And so it begins...

It was hard to believe that after four long years filled with blood, sweat, and tears I finally made it. Brown University. Being accepted here was a feat of itself but the fact that my mother approved my college of choice was a harder pill to swallow. Seven states apart and away from the nest was a huge change that I wasn't convinced her needy motherly heart could accept.

Oddly enough, she had been uncharacteristically supportive through the process so far, which was both helpful and alarming. Never once had she supported my ambitions the way she jumped on board with Brown, though I had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with the business degree I'd registered for.

Regardless of her motives that didn't stop her from inviting herself along on my first day.

To say I was opposed would be a wild understatement. My position was on the other side of the fence, across the field, pretending we weren't related. I'd wanted my dad to come but his work schedule was packed and my mother insisted she'd be just as good. That fact remained to be seen and not for the reasons I'd expected.

My mother seemed more excited to be here than I was, which went against everything I'd ever learned about the woman. She was overprotective, overcritical and above all else, clingy as hell. In the past couple weeks that had vanished and in its place a cool, collected, and fake mother had formed. Something was up.

"Now, Nickie, I know it's not super easy for you to be cordial around people these days but you have to at least try and give them a chance. Especially your roommate," she instructed in that usual motherly tone she used when I wasn't doing things her way. "You won't make any friends if you don't at least try."

With a loud sigh, I heaved my suitcase over the curb's edge and onto the sidewalk. She had made it a point to casually remind me about my dorm mate the entire trip out here. So much so, I had begun to think she knew more about the girl than I did. Sure, I would be bunking with her for at least two semesters but that didn't mean we had to be friends.

"Mother! Gross, don't call me that here and I know... Smile and play nice. It's the motto I live by," I retorted with a little too much sass caked onto my words. The cub-scout sign I threw up didn't help my case. The fact was, for the past four years my mother had been a broken record. Maybe one day she would finally understand that I acted this way because I didn't want friends, or at least not the fake kind acting civilized would get me.

My mother chuckled under her breath and lifted one of two boxes out of the trunk, which was one too many for me. I didn't want to be one of those college freshmen who packed all their worldly possessions and tried to shove them into the tiny dorm room they shared with someone else. This was a fresh start, a clean slate, so I opted for a light and fresh approach.

Something my mother had strongly disagreed with.

The trunk slammed closed in a finalized sort of way as I pulled the campus map from my back pocket.

"Lead the way, Nickie," my mother teased, now purposefully using the nickname of my childhood to annoy me.

I hid the brief grimace that managed to slip onto my lips as we began our journey to my dorm building. Only an hour left and I'm a free woman. Maybe on some level, I'd miss my parents but currently, I wasn't anywhere near that point. Mother's personality had worn on me and I'd fantasized a while about breaking away from it. She was fun and quirky. Something I desperately wish I could be and something she always insisted I was.

Just one more thing we disagreed upon.

It took us no time to locate the dorm hall and half as long to arrive in the doorway of my room. We were the first to arrive which pleased me. Being first gave me a position of power, something I preferred.

While I was feeling a wave of relief wash over me my mother, on the other hand, looked a bit disappointed.

"I was really hoping I'd meet your roomie," she pouted, setting my two boxes down onto the floor before she stretched backward in an awkward attempt to relieve the ache that no doubt plagued her back.

"Whoever she is will be fine mom," I groaned as I placed my suitcase on the bed directly to the left-hand side of the small space.

My mother bobbed her head as she glanced around the small space. A small smile ghosted her lips for a nanosecond before she hid it behind one of her 'motherly' stares, the kind that screamed she was up to no good.

"Well, I should probably head on out to catch my flight back home."

The stare never lied. My brow drew together and my eyes narrowed. Nothing ever good came from her shady business but luckily for me, that was no longer my problem. I just hopped that whatever she was up to wouldn't affect me here on campus.

"Make sure to give dad a hard time now that I'm not there," I winked before wrapping my arms around her small frame in a rare occurrence of affection. Our relationship was strained at best but given the circumstances, a hug seemed appropriate and expected.

My mother squeezed me back as if her life depended on it. She knew how out of character this was for me and milked the affection for all that it was. As she let go, her phone vibrated in her purse and a custom ringtone I'd never heard before rang through the room.

"Look out below! Warning, warning. Take cover!" The male voice declared with authority into the small space.

A few more moment's and you're home free girl, I reminded myself as my mother's eyes went wide and she laughed nervously. Somehow I could feel that her two-week long personality shift was about to reach the final act. And somehow I knew it wouldn't be good.

"Well honey...good luck and remember-"

"Give the roomie and people, in general, a chance, yeah I got it," I cut off before she could finish.

With another nervous laugh, my mother planted a kiss on my cheek and exited the small room in a rush of faint perfume. An agitated sigh slipped past my lips. She was, quite possibly, the biggest pain in my ass I'd ever encounter.

The first chapter is here!

Tell me about your first impression.

What is your feeling about Nick?