"And if you look over there, you'll see the library. I've only been in there three times, though, so don't ask any questions about it," Viktor said as we walked through Winterview's campus to the dorms.

I had visited before, of course, but Viktor was way too excited to be my tour guide, since he finally knew somewhere better than I did.

"I actually do have a question about it," I said, carrying only a third of my stuff with me. The rest was still in the car.

"Um, there's a Starbucks in there, and you have to be quiet. That's about all I can tell you about it."

I laughed. "I'll explore it for myself, then."

"That's probably the best thing you can do. It's better for remembering that way. And if you look up there," he pointed to a building a few hundred feet in front of us, "that's our dorm. It's really nice in there, and the people are the best part."

"But I don't like people," I said.

"You'll like everyone there. They're all really nice."

"Well, that sounds fantastic. Nice people are one hundred percent my cup of tea."

He looked at me. "I'm sure you'll find someone you like. What about your roommate?"

My roommate. Shit. They were randomly assigned, and as much as I wanted to believe that she and I would be mega best friends right off the bat, I knew damn well that wasn't going to happen. But I was willing to have a little faith that we'd maybe not hate each other.

"I'll try my best to not to screw everything up right away, so I think we'll have a chance," I said.

Viktor smiled. "That's positive of you."

He opened up the door, and we both walked into the lobby-like room of the dorm. There was a short line at the front desk, and a girl in line turned around and waved to Viktor.

Viktor set his bag down and gave her a hug. "Hey Julia. How was your summer?"

She smiled. "It was good! My grandma's getting better, thanks to her physical therapy. How was yours?'

"I'm glad to hear that. My summer was okay. It got cut short, but it was good while it lasted."

"Oh, what happened?" the girl asked. I had already forgotten her name.

"Oh, well, this is Amanda, the oldest girl from my American family, and her mother passed away."

The girl turned to me. "I'm so sorry. What happened?"

Viktor continued to talk. "It was a sudden thing, sadly."

I bit my cheek and crossed my arms.

The girl got to the front of the line, and the woman at the desk handed her a clipboard. She turned around, giving Viktor a sad smile. "It was good talking to you again. We'll catch up later, okay? And nice to meet you, Amanda."

I turned the corners of my mouth upward. "You too."

She went back to the clipboard, filling out forms.

I rolled my eyes, and my sight landed on the wall. "This paint color is atrocious."

"And negative Amanda is back. I was just beginning to worry." He smiled down at me.

"Yeah, well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't go talking about Mom to everyone, okay? It's not something the entire world needs to know."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

I let out a sigh. "It's fine. I can handle it, but that's not something I want brought up in a casual conversation with people that I don't even know."

He nodded. "Of course. I'll make something up, then, when people ask about my summer."

"Or you could just say that your summer was great, thanks for asking."

He smiled. "That'd be a lie, though, and I know how you feel about polite lying."

"Tell them your pet polar bear got hit by a snowplow."

"That's not realistic, really," he said.

"It was a fucking joke, like your existence."

He looked at me with his eyebrows raised. "I'm sorry. Do you need a hug?"

"Absolutely not."

He smiled. "It seems like it to me."

I bit my cheek. "Just shut up. I don't want to talk to you right now."

I wasn't quite sure how he managed to put me in a bad mood in two seconds, but I was impressed by the feat nonetheless.

It was just like when we first met. He could piss me off with just a few words.

Maybe things were different then, but nothing had really changed. Or maybe everything had changed. I didn't know.

"Hi, name?" the woman at the desk asked me when it was my turn. Her blonde hair was held out of the way in a messy-ish bun that looked like it took multiple tries to perfect, and her bottom teeth were crooked enough to distract me for just a moment. She looked up at me with tired green eyes that reminded me of Blaine's, waiting for my response.

"Amanda Jayne. J-A-Y-N-E."

She slid some papers over the desk, and clicked a few things on the computer in front of her. "Just sign and date pretty much all of those, the papers in the folder are yours to keep, then you're good to go." She gave me a key card and a smile. "Welcome to Winterview."

I glanced down at the stack of papers. There had to be at least twenty to fill out, sign, and date. I smiled anyway. "Thank you."

"Next. Hey Viktor. You know the drill," she said, as she looked back at the computer screen.

I looked up from the papers and saw Viktor smile at her and say, "Hi Krista. How have you been?"

She shrugged. "Okay, I guess. I'm glad to be back here. How about you?"

"It was good, until my pet polar bear got hit by a snowplow."

I threw my head back and looked up at the ceiling.

Why.

Why?

Krista (I remembered the name this time) laughed. "I'm sorry to hear that. Tough times in Sweden, huh?"

He looked over at me. "You could say that."

"Just sign the goddamn papers," I muttered, both to myself and him.

Krista took a quick glance at me, then turned back to Viktor.

"The polar bear was her mother," Viktor said.

I slammed the pen down on the stack of mostly unsigned papers. "Dude, what the hell?"

"I didn't want her to be confused about why you're upset and think you're a mean person."

I turned to Krista. "My mother did not get hit by a snowplow in the middle of the summer." Then I turned to Viktor. "And it certainly doesn't matter why I'm pissed off. It has nothing to do with that, and everything to do with the fact that you're talking way too much to these people about stuff that doesn't concern them."

Viktor frowned. "It's better if you talk about things that bother you, Amanda."

"That's why I'm trying to tell you to shut the fuck up, but you won't listen. Just the sound of your voice is enough to irritate me right now."

"I'll leave you alone, then."

I let out a sigh. "Thank you."

I finished signing all the forms, from rules I likely wouldn't follow to medical history information, and handed them back to Krista with a smile. "Have a nice day."

"You too," she said as she watched me pick up my stuff. "I can help who's next."

The room number, 208, was taped onto the key card, and I wandered down the hallway, lugging a suitcase and a bag filled with my stuff along with me. The room was on the second floor, and naturally, there was no elevator.

Because I just fucking loved stairs.

I shut my eyes for a moment and let myself breathe, then picked up my heavy suitcase and put it on the first stair.

Step one: complete.

I smiled. Even pissed off, I was pretty fucking hilarious.

But that careful strategy wouldn't get me very far any time soon, so I resorted to the more efficient "drag my shit up the stairs and fuck whatever breaks" method. I didn't think there was anything fragile in that bag anyway, since the only important breakable things I owned were my laptop and phone, but I didn't want to make that guarantee to myself.

As I trudged up the stairs, the suitcase caught on one of the steps. I yanked it free, muttering curses under my breath.

I reached the top of the stairs, and I didn't let myself think that I'd have to do it at least twice more with the rest of my stuff.

With that obstacle out of the way, the next one was the whole roommate situation. I had always had my room, and I generally did not adjust well to change.

Viktor knew that better than anyone else.

I held the key card in front of the sensor. The little light switched from red to green, and I heard an oddly satisfying click.

I loved my friends and family, but that little click was a step towards independence. A new life for me.

I swung the door open, and it hit something on the other side.

"Ow, oh my god," a high, feminine voice squeaked out.

"Shit, shit. I'm so sorry." I set my stuff down and forced myself through the door.

There stood a redheaded girl, holding a hand to her nose.

"You okay?" I asked, trying my best to look concerned.

"I'm fine. It just startled me more than anything," she replied.

I smiled. "Good. Sorry about that, though. I probably should have knocked or something."

She waved her hand and dismissed my mistake. "It's fine. I was just putting up my mirror. I hope you don't mind it there."

"As long as I don't have to look at myself when I wake up in the morning, you can put that shit wherever you want." I laughed and held out my hand. "I'm Amanda."

She took my hand with a smile. "I'm Jackie. Nice to finally meet you in person."

"Yeah, those emails we sent to each other didn't really introduce us all that well," I said. "I mean, the only thing I know about you is that you brought a mini fridge and TV."

"Oh, I know all about you. I kinda went through every social media you have."

I felt my heart rate increase, but I hoped it didn't show on my face. "What'd you find out, stalker?"

It wasn't that I wanted to hide my fight with Lukas and suspension, but it could make me seem like a questionable, irritable person, which would indeed be one hundred percent correct.

But Jackie didn't need to know that right away.

She smiled. "That you like hockey way too much, you get into way too many Twitter arguments, and the foreign exchange student that lived with you during your junior year was super hot."

"Oh, Viktor? He's my brother's best friend, and he's kind of my child in a way. He actually goes here, if you're interested."

"What's he like?"

I thought for a moment. "He's got a huge heart, but he doesn't have much heart, if that makes any sense."

She shook her head. "Not really."

"He's not that forward, and you kind of have to kick him if you want him to do anything, but once you convince him that he can actually do whatever he puts his mind to, he's a fantastic person."

"Sounds like you two have a good relationship," she said.

I nodded. "Most of the time, yeah."

"It was kind of rude of me to ask about him, though. You're my roommate, so I should be asking about you."

"I don't mind. He's actually a large part of who I am, to be honest."

Jackie smiled. "So where are you from?"

"Bloomington, Minnesota. It's only about an hour away from here."

"I know where that is. I'm from St. Paul. The Mall of America is like my second home."

I smiled. "I spent way too much time and money there with my friends and family. Do you have any siblings?"

"Nope. I'm an only child, so this whole 'roommate' thing is kind of new to me."

"I have an older brother and little triplet sisters, but never had to share a room. I guess this will be an experience for both of us."

"Four siblings?" Jackie looked at me with her mouth open.

I nodded. "It's weird being away from that chaos."

"If college is anything like the movies, there will be plenty of chaos for you here."

"I never go out looking for it, but it usually seems to find me anyway. You're probably going to get sucked right into my anarchy." I laughed. "It's not a bad lifestyle, though. Just tiring."

She smiled. "It'll be nice to get away from structure. It's about time I do what I want."

"That's the spirit. Our first chaos meeting is scheduled for tomorrow at three." I smiled. "I'm gonna go get the rest of my stuff, but this first conversation hasn't been too painstaking. Hopefully it continues this way."

Her smile dropped. "Oh, yeah. I hope it does too."

I opened the door to go get the rest of my stuff. I always hated first conversations, because I had to withhold a large part of my personality in a strategic move. Playing nice was not one of my strong suits, but I thought I managed the first impression well enough that she wouldn't hate me.

But I also had a history of being wrong in emotional, social situations.

Very, very wrong.

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Hey there! Thanks for reading!

So Amanda and Jackie are in the feeling-out stage in their relationship. How do you like Jackie so far? Do you think she and Amanda will get along?