the UCLA sign comes into view I feel the atmosphere in the bus buzzing. It's a mixed bag of emotions filling the small air space of the bus. My own mind is filled with anxiety and fear but most of all, exhilaration. This has been my dream for so long and it felt as though it may never actually come to fruition. And yet here I am, driving through the gates to my new reality. I'm so freaking excited.

Candice lets out a small squeal next to me and I feel like she has just outwardly expressed what I am internalising. Her eyes glaze over as we drive through the entrance. There are cars and people everywhere, it's a hive of activity.

We round a few corners and pull up behind a huge line of cars and busloads of people un loading and un packing. One by excited one, we exit the bus and wait for the still- bored looking driver to throw our bags and boxes onto the curb.

A shrill whistle sounds from behind us, making Candice and I jump. We spin around to face the whistle maker and a small red headed girl stands in front of us, smiling from ear to ear. Her freckles shine in the sunlight.

"Welcome everyone! I'm Larissa, your guide and offical welcome wagon."

She waves and waits, clearly expecting some sort of response. All she received is a few grunts and frowns from the guys who are still wrestling bags from grumpy the driver.

She clears her throat loudly and continues;

"Ah, ok. Well, as I was saying, I'm here to welcome you to UCLA and to pass out your dorm assignments. Girls, please step forward and tell me your names?"

Candice and I make a move towards her and she grins at us. Her eyes rake Candice up and down and her smile turns to a smart smirk.

"Cheerleader huh? More of you, just what we need around here. I can feel the GPA dropping already. Lovely."

Clearly not a cheer fan then. Not a complete surprise. She screams preppy do- gooder to me. The tucked in collared blouse and beige knee length skirt could have told me that. I'm about to retort but someone beats me to it;

"Easy there Larry, just because you detest short skirts and make up and anything fashionable, doesn't mean these girls are not nice people or intelligent for that matter. Now, instead of being a bitch, how about you give them their room assignment and piss off?"

Surfer boy steps up to the plate. It's maybe a bit harsh but they clearly seem to have history that is none of my business. He winks at me and grabs his ruck sack from the curb and stalks off in the direction of the building to our left.

Not that I care where is he going.

Larissa is clearly pissed though and taps her foot aggressively on the curb, staring after surfer boy with fire in her eyes.

"That's Larissa Gerbal, you, you.... jerk!"

He continues walking but lifts a hand and waves backwards at her.

What kind of name is Gerbal?!

"Names?" Larissa grunts and pushed her red curl from her face. He definitely got to her. I wonder if there is some sort of romantic history between the two? Though it occurs to me that they are very different types of people, but it still makes me feel a little strange for some reason.

Larissa taps her honey white finger on my forehead.

"Hello? Any brains in there? What is your name?!"

I see red, and not just her hair.

"Excuse me? Just because you were just publicly embarrassed does not give you the right to be so rude. My name is Ellis Lee. Now tell me where I'll be staying so I can leave you here to think about how much that Gerbal guy doesn't like you."

If Larissa were an animal she would be a rhinoceros. Her nostrils flare and she stamps her sandalled foot at me. I believe if I stay here staring at her long enough, steam may come out of her ears.

Her face is the colour of her hair now as she looks at her list and then back at me, her blue eyes glaring a hole in my head where she just tapped me.

"That building to the left, second floor, room 223.
She blurts out.

"And you?"

She extends her icy glare to Candice.

"You, name?"

"Candice James" I detect that she is holding her tongue. It's easy to see that Larissa is about to combust and Candice probably just wants to  away from her like I do.

"Same building, room 224. Next."

Candice looks at me and claps her hands again. While I'm thrilled that we are going to be neighbours, the small eye roll from Larissa does not go unnoticed.

I can't help myself. My pet hate is people who judge just on appearance. It's clear that she just took one look at gorgeous Candice and her small skirt and ascertained that she was here for dance. And so what?! Candice is hot and rocks it. And this girl doesn't know Candice or me. And she doesn't know that I worked my ass off to be here, in class and on the stage.

"Thanks for your help Larry, lovely to meet you."
I sashay in front of her, grabbing my bags and smile at her as I retrieve a Pom Pom from my bag.

"Not all cheerleaders are dumb you know, and not all preppy bitches are smart either, guess you proved that right?"

The growl coming from her throat is just the reaction I was hoping for. A small round of applause erupts from the rest of the bus crew and Candice is almost wetting her panties in laughter.

I gift her a parting smirk and head towards the building that will be my new home this year. Candice follows happily, still laughing at my exchange with Larissa. I regret it now. Not the best start, but stuffed if I'll let some snobby bitch judge me or Candice just because we are here for cheer. I'm bloody proud to be cheering at UCLA.

As we get to the entrance I recognise the grin on a familiar face at the front door.

"Well, seems you didn't need my help after all. You handled Larissa like a boss."

He shakes his head and moves out of the way so that Candice and I can haul our bags inside.

"Do you live here too?" I ask. I'm not sure why I'm asking actually. I don't care where he stays. Do I?

"Yeah. Looks like I will be seeing you two trouble makers more often. I'm Bayne."

Candice jumps forward, all but throwing her bags down and extending her hand to him.

"Candice, and this is Ellis, we are here for cheer."

He shakes her hand but his eyes wander to me. I give him a small smile in return, he did stand up for us but something about the way his eyes survey me, make me feel nervous.

"Cheer hey? Nice. Well, I will definitely be seeing more of you then. I'm on the lacrosse team."

With that he gives us another of his now trademark small smirks and stalks off towards the cafe just outside the door towards a group of girls.

Lacrosse. Great. Surfer and jock. He is definitely one to avoid.

"He is hot." Candice whispers to me and licks her lips and pouts them at me.

"He is all yours, hun." I say and I mean it. I think.

We head for the elevator at the end of the entrance and as we throw our bags in she turns and smiles at me.

"I dont think so babe." She winks at me and presses the button for level two.

The doors close on the entrance and I find myself hoping for another glimpse of Gerbal surfer lacrosse boy.

Damn it.

This chapter is dedicated to DanPaul01  xxxxx