Dark brown eyes trailed from the tacky green plastic holder of the key to her room to the bold, black sticker on the side of the doorway identical to the number scrawled on a piece of scratch paper stuck to the plastic holder, indicating that that was her room. There was a white board screwed to the door with a black marker hanging on the side by a bright pink string- the girl stared at the string for a few seconds longer, wondering if her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. She had never thought she’d see a color so blindingly bright. Across the entire width of the white board, written in cursive, was the name “Tiffany”, extra curvy in her f’s with an extended heart attached the y. And if that wasn’t enough multiple hearts were strewn around the area that the writing didn’t occupy.

It was so, girly. Too girly.

She closed her eyes, tiredly rubbing the bridge of her nose, her other hand then run up through her hairline brushing the dark brown fringe back before looking back up to the door. She hoped that the numbers would magically flip, or the writing on the board disappears the second time she glance at it. She breathed out slowly, the reality of her situation solidifying in her mind. This was her room. And she was sharing the room.

Great.

A grunt to her back pulled her out of her thoughts. Her father had just arrived with her things, or at least half of her things. The man set the box and bag down, straightened up to stretch his back in an attempt to lessen the tightness on his backside in prep to his second round of moving.

“Is this your room Princess?” he asked mid-stretch.

She nodded her head grimly “Yeah.”

Her father nodded his head unconsciously, thanking the housing admin in his mind for appointing his daughter’s room near the stairwell. Lesser work for him. He nodded his head again in satisfaction as he began his way back down to retrieve the last few things- nearly taking a dive all the way down the flight of stairs when his foot missed one step. A sharp intake of breath was the only evidence of his minor slip up as he quickly straightened up and continued on his way as if nothing happened. The girl noticed none of these as her eyes were solely focused on the silver doorknob.

Sticking in her keys she twisted the door and stepped into the room. Contrary to the image in her head- full of stuffed toys and pink walls- the room was quite bare, save for the left side where boxes and crumpled shirts littered the unmade bed. The wall, from top down, was colored in plain beige with the occasional dark spots from age old sticky tape where posters once hung. She paused for a second at the doorway, her ears perked up to listen for any sound, her eyes scanning the room for any movements.

There were none. Her roommate must’ve stepped out she assumed as she continued her silent scrutiny of her new abode.

Satisfied she stepped into her room, lazily dragging along the duffle bag her father had left outside. “Welcome to your new room Jessica.”

Jessica met her roommate a few hours after her father left. She sported a short haircut, curled at the ends so that it puffed up- her head almost resembled that of a mushroom- wore a very wide grin that her eyes scrunched up into two downward crescents.

“Hey~ you must be my roommate. Hi!” The girl enthusiastically greeted, her loud voice booming in their small room, and waved as if they were more than just five feet apart. Jessica suppressed a grimace and managed to form a small smile in greeting, one had raised up in a half-hearted wave. As if the small act was a trigger the girl scurried over to Jessica grabbing her hand and shook it vigorously. “I’m Tiffany! And I’m gonna be your roommate for the rest of the year. Oh My God! Isn’t this exciting! You’re my very first roommate! This year is soooo gonna be great!”

Jessica flinched. The girl was like the epitome of bubbly. Jessica wouldn’t be surprised if she’d get into the cheering squad with just one try- loud and cheerful, that’s what’s needed of a cheerleader right? What did surprise her was that another girl trailed after her roommate, this one was like the complete opposite of the bubbly girl. Short- well, shorter than herself- baby faced but she wore a solemn expression, looking a lot like a child robbed of their candy. She didn’t remember there any mention of sharing the dorm with middle school kids.

“Ppany-ah..” The short girl whined. The sound of the short girl’s voice seemed to snap Tiffany from her high as the girl quickly let go of Jessica’s hand.

Freed from the surprisingly strong grip Jessica pulled back her hand quickly- that was enough touching for the day. Hell that was the longest physical contact she had with a stranger, Tiffany had broken the record with that 20 second handshake.

“Ppany-ah, you promised.”

“Okay, okay. But Tae-Tae don’t be rude. Come say hi to my new roommate first. I promise we’ll go right after.”

Jessica couldn’t be sure if she heard right but she thought she heard the girl mumble something like ‘It should’ve been me’ as she came closer. Fortunately the girl stopped at a reasonable gap before bowing slightly.

“I’m Taeyeon. Hi. Now can we go?” The last part was directed at Tiffany, her lower lip jutting out slightly for added effect. It only took one look for Tiffany to crumble and she hurriedly gathered he shorter girl in an embrace.

“Okay. We’ll go. We’ll go. Now stop giving me that look, else I can’t stop myself from pinching the life out of your cheeks.” Almost instantly Taeyeon’s expression made a 180 degree turn, her lips stretching into a wide dorky smile. Tiffany rolled her eyes at the short girl’s rather comedic response and turned back to face Jessica.

“Hey, sorry roomie but I promised to accompany this kid to the store. But listen, we’ll see you later for dinner?” she asked, a hopeful smile on.

Jessica cursed in her head. Why, oh why, did she get stuck with a friendly roommate? That look she gave her made it that much harder to decline her offer. Her mind wandered over to the box of granola bars and twinkies she had just shoved under her bed. She had hoped she could live off those for as long as she could- postponing the need to make a trip to what she imagined would be a cramped and loud dining hall. She had always had an aversion to crowded places. The loud noises she could live with, it was the suffocating feeling she had with crowds that she could do without.

Her eyes flickered to Taeyeon. The girl’s smile had transitioned once again into a pout. Her hand clamped onto Tiffany’s arm, tugging impatiently now and again. Her line of sight returned to the expectant Tiffany and she sighed.

“Maybe.” She finally said. It wasn’t a solid answer but it’ll do. Besides Jessica feared if she prolonged her response any longer the kid just might throw a fit.

“Great!” Tiffany chirped. Heading to her side of the room she dug into one of the bags on top of her bunk, pulling out a small, pink sling bag. “So we’re gonna go now… um…”

“Jessica.” Jessica supplied.

“We’ll see you later, Jessie. Bye.” That said the duo made their exit, leaving Jessica once again to her thoughts.

It was silent for a while until Jessica started back where she left off with her unpacking, muttering under her breath. “It’s Jessica. Not Jessie.”

~~~

A/N: And ta-da! Not really revealing much and this is actually pretty short by my standards but I’m working on it… Maybe…

Scribbles out!