Candice and I pull our bags off our trolleys and line them up side by side on the curb. Once our tickets are scanned, we step onto the bus and head down the aisle, taking a seat together. I quickly turn my phone on and send a text to my parents to let them know I'm here, which reminds me that I will need to sort out a new phone because this international plan is going to kill them in text costs!

"Ellis I just can't believe you came all the way here for college alone. I mean, you are just so brave. And oh my god, you must be one hell of a dancer to get accepted without a local audition."

Candice is so animated when she speaks, it's like a cheer routine each time. There are hand movements and quick jerks of her head, not to mention the ever changing expressions. She is adorable and excitable.  It's refreshing after my long solo trip and for some reason I feel completely at ease with her.

"I don't know about that" I reply. "I hope I'm not way out of my league." She shakes her head and makes a pfff sound while slapping me playfully on the shoulder.

I'm serious though. My worry is real. A video audition is very different to a live one. I really hope I can keep up.
As if she can hear my thoughts and inner rambling, Candice continues;

"No way. There is no way this program would accept you without being positive you were the right fit. They don't just accept anyone you know."

She shakes her head and pats me on the knee for reassurance. She is just what I need to keep my nerves at bay. I can't wait to see what kind of dancer she is.

"So will you be looking into sorority's this year?" She stares past me and directly at the guy taking the seat across from us.

I turn to face him and he gives us a small wink.
I cringe outwardly and Candice giggles.

"I don't think so" I say, and I mean it. I need to focus on my study and dance, I need to find a job and take up some volunteer positions to keep up with the terms of my scholarship and while it may be nice to belong to a sorority, from what I have discovered in my study of them, just purely from teen movies, it seems like more drama than I can handle. I could be wrong though. College here is so different to uni back home.

"Don't over think it, just promise me you will come with me to all the open day activities and we can see what is on offer?"

She pleads with me, looking up at me through her lashes. I bet she has used this very technique on her parents or more likely, guys many times because I  can't help but smile at her and I nod my head yes though I know I will most likely regret it!

"Ok I'll come with you but I'm not making any promises!" I say and try to take her seriously while she is putting on a fake pout.

She laughs and claps her hands in front of her like a small child who just won a prize at a party. I feel like she has manipulated me and I have only known her a few minutes! She is good. I can learn things from her I'm sure.

Though I have always been heavily involved in dance, I'm not a typical girly girl. I like being outdoors, I love the beach and I love being active. Im not overly keen on makeup or fashion. As proof, I'm sitting here in track pants and a tank top, my shoulder length mousy brown hair, pulled back into a messy bun and I have zero make up on, while Candice looks as though she just stepped off a runway. Her hair and makeup is perfection and her outfit is something I could never pull off, it's tiny for one and shows way too much skin for a bus trip from the airport in my opinion and every guy we walked past has literally fallen over themselves as they stare at her. But she doesn't seem to notice at all. Or if she does, she doesn't make anything of it.

The driver finally finishes packing the storage and climbs aboard. The bus kicks off with a small jolt and Candice does the small clapping motion again.

"UCLA here we come" she shouts out and earns a load of whistling from the packed bus.

I duck my head and giggle at her. Her sunny attitude is infectious. I'm so glad to have met her. I hope our dorms are close together, it will be nice to have a familiar and friendly face close by.

After what feels like a year and one too many kangaroo questions from Candice, we get to the stop where we change buses for the UCLA- bound bus.

Now we have to repeat the whole pack and unpack the luggage scenario again before we can finally be on our new home- stretch. The college bus driver begins the process of matching up names to bags and begins to read from his list.

"Jarrod Denton?" He yells out and a tall lanky guy steps out and grabs his bag that has been thrown upside down onto the curb by the first driver.

The new driver ticks his list and continues on. He eventually calls Candice's name and she yells present and gives a little curtsy that shows a little too much of her undies which in turn earns her a barrage of wolf whistles and hollering, not to mention a blush from me as she slaps me on the behind and says loudly;

"That's how you do it" with a wink. And she steps onto the bus.

That is so not how I do it I think as I shrug and shake my head at her. She is the complete opposite of everything I am yet I can see us being great friends. Opposites attract don't they?

The driver calls a few more names and the rest of us line up on the curb as we await our turn to show which bags are ours and get our check on the list.

"Long way from home?" A husky voice questions from behind me.

I turn to see that the voice belongs to a young guy, not much taller than me. He offers me a small one sided smile, waiting for me to answer.

"Just a little" I answer, taking the time to make a quick observation of his face.

He has dark caramel skin, he is sporting way more of a tan than any of the others, he must have spent his summer somewhere tropical, Hawaii or somewhere I assume. He looks that type, he has that surfer vibe going for him. His dark blonde locks hang haphazardly over one side of his face and he has small freckles that sweep across his nose and onto his cheeks making him seem slightly younger than I guess he is. He is wearing shorts but with a sweater which seems strange but fits in with his overall look.

I realise I have been looking at him a little too long without saying anything and by the creeping little smile on his face, I can also see that this is something that he is accustomed to. He is good looking, this is true, but there is no way I'm going to feed his ego anymore than it deserves. I don't know him. And he doesn't know me. That's not what I'm here for, and this is not my first rodeo.

"Is that an Aussie accent i hear? Amazing. I have spent quite a lot of time surfing in Australia over the years, there are some quality waves down under, among other things"

Surfer, tick. I don't miss the subtle flirting either. But I ignore it.

I can see how this works for him. I assume it's very easy. His looks, his easy going attitude, his cheeky smile, the whole package might easily work for him with most girls, loads of girls actually but I'm not most girls. And I'm anything but easy.

"Yes it's nice, though there is not much surfing where I'm from so I can't be much help to you with that."
I go to step away but he frowns and puts his hand on my arm to stop me.

"Maybe you can tell me about where you are from then? I'm sure it's nice if that's where your'e from"

Cringe. Really? This is how he speaks?

"Yeah sure, maybe ." I say in a non interested way and step of the curb to try to distance myself from anymore awkward conversations.

"Nice to meet you Aussie" he says with a too-cute smile and goes back to looking through his phone.

Avoid and ignore. That's my tactic this year. Well, at least for the first semester. I need to cement my place here and work hard to prove that I belong in this team. This is my dream and no cute, sweet talking guys are going to distract me.

Ever.

Hello! Thanks for reading my newest book! I need some help casting these characters. So far we have Ellis our Aussie Tom-boy cheerleader, Candice our typical gorgeous girly- girl cheerleader and our cute new surfer guy, who you will learn more about in the next chapters and who may or may not be someone important!!!!

Let me know who you see .....

Ali xoxoxox