Special thanks to my wonderful beta Kleannhouse for reading and fixing my story!
Disclaimer: Charlaine Harris owns all characters. I own nothing.
Chapter 1
"Hey, Jason?" I yell from my bedroom door. "I need help!" I groan as I scowl down at my suitcase. The damn thing just won't close, and I've even tried the age old trick of sitting on it.
"Hey Sook, whataya need?" Jason asks with a clueless look on his face. As much as I love my brother, he is quite dim, and he doesn't always quite get what's going on. But, he's my big brother and I love him. He is 19 and just graduated from high school, and I am packing my bag to go away to college. Yes, I am 17 and packing to go to college. Fine, I'm smart. So what?
"Uh, yeah Jason, I can't get this stupid suitcase to close," I say, giving the offending object one last glare before letting Jason handle it. Thank the lord, though, he finally gets it to close.
"Sook, I know I'm not too good at this, but I'm gonna miss you," Jason says quietly. He is looking at the floor, and I know this is hard for him to do. When he finally looks up at me, he actually has tears in his eyes.
"Aw, Jason, I'm not gonna be that far. Just New Orleans. You can come visit whenever you want, and I'll come home whenever I can. You're my only brother, after all," I say reassuringly. Jason looks better at least, and the tears have dried up. "But, my bus will be here any minute, so I've got to go. I love you."
Yes, we have a bus that shuttles all of the incoming freshmen to the campus, so it keeps our families from having to drive us. AsI sit on the bus, I finally have time to think. I'm so nervous, it is unbelievable. I got to graduate from high school a whole year early, and I have a late birthday anyways, so I am most likely going to be the youngest student in all of my classes. I sigh. I can already hear the hateful words aimed at me, mocking my age and my innocence. Well, screw them. I'll turn 18 in three months.
Through my daydreaming, I notice that we have finally arrived at the campus, and it is time for me to meet my roommate, and see my dorm room. I walk in to dorm building B, room 22, and open the door, holding my breath. When I step in, I let it out. It looks normal—meaning nobody has painted the walls black, or sacrificed a kitten in the middle of the floor.
As I walk to my side of the room, I lay my suitcase and my box of random stuff down. As I sit down on the bed to let the day sink in, I hear the door open and close.
And in comes my roommate. "Hey, you must be Sookie Stackhouse, right?" she asks with a big smile. She is very pretty, with dark wavy hair, big blue eyes, and perfect skin. However, she happens to dress like a 30 year old soccer mom, with her khaki capris and hunter green t shirt. "Anyways, I'm Amelia Broadway!"
"Nice to meet you, Amelia," I say with a smile of my own. I turn back to start unpacking my bags, and so does Amelia. We do this for about an hour in comfortable silence. I just hope she and I can become friends—I can't imagine how hard it would be to not get along with your roommate.
At about six o'clock, Amelia looks at me, and asks if I would like to head down to the cafeteria for some dinner.
"That would be great," I say, finally noticing how my stomach was growling at me.
As we walk to the mess hall, Amelia and I make small talk. I learn that Amelia is the daughter of a powerful businessman, Copley Carmichael, though she doesn't like to go by his last name. I in turn tell her about my age and my insecurities about being at university so young. At that, Amelia laughs and says with a wink, "If anyone thinks they can mess with you, they'll have to go through me."