༄ SHE couldn't deny her smile had faded a little bit once she saw the dorm room.

Three beds were spread over the large space, and all three of them her drawers beneath it. A full bookshelf stood in the corner, they had a bathroom (which was messy as hell), and it smelled like damn cigarettes.

Sighing, Sam attempted to fit both her school books and her other books in the drawers under the bed she supposed was hers, since the other two were already unmade.

The day had been okay, though. She was happy her mom at least brought her stuff inside the dorm while Sam spent her time in classes. The principal came in once, and told them all about the rules.

And god, that was too much.

No skirts above the knees, no straps shown, no makeup, no phones until the school schedule was over, lights out at nine, and even more, but Sam couldn't remember.

She didn't change out of her uniform, not wanting to waste the what she called 'masterpieces of clothes' she brought with her, because those were only for 'special occasions'.

So eventually, she sat on her bed with her book in her hands and her phone next to her. If she at least could break her record of how many books she read in one month, that would be awesome.

little rat

Samira

Busy

Sam
Sam
Sam
Sam
Sam

Shut up Jeff

Would you come and watch my basketball training
Please

Why?

Why not?
It's inside
And it's not very crowded
And bring that damn book if you feel the need to.
Hope that helps

What's the purpose of being at your training if all I'm doing is reading a book, while I could also do on my bed?

Just come over, damn
I don't want to see you JUST in the weekends
Because mom and dad are there in the weekends too, and I don't want them to hear my adventures
Alright?

Fine

With another sigh, Sam tossed her phone and book in her tote bag, tied her Dr. Martens, put on a jacket, and left campus to go to the shared sport building, which stood in between the two schools.

Yeah. Shared. She would have to pass boys in the sport building and she remembered someone saying there would be shared PE classes too, twice a year or something. To coach each other.

The building's inside was simple. A very long hallway with doors everywhere on the sides, numbers printed on them to show what gym room's it were.

Some existed of equipment like it was an actual gym, others were just rooms with the million colored lines on the floor, and some were specialized on certain sports, like basketball.

To Sam, it was very awkward to walk into the room Jeff assigned her, but no one seemed to notice her, let alone when she sat down in a corner and watched for five minutes, then grabbed her book.

Sport balls weren't exactly her favorite things either, 'cause every time she heard the thing smash against the floor or wall close to her, she flinched. Ugh, PE was the worst thing ever.

"Sam!"

There her brother was. She looked up. "Jeff."

Beads of sweat rolled down his face again. "Hi," he breathed. "How was your first day?"

"Alright. And yours?"

"Good." A nod of his head. "Well, now that you're here, I shall introduce you to my friends already. For the next time you're gonna watch... or read."

Sam grunted as she got up. Fine, she would watch Jeff's trainings more often, but his friends were most likely some shitty class clowns.

"Alright." Jeff pointed at a few boys. "That's Thomas, that's Alby, and that's Minho. The boy in the other corner, is Newt. He's not... made for basketball, but Minho and Thomas have been his friends since forever, so he's always by their side."

Sam didn't really bother inspecting the boys, and just nodded. "Okay. Thomas, Alby, Minho, and Newt it is."

"Someone said my name?"

A boy hopped beside Jeff, breathing heavily as he trailed his eyes over Sam. She did the same thing to him.

He wore the same red team outfit as Jeff, except the number on his back was a big, white twenty-four.

"Thomas." Still with heavy breaths, he held out his hand. "And you're...?"

"Jeff's sister." She shook his hand. "Samira."

"Okay. Samira it is." Thomas stretched his back. Tilted his head before he ran a hand through his brown, messy hair. "So what do you think? Are you a basketball liker? Player, maybe?"

"Definitely not." She pulled a face. "Jeff here wanted me to meet you guys and watch his training."

"Oh, but then you should totally do that." Thomas turned around, whistling on his fingers. "Newt, Alby, Minho! Get over here!"

The blonde, slim boy in the corner was the first to get up and shake Sam's hand. She examined his sweet smile, the brown eyes, and then decided he already seemed nice enough.

Next, was a darker-skinned boy. Alby with a buzz cut. He was also bathed in sweat, so Sam smiled awkwardly when three boys like that surrounded her.

"Minho!"

"What?" Snapped a boy from way the other side of the room. He was finishing off his tricks with the ball before he took his water bottle.

"Come on! Jeff's sister is here, man!"

"Oh, he really doesn't have to stop training to meet me," Sam assured, cringing. "Same for you guys. Just go back to-."

"MINHO!"

She nearly palmed her face.

"Fine!" Still chugging his water down, the boy walked closer.

Sam couldn't see much of his face with the bottle in front of it, but she did see the... interesting muscles and smelled... well, absolutely nothing. No damn sweat. That was a good first thing.

"Don't give Minho extra points because we don't have the Asian genes," Alby commented.

Minho finally stopped drinking his water, put the cap on the bottle, and looked up.

And spat all his water out.

And then somewhat suffocated, until Newt hit his back repeatedly.

Okay... less of a good first impression.

When Minho recovered, his face had gotten bright red. Hesitantly, he shook Sam's hand, his eyes squinting at her.

"You okay, man?" All six of them ignored the rest of the basketball team walking in, along with some girls, and just stared at Minho.

"Fine." He let go of Sam's hand. "Name's Minho."

"Samira," she told him.

"Guys!" An unfamiliar voice called out. Probably their trainer or something. "Cut the talking and start training!"

Slowly, the boys wandered off with a quiet 'bye'. Minho looked up and down at Sam for a last time, while she was just happy she finally found some boys that were taller than her.

While clearing his throat, Minho leaned in to her ear. His voice was just above a whisper when he said, "Next time, try not to take your friends' advice drunkly."

And he walked away.

Oh, god.

Hell no.

Nope.

She refused to believe he was the boy from the party. Nah-ah.

When an hour later, Sam was on her way out of the building, she was buried in her book. Damn, it was getting... intense.

But walking and reading at once, wasn't the best combination and soon, she had bumped into multiple walls and doors. After she desperately tried to press down a handle, the door opened and she walked straight into what she thought would be open air.

Except she bumped straight into someone, stumbled back, and dropped her book.

Oh, well. Awesome first day!

"You really gotta stop bumping into me."

"It's what I'm best at." She let out a groan. Pressed a hand on her forehead, trying to overcome the shock of suddenly bumping into Minho, and quite hard too.

"Hm."

Ah. Of course he had to pick up her book.

It would've been very gentlemen-like if he just handed it to her instead of scrolling through the pages.

Minho's eyebrows raised.

"Uh." Sam felt her cheeks get overloaded with heat. "Educational reasons."

His eyebrows flew up even higher. "Right. Of course." He flipped through another page.

"Hey, who said you were allowed to look through my book?" She took a step forward, he took one backward. Then she sighed. Minho didn't reply and kept trailing his eyes over the words.

And no way she was gonna risk ruining her book by pulling it out of his hands. So, she decided to look at him a little better.

He was now dressed in casual cargo pants and a gray shirt. In his hands he held a sweater with Etril's name on it. His hair was styled the same as before. With gel, but also a little messy. His sharp jaw rolled as his eyebrows furrowed at another page, though his eyes gained a light.

"Would you give it back? I swear if you crack the-"

"I won't crack the spine," he murmured. Finally, he looked up and slammed her book closed. "Interesting shit you read there."

She shrugged, her cheeks even redder.

"So, are you into it?"

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"The book." Minho peeked at the cover once again. "Is it good?"

"Oh!" She blinked. "Honestly, I hate it. Exact reason why I was walking around with my nose buried in it."

His lips gained a tiny smile, though it also looked like some kind of smirk. "Did you just think I meant the educational stuff, with what you're into?"

"Well." Her bottom lip disappeared between her teeth. "Maybe."

He leaned against the wall. "Evidence that that book," he pointed at it, "has ruined your decency."

"I don't think it's for you to decide when I am decent or what I read," she spoke.

"Sure." He crossed his arms. "Obviously, I won't."

Damn, he had 'em muscles. His veins popped out the second after he had tensed his arms, which were now bigger. Matched perfectly against his shirt and if Sam hadn't known he was a student, she'd really think he spent all his time in the gym or something.

"And just to let you know." He cleared his throat. "The exit is that way. This here, is the boys' changing room. So unless you had the wish to recreate those scenes with some idiot here, I'd recommend going that way."

Her mouth hung half open. "Well, you were blocking the view. I never had the chance to see a name on that door."

"I am the view." He straightened his back. "But, Jeffy's sister, it was very nice finding out you're nothing like him. Have a good rest of your day."

❤︎︎

When Sam, still taken aback someone sassed her out, entered her dorm again, the two girls she would share it with had arrived.

"Uh, hi." She stared at the back of a blonde's head, and then at a girl who was smoking a cigarette on her bed.

"Aha, so you're our roommate!" The raven haired girl tossed her cigarette away and got up to shake Sam's head. "Teresa. Call me Tes."

Well, that went fast. And even though Sam was an introvert, she liked it when people were straight forward and open to being friends.

"Samira. Call me Sam." She smiled at Teresa. Her eyes had black lines around them. Around her neck hung a vintage necklace, and she had changed her uniform into shorts and a crop top.

"Don't worry. I'm not smoking cigarettes or putting on eyeliner when a teacher is around," Teresa confirmed. "Mostly in the weekends. Damn, those parties are good."

The other girl got up too, her golden hair waving behind her. She shook Sam's hand too, a familiar smile on her face. "Sonya. Please don't call me Newt's sister."

Ah, explained the same British accent, the hair, and the smile.

"Alright." Sam lay her bag down on her bed. "Yeah, parties are... certainly something."

Teresa plopped back down on her bed. "Parties are amazing, especially after a week of hell on this school. You should totally come with us sometime."

Okay, that was very welcoming.

"Sure, I guess."

"Hey, were you at that party a while ago? The one next to Etril's travel shop?"

"I was." And her face turned red again.

She made out with Jeff's friend, and then he caught her reading the most dirty things. Awesome.

"Wait." Teresa's eyes turned wider. "You're the girl that kissed Minho."

"Rumors spread fast here," Sonya added quickly. "Very fast."

"Wait, didn't you watch him train today?"

"Well, that was just-."

"Brenda saw you two talk after the training. Said it looked pretty interesting." Sonya nodded. "Well, she said a curly-haired girl. Was that you?"

"I suppose."

"And Harriet told us she saw Minho whispering something in your ear before you started blushing like crazy. What did he sayy?"

"Nothing special." She coughed.

"Are you two dating? Minho's quite popular, so the rumors go around even faster if it's about him. You better tell us!"

Shocked, Sam stared at the two girls. No, she was not dating Minho. Damnit! "I- uh, yeah, rumors go around fast but I'm not-."

"Don't worry, it's safe with us."

"True. We understand it's horrible if rumors go around while you just want to be happy in love."

"...what?"