"We don't notice any time pass, we don't notice anything."

Lia sat in the chair her father had brought her, mindlessly watching whatever Amanda had put on TV. Thankfully, Amanda's parents had come with her and brought what seemed like an entire apartment's worth of stuff, making the entire dorm room seem like home. Whereas Lia had really only brought the mini-fridge her father gifted her shortly before needing to make the trip here, Amanda had brought a slightly beat-up couch, a small coffee table, a TV, and a microwave.

Not to mention, the day that Amanda had arrived, once they'd done most of the unpacking and placing of the furniture, they made a long trip to Walmart. When they arrived, they went straight to where the coffee pots were located before making their way to the furniture area to get a TV stand big enough for the flat screen Amanda brought with her.

Turns out, Amanda brought just about everything from her bedroom at home considering she'd come all the way from Pennsylvania. She didn't know what to bring, and whereas Lia could easily make the twenty/thirty-minute drive home to grab something she forgot, Amanda couldn't.

This all worked out in the end though, considering the girls would spend the entire year there, it was important for it to feel like home. Of course, there were other things they'd gotten while at Walmart too, some school supplies that hadn't been gotten yet, loads of food and snacks to eat when it wasn't meal time, and they even went and goofed around in the toy second for about ten minutes. It took a lot of time and effort but was worth it as it looked like they were just best friends living in their own apartment.

Amanda had been playing episode after episode of Law and Order: SVU while scrolling on her phone as she lay on the couch. Lia had just decided to watch whatever Amanda wanted to, her mind on the boy she'd run into in the mess hall instead of the episode where Benson finds something out about her brother or something. Lia didn't pay attention enough to know what was happening, and she honestly didn't care to. Not that she didn't like the show, but her mind just wouldn't let her focus on anything.

How was she supposed to have a good freshman year of college with Isaiah around? Of course, the campus was huge, and she wasn't even sure if he'd been on campus or just driving to classes. But with Isaiah, that didn't matter. Now that he knew for sure that Lia was also attending college, he wouldn't leave her alone. She'd already had to block his number, which led to him getting a new phone and texting her. Then this led to her getting a new phone, which thankfully nobody had been stupid enough to give him her new one.

The sound of bumping caught both Lia's and Amanda's attention, and the two glanced at each other before hearing another bump. It was as if something was happening in the room next to theirs, located on the other side of Lia's room. This meant it was the people who would share the bathroom Amanda and Lia had, and a third bump caused both girls to jump off of their seats.

"What do you think it is?" Amanda asked, nervously glancing at the girl standing slightly in front of her.

"I'm not sure, but I do know that it can't be anything weird." Lia shrugged, beginning to walk to the bathroom door.

"You're going to investigate it?!" Amanda exclaimed, her voice coming out as more of a whisper yell. "Have you seen any type of thriller or horror movie?"

"Yes, I have and quite frankly I'm not worried," Lia answered as she glanced back at the blonde. She then looked ahead of her again, "This is real life, not a scary movie."

"Okay, well, lots of scary movies are based on real-life things!" Amanda yelled, before covering her mouth with her hand. "Girl we've only known each other for like a day, I don't want to see you on the news because you were dumb enough to go check out a suspicious noise."

"Mandy, chill." Lia sent a stern look to the girl behind her. "It's fine. If anything I should be coming over here to lock the door."

"Oh shit, right," Amanda spoke with a look of realization on her features. She clutched her phone to her chest tightly, breathing hard as Lia found herself getting closer to the sound of the bumping.

She cautiously put her hand on the bathroom knob, sending one quick glance to Amanda before swinging the door open quickly. The sound of the door swinging open caused the two girls standing in the other room through the bathroom to scream, dropping the giant suitcase they were in the middle of carrying.

Lia stared at the girls with wide eyes, before realizing the mess she'd made. She looked down to see the suitcase had somehow spilled out, and she immediately began throwing out quick apologies as she rushed through the shared bathroom to help them clean up.

"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" She exclaimed, hastily grabbing the clothing littered on the floor.

"No, it's okay!" The tiny girl with dark brown hair exclaimed, resting her hands on Lia's. This stopped her from rushing around, and her face grew a deep shade of red as she realized she'd been holding a bra.

She clamped her mouth shut as she shyly passed the dark purple bra along to the girl crouching next to her, leaning back on the heels of her feet. "I didn't mean to scare you guys," She said again, glancing up at the other girl. She stood with her hands on her hips, seeming more amused with the situation than embarrassed or afraid.

The girl standing up on the other side of the suitcase had short, brown curly hair, seeming to be a new haircut as it was styled almost perfectly. She had pretty dark brown eyes, matching the tone of her skin perfectly.

Her eyes then moved to the girl crouched next to her, still focused on gathering the clothes back in the suitcase. She had long hair and bangs stopping right above her eyes. Freckles littered her nose and cheeks, and her eyes bounced around quickly as she tried to make sure she got everything back in the suitcase.

"So you're the room roomie, huh?" The girl with shorter hair asked, causing Lia's eyes to snap back up to the other girl.

Lia stood up, wiping her hands on the back of her pants before nodding. "Yeah, right through there." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder.

"What are you here for?" The girl then asked, causing Lia's brows to push together. "For college?" She then asked, crossing her hands over her chest.

"Oh! Right, yeah. Currently, I'm coming for Human Services." Lia answered, "I don't have a direct thought on what I want to do exactly, I'd just like to do something that involves helping people."

"Wouldn't everyone," The girl standing opposite of her muttered before her eyes traveled down to the other girl who'd been busy zipping up the suitcase.

Lia discarded the comment, not taking any offense to it whatsoever. She then glanced between the two girls who were now both standing. "I'm Lia," She greeted, realizing she hadn't known either of their names.

"I'm Tara, this is Mindy." The girl with bangs pointed to herself before the other girl.

"So you guys are our bathroom buddies?" Lia asked. The question sounded weirder than it had in her head. "Wow, I meant-"

"Nope, bathroom buddies is the new term," Mindy spoke, a smirk covering her features. "But I am, she isn't." 

"Oh, okay," Lia said. "I just assumed since the both of you were in here."

"Oh, no we're all helping Mindy move in." Tara replied, "Her roommate hasn't arrived yet I don't believe."

"Well, it's still nice to meet you." Lia sent the two girls a smile, "My roommate is already here, she's in there with thoughts that we were going to get murdered."

Mindy and Tara shared a look, a look that most definitely didn't go unnoticed by Lia. She frowned at this, thinking she said something wrong. "I'm sorry, that was probably not the best thing to say to someone you just met."

"Y-you're fine," Tara assured, holding a hand out. "So will we get to meet this roommate of yours?" She then asked, changing the subject.

Lia nodded, wringing her hands together. "I can run and get her real quick if you want. And if you're needing any help at all we don't mind helping. Or at least I don't, for sure."

"Perfect! Sounds great!" Mindy quickly exclaimed, leaning down to grab the suitcase. "Then Chad can finally stop complaining and go unpack his things."

Lia took that as a queue to turn around and walk back through the bathroom. She entered her own dorm to see Amanda standing in the same spot she'd been standing in when she left. She rolled her eyes slightly, resting her hands on her hips.

"It's our dormmate. She wants to meet you."

"Oh, really!" Amanda exclaimed with all worry leaving her features. She didn't hesitate to walk past Lia and through the shared bathroom stopping as soon as she saw way more than one person like she'd been expecting.

Lia hesitantly followed, still reeling from embarrassment from scaring the two girls. She stepped in from behind Amanda, shocked to see that it wasn't just Mindy and Tara standing in the mini-apartment anymore.

There were a total of five people standing in different positions around the room, not including Lia and Amanda. Mindy and Tara were two of them, then there were two other girls along with the boy.

Lia immediately assumed that the boy was Chad, the boy mentioned by Mindy only moments prior. He looked a lot like Mindy, while at the same time, they didn't. He was buff and tall, and he wore a letterman jacket he assumingly got from his old high school. 

The taller of the two unknown girls had slightly pasty skin and dark hair on her shoulders. She assessed Lia and Amanda suspiciously, along with the other unknown girl standing defensively next to Tara. The other girl resembled Tara, whereas like with Mindy and the boy, there were distinct differences.

"Oh! Perfect!" Tara exclaimed, seeming to feel the tension. "Guys, these are Mindy's dormmates." She motioned a hand at the two girls.

"Bathroom buddies," Mindy corrected.

"Bathroom buddies?" The boy asked, glancing over at the short-haired girl.

She just motioned her head to the side with a small smile, "Bathroom buddies." She confirmed.

"Our rooms are connected through the bathroom," Lia elaborated, motioning back to the bathroom behind her. "So it just kinda came to be that way."

"Right. Are there locks on the doors?" The girl that resembled Tara asked, earning an eye roll from both Tara and Mindy.

"Two," Lia answered, ignoring the looks of the two girls she just met. "We, unfortunately, can't lock them from the room side-" She stopped, going over to the door for physical proof. "But they lock in the inside. So if say I needed to shower or use the restroom and didn't want my roommate or someone on this side to use it I could lock it from both sides. Shows someone's in there." She waved the door back and forth lightly, beginning to feel weird with all of the attention on her.

"So if needed you can't lock it from here?" The girl then asked, passing Tara and walking over to where Lia stood.

She examined the door before a small smile fell on her features. "Looks like there's a hook on this side. So looks like you can latch it that way."

"Not a strong lock at all, but it's something." The other unknown girl chimed in, leaning her weight on one leg.

"It'll be fine either way," Mindy assured, sending the girl next to Lia a weird look. "Seriously."

The girl rolled her eyes but gave in, making her way back over to the group of people standing opposite Amanda. Lia then took it upon herself to make her own way back over to her roommate, feeling a little more comfortable standing next to her.

"Anyways," Amanda finally spoke up, deciding to change the subject. "I'm Amanda. Lia said you wanted to meet me!"

"Yes, we did!" Tara exclaimed, ignoring the looks of the two other girls. "I'm Tara, Mindy's friend."

"And I'm Mindy, said dormmate." Mindy stepped forward, holding a hand out to Amanda.

The blonde blushed slightly as she took the other girl's hand, their hands lingering for a little too long. Lia took immediate notice of how her roommate looked, smirking to herself as she finally had something to get back at Amanda for. She'd been bothering her all damn day long since they met Ethan, and now that Lia had some leverage over the girl maybe she'd stop hearing about 'cute boy' every twenty minutes.

Although, if she were being honest with herself, she'd rather Amanda repeatedly bring up the cute boy she bumped into instead of questioning her about Isaiah. She had been thankful that when Amanda found her sitting in the same cushion chair she was in only twenty minutes prior, she didn't bother to ask about him at all. She seemed to understand the tension and the look on Lia's face, and instead of questioning it the only thing she said was 'Cute boy stared at you as you left'.

"This is Mindy's twin Chad," Tara spoke up, pointing to the boy. This proved that Lia had been right in assuming who he was, and when they made eye contact she sent a nervous smile.

He was quite attractive, to say the least. 

His eyes lingered on hers for only a moment longer, before she decided to break the eye contact and look back at Tara. Tara then pointed to the girl who had been standing between Tara and Mindy. "This is Tatum," She then motioned to the girl who questioned the locks on the door. "And my older sister Sam."

"And I'm assuming you're the Lia that Amanda was talking about?" Sam immediately questioned, staring at the redhead.

Lia, who felt intimidated by Sam's stare, nodded nervously. "Yes."

"So how did this happen exactly?" The other girl - Tatum, questioned as she crossed her arms.

"We were moving stuff around," Mindy answered. "Then Lia opened the door and it scared us."

"We were freaked too," Lia answered. "Well, Mandy was. We kept hearing noises and since last we heard nobody had arrived to this room yet she was a little freaked."

"And you just investigated?" Tatum asked.

"Well-"

"I told her not to," Amanda cut Lia off. "But she insisted it wasn't anything weird."

The group standing opposite the two girls seemed to share the same look, a look of nervousness. This caused Lia and Amanda to send a short glance at each other, one that showed they both felt awkward.

"Well, it's nice to meet you." Sam finally sent a smile - the first smile Lia had seen since she'd been in the room.

"It's nice to meet you too!" Amanda exclaimed, nervously glancing at Mindy before back at the other group. "Do you guys need any help unpacking?"

Tara and Lia made eye contact, seeming to share the same look showing they noticed what the others didn't. Tara sent a devilish smile to her friend before turning back to the two new friends.

"We'd be honored."

++

2552 words.

Hope you like it <3

Double update :)

* This chapter is not edited *