'It's already 5:15. He's not coming.'

As if in answer to my thoughts, there was a knock on my door.

Sighing, I looked away from my phone. "Come in."

Tim walked into my room. "Dad called. He says I should tell you that he won't be able to see you before you leave, but he has sent a driver to take you."

Why am I not surprised?

Standing, I said, "Alright. Did he say when the driver would be arriving?"

"The driver is here."

"What?" I frowned. "Wait, when did he call?"

"About 30 minutes ago."

"And you're just telling me now?"

"I was busy!"

"Too busy to just text me what dad said?" I rolled my eyes. "You know what, forget it. Help me carry my stuff."

"Not with that attitude, I won't!"

Before he even finished speaking, I had picked up my duffle bag and tossed it at him. "You can start with that first."

He glared at me but walked out of the room with it. "You're lucky that I'm taking your room when you're leaving, otherwise I would have thrown this shit back at you."

"If my stuff even so much as touches the floor I'm kicking your ass!"

He wobbled suddenly, nearly dropping my bag on the floor. I had been about to leap to save it when I realized that he'd done that purposefully.

He smirked. "Oops."

I rolled my eyes, although a smile broke out over my face. "Just get it downstairs."

As an afterthought, I added, "Oh, and don't you dare go in my room after I'm gone!"

He drawled, "Sure, that's not definitely not going to happen!"

Looking around my room, I cringed at the thought of my tidy arrangement being destroyed by Tim. No way I'm leaving this open!

Pulling out my phone, I texted my best friend, Nabila. 'Hey, I'm on my way to pick you.'

As expected, she replied barely a minute later. 'Waiting for you.'

Leaving our chat, I scrolled until I found my dad's. Entering inside, I glared at our messages, the evidence of an unkept promise.

How hard is it for you to keep your word? You didn't even bother to message me about your cancellation!

A few moments later, the sound of Tim's footsteps broke my focus. I put away my phone, turning my attention back to my luggage.

. . .

"Wow, so you really did it!"

That was the first thing Nabila said to me after she settled down into the car.

Smiling, I furrowed my brow. "Why do you sound so surprised? I sent you a pic."

"Yeah, but I don't think I processed it! Can I touch it?"

I nodded. She ran her hands through my dark curly hair, which had been cut short to shoulder length.

Still smiling, I said, "Matter of fact, if anybody should be amazed it should be me. I mean, you got purple braids! Someone's looking to make a loud statement on their first day of college. "

She withdrew her hands to her box braids, playing with one of them. "Well I really like the color, so I thought I would try it. You don't think it looks too bad, do you?"

"No, not at all, it looks great!"

I wasn't lying, it melded beautifully with her dark skin. I doubt it would have had the same effect if I had dyed my hair to that shade, considering my skin tone was a lighter olive.

She smiled. "Thank god. Anyways are you excited to finally move in?"

Looking away, I shrugged. "Meh."

Truth be told that was a huge understatement considering I had spent the evening before with butterflies in my stomach at the thought of the move. They only faded because they had been replaced with anticipation to see my father.

Nabila slightly slapped my shoulder. "Oh come on, you can't tell me you aren't at least a bit excited!"

"I only hope that our dorm mates aren't a bunch of bitches. " And I'm also grateful that you're attending Weslemore with me. At least now I don't have to start making friends from scratch.

"Me too! But I expect that people would be a lot more mature in college. Or at least that's what I've heard. "

"Yeah, hopefully."

"Speaking of college, how's Angelo? Did he pick Weslemore as his final choice?"

I bristled, scoffing. "No. The dick head decided to go to Milesford. That's fucking 30 minutes away!"

Nabila's eyes widened. "Oh wow! By the way, have you heard from him since he traveled?"

"Not a fucking word! "

"Wait, what? But it's been over a month now!"

"Don't remind me! My messages haven't been delivering to his phone and he still hasn't replied to the message I sent him on Instagram, even though he has been liking my posts!"

Nabila frowned. "Wow, that's rubbish! If you're looking to commit a murder when he gets back, trust and believe that I'm ready to be your alibi! "

Despite myself, I smiled. "Thanks, that may come in handy."

"Anyways, enough about him. How are you planning on decorating your room? "

. . .

"Oh, we for sure have our work cut out for us!"

I rolled my eyes at Nabila. "You mean you do. The room looks fine as it is."

To be fair, 'fine' by my standards wasn't the same as 'fine' by Nabila's standards. Whereas I didn't care all that much about the layout of my room as long as it was tidy, Nabila liked placing things to her heart's desire. So while the arrangement of the large desk, wardrobe, and bed was fine for me, it was inevitable that Nabila was going to renovate her identical room as much as possible.

She tsked. "One day, you'll learn the beauty of a personal touch. Excuse me while I go apply mine."

Leaving those words hanging in the air, she crossed over to her bedroom through our shared bathroom.

Looking at my boxes strewn out on the floor, I sighed. When are self-unpacking boxes going to be invented?

I spent the next thirty minutes getting my room in order. However, it didn't take me fifteen minutes to realize that I may have overpacked, especially in terms of clothing. I had to leave some in a box because the wardrobe was packed.

After I'd finished, I headed to Nabila's room to offer my help, but she 'politely' ushered me out. I spent the next few minutes on my phone. Usually, I'm pretty good at losing track of time when on it, but then curiosity overpowered my urge to use it. Getting up, I walked to my room door.

Just as I placed my hand on the handle, I took a deep breath. Christ, why is my heart beating so fast? The most that may happen is I meet some new people.

I shook my head. "Get it together, Aimee!"

I left the room, exploring my dorm floor. There were a lot of opened doors, some of which I could hear chatter coming from. Nevertheless, I walked past them. No point forcing myself to feign friendliness if not necessary.

I counted four bedrooms in total. Apart from that, there was also a lounge, laundry room, guest bathroom, and kitchen.

When I entered the kitchen, I was met with the sight of two white girls kissing. They broke apart, looking at me.

My face warmed. Damn it, should have picked another time to explore! Oh well, too late to turn back now.

Internally sighing, I smiled, sticking out a hand. "Hi, how are you? I'm Aimee."

The blonde girl standing smiled back, her blue eyes crinkling. She shook my hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Emma."

The brown-haired girl seated on the counter didn't return the smile. Her dark brown eyes remained hard as steel as she shook my hand. "Amelia."

Rude much?

After I withdrew my hand, Emma asked, 'Are you a freshman?"

I nodded.

"Ah, well welcome then! I hope you enjoy it here."

I smiled. "Thanks."

I left the room, not bothering to say a word to Amelia.

. . .

I went back to my room afterward and spend the next hour on my phone. Later, Nabila dropped by and we put on a movie to watch. Honestly, I think, at that point, we were mostly doing it to avoid going out and socializing.

Sometime during the movie, my phone buzzed. I frowned when I saw a message from my father.

'I sent $2000 to your account. Just a little something extra for you to have.'

I typed back, 'Or you can just apologize for not keeping your promise instead?'

I glared at the message for a few minutes, then erased it and sent, 'Thanks, Dad. Love you'.

Soon after, he replied, 'Enjoy College. Remember to always be responsible and make me proud. Don't forget to check in with your brother regularly.'

I rolled my eyes. 'Of course. Goodnight.'

Groaning, I tossed my phone on the bed.

Nabila paused the movie. "Something wrong?"

I sighed. "Same old, just my dad being... himself."

"Ah. On an unrelated note, I still can't believe we're starting college tomorrow!"

I softly hummed in agreement.

One of the reasons why I liked hanging out with Nabila so much was because she was easy to talk to. She listened attentively but didn't pry too much. She barely understood my family situation, but she was still there for me anytime I wanted to vent.

'Don't forget to check in with your brother regularly.'

Scoffing, I rested my head on Nabila's shoulder. He's 16, I think that's old enough to be able handle himself. At least now that I'm in college, I don't have to be treated like a fucking babysitter.

. . .
W

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