The Start of Something New – Chapter Three

When was the last time you’ve ever felt excited for school? Probably never. However, Amber Liu was looking forward to school, which felt extremely weird. After the fun orientation day one yesterday, Amber was pumped up.

She wanted to meet her new friends as soon as possible; she liked how she felt around her new friends.

 Key was well, he was a diva basically. Even though they’ve only met for a day, Amber felt like Key was a person she could actually trust, and definitely a good shopping buddy. He was also one to lighten up the atmosphere with his constant rambling, never letting situations go awkward. Him being quite amusing with his actions actually helped bond the five of them a lot.

Then there was Henry, who shared common interests with Amber, such as basketball. He could also compose music and play the violin, something Amber was always jealous of. Amber had zero musical talent except for the fact that she could beat-box, but that was it.

She admired people who played music, and always wanted to learn the guitar, but could never bring herself to do it due to her lack of determination. Henry was calm and composed, sneaking out a witty comment once in a while, and was a really good listener. He had a gentle smile on most of the time, and Amber wondered why he didn’t have a girlfriend.

Min was an outgoing girl, always unafraid to show off her moves anytime anywhere. Amber was reminded of the dare that the group dared Min to do during a game of ‘Truth or Dare’ yesterday. Min had to run over to another orientation group gathered around a table, jump up onto the table and dance to Beyonce’s Single Ladies, ending off with a loud “I LOVE AMERICA”.

Upon receiving the dare, she was unfazed and did it immediately; earning a rousing round of applause from everyone that watched her ‘performance’.  Amber admired Min for her courage, it was something Amber would never have dared to do. She was already too awkward for her own good. Min had a very happy-g0-lucky attitude, and was serious when she needed to.

Lastly, there was Krystal. The girl made Amber feel unusually happy in her presence. The fact that Krystal was beautiful, adorable and not to mention, y, made it hard for Amber to not notice her a little more. Krystal was a little coy, and knew when to whine to get her way. Despite having a rather cold outer exterior, Amber didn’t feel a barrier while talking to her and she felt that Krystal was a really genuine person.

Amber’s POV

“Alright guys today’s activity will require a lil’ bit of courage because we’re going to be embarking on a night hike in a bit! There might be bugs/snakes/boars even so stay safe everyone!”

“Wow, ‘stay safe’ huh, not like we can actually choose or anything.” Henry said.

“Oh my god what if I get bitten by a snake later on?!”

“Stop being such a diva, pretty sure the snakes won’t want any of your diva-ness so I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that.”

“What about the boars?”

“KEY!!!”

Min was getting exasperated at Key’s constant whining, while Krystal and I just stifled our laughter.

Author’s POV

3 minutes into the night hike and Key was practically screaming at any noise he heard, even when it was just the noise of him stepping on a leaf. They walked and talked, the people leading the hike occasionally warning the rest about bumps and rocks in front.

The clique, except for Krystal, was chattering when Amber noticed that the red head was unusually quiet.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Yeah I’m fine, just a little..”

“A little what?”

“I was always a little afraid of the dark, to be honest, and hiking through this trail at like 11pm isn’t really helping much you know.”

“Oh, why didn’t you tell anyone of us before the trip started? We could’ve arranged for you to bring along a torchlight or something.”

“It’s okay, I didn’t want to be the odd one out or the burden of the group anyway. Besides, I have you- I mean you guys with me.”

Noticing the slip, Amber suppressed a grin in the dark and slung her arm over Krystal’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be by your side the entire trip alright? Just grab onto me or if you don’t mind me leaving my arm like this then we can stay like this until it’s over.”

“Okay.”

The hike continued on for an additional twenty minutes. Amber felt Krystal tense up suddenly and immediately stopped walking.

“Is anything the matter?”

“No no, it’s fine. I saw something move at the side and got a little shocked, that’s all.”

“Okay then.”

With that, Amber tightened her hold around Krystal’s shoulder and continued walking, leaving almost no distance at all between Krystal’s left side and Amber’s right.

Krystal’s POV

What’s this I’m feeling? This feeling, of her arm over my shoulder, I feel so. Protected. I feel like nothing’s going to get in my way.

Thank god for Amber. She’s such a caring and understanding friend even though we’ve just met like yesterday?

Man now I wish that this hike goes on forever, I feel really safe with her arm over me.

Amber’s POV

Having my arm around her feels pretty good actually. I want to take care of her. To be honest I’m kind of glad she has this phobia of the dark or else I wouldn’t be able to get to do this at all.

Wait what? Did I actually just imply that I want my arm over her? Like, physical contact with her?

Wow man this is amazing, this effect she has over me.

The hike went on with Amber’s arm around Krystal, and before they knew it it came to an end. “We’ve come to the end of our night hike, thank you all for your amazing cooperation and have a good night’s rest!”

Amber noticed that her arm was still around Krystal, and immediately retracted it back, to the back of her head, scratching it.

“Well that wasn’t too bad,” Krystal said.

“Hmm? Oh, uh, y-yeah, it wasn’t. Heh.”

Krystal was about to say something when a voice cut her off.

“Oh wait! Before you guys go off, I forgot to tell you guys something. You all will be moving into your respective dorms soon, details such as roommates will be released tomorrow. Thank you guys once again!” our group leader told us.

“Roommates? Wow, I’m so excited!” said Krystal.

“OMG I wonder who my roommate will be, I hope it’s someone hot.”

“Oh my god Key can you get a grip?!”

Min and Key were squabbling again, and Amber couldn’t help but to giggle at the sight.

THE NEXT DAY

“Amber, we’re roommates!”

What? What did I just hear? Did Krystal just say that we’re roommates? Me? And her? In a room? Every night? Oh god.

I didn’t know how to react, I didn’t want to seem overly happy about the fact that I would be sharing a room with this super pretty and not to mention hot girl that makes my heart skip a beat, but I didn’t want to seem like I didn’t like it either.

“O-oh really? That’s great!” I managed to stutter out.

“I know right! They say we’ll be able to move in tomorrow, I am so excited for it!”

Tomorrow? That’s fast. Gotta make sure I don’t pack anything embarrassing then.

Krystal’s POV

Thinking about moving into a room makes me feel like I’m actually entering college for real. Thinking about moving into a room with Amber makes me feel a little giddy inside. Thinking about Amber makes me smile, I wonder what that means?

Amber’s been so nice to me ever since the day we first met, but then again, almost everyone’s nice during the first few meetings. Ahh, that must be my paranoid-self speaking again, I’m sure Amber’s a nice person.

Author’s POV

Meanwhile at the Liu’s, Amber Josephine Liu was having a tough time trying to figure out what to pack and what not to pack. She thought of bringing her game collection, but didn’t know if Krystal was into games, or if the latter would find her a nerd and not attractive anymore.

As she rummaged through her wardrobe and her various drawers, she excitedly dug out the things she HAD to bring, caps. Caps are cool right? Amber thought.

To: Krystal [8.43PM]

Hey, just wanted to ask you a question. Do you like games? Like console and video games, not board games. Of course, if you like board games I could bring some into the dorm tomorrow as well.

From: Krystal [8.50PM]

I like anything you bring in ;-)

Amber’s POV

Gosh. Seems like the start of a flirtatious conversation.

Author’s POV

Amber paused her packing and flopped onto her soft bed, not realising how tired she was until she actually laid on it. Picking up her phone which was somewhere on her right side, she flipped herself around, using her elbows as a form of support and concentrated on the task at hand – texting Krystal.

To: Krystal [8.52PM]

Are you sure about that or do you just like me? ;-)

From: Krystal [8.54PM]

Idk, both maybe?

To: Krystal [8.55PM]

Haha, it’s my first time receiving a confession.

From; Krystal [8.56PM]

It’s my first time confessing to someone as well.

Thud. Thud. Amber please she was just playing along. Damn, she’s good.

To: Krystal [8.59PM]

HAHA aight you got me. So what do you say? Video games, yay or nay? Not forgetting the board games though.

From: Krystal [9.00PM]

YAY \^O^/

P.S. Bring some board games, I’ll bring some card games.

Amber grinned at the conversation, and went back to what she was actually supposed to be doing. Browsing her kitchen cupboards while humming one of her favourite songs All about that bass, she found three packets of dried mangoes, and thought of the redhead immediately.

She remembered Krystal telling her how much she liked mangoes on the first day of orientation. The sight of her gushing over mangoes was probably too adorable for Amber to forget. Smiling to herself, Amber grabbed the packets of dried mangoes and stuffed them into her luggage.

A/N: Hello guys I know I've been missing for quite some time, just wasn't in the exact mood to write but here's chapter 3! Hope you guys enjoy it. Remember to leave comments! :-)