This was inspired (obviously) by my moving away for college. Although this does not reflect any of my own experiences, this is just something I thought of that would definitely work well for a story of Lorna and Nicky. And there will be a second chapter to this - I thought I'd break it up into two shorter chapters rather than one really long one. So this is basically a two-shot. I'm sorry it's taking me so long to get the next chapter out for Learning to Love - I am having the hardest time trying to work on my stories up here. I am going home next weekend - so maybe I'll have a better try at writing it then. Anyway please leave a review after reading, I love to know what other's think of my stories and writing. Thank you! (As a side note - I was in the midst of publishing this and of course we have a fire drill right then! My ears are still ringing from it!)
Opposites Do Attract
Moving away from one's family would be hard for anybody - it's even harder for a person like Lorna Morello. All Lorna's known is family; they've been there for her through everything. Ever since she was diagnosed with panic disorder and social anxiety phobia - at the tender age of seven years old - family is the only thing that got her through it and helped her cope. And now as she moves away to start her first year at university, she couldn't feel any more anxious if she tried. Being around new people always brought on a bout of fear and anxiety for Lorna, especially because she would be living with a complete stranger. A stranger who may not like her or won't get along with her. So much could go wrong and that's all Lorna could focus on.
The University was a good three-hour drive from her home in Brooklyn, making her all the more worried. She's never been so far away from her family before and that had a swarm of anxiety build up inside of her. Her head lean back against the window – her parents in the front two seats, while she sit beside her older sister – she closes her eyes to think for a moment. She hopes and prays that her roommate is kind. New people most definitely bring out her social anxiety which sometimes will cause her to have a panic attack.
When they finally arrived - at nearly six in the evening - Lorna could already feel her heart starting to strum faster. She slowly got out of the car and began to retrieve her belongings from the trunk. Her hands shake tremendously as she carries a box full of clothes, following behind her father. It feels her heart with pain as she realizes that this place will be her home for the next four years - she'll have to rely on herself and herself only.
Arriving at her dorm, she keys in the code she was given and timidly walks in - her family right behind her. She takes a look around and feels herself tense when she sees what her roommate looks like. A girl with long, thick, wavy red hair stands near one of the beds - near the right side of the room - organizing her desk. Lorna inwardly gulps as she looks the girl over - she's a few inches taller, wearing a pair of jeans and a black shirt along with black converse shoes. She could already tell the two of them would have nothing in common and end up hating each other.
Her sister, Franny, - being the outgoing person that she is - decides to start up a conversation with the red-haired woman. She walks over to where she stands and peers at her, "So you're gonna be my sister's roommate for the next year? What's your name, how old are you?" Bombarding the other with questions gains her a glare from Lorna.
The redhead stops what she's doing as she turns to face Franny. She notices the shorter woman beside - who she assumes to be the sister, and who she'll be living with for the next year. "Looks like it," she says with a smirk and a light laugh, "My name's Nicky, I'm twenty. What about you two?" Nicky focuses her eyes on Lorna and can't help but wonder how the two of them ended up being roommates - there's no way their answers could have been even remotely close. This petite woman in front of her looks to be the total opposite of her - a shy, timid person who probably spends most of her time studying.
"Her name is Lorna - she just turned eighteen, and she's a bit nervous around new people. I'm her older sister, Franny, twenty-five years old." The dark haired woman speaks, helping her sister to unload her items. She hopes that Lorna can cope on her own down here - she's never been away from the family before so this will certainly be testing her.
After Lorna says her last goodbyes to her family, she's left alone with Nicky - who's busy typing away on her laptop and chomping quite loud on a wad of gum. She shakes her head as she continues to decorate her side of the room. Pictures of her family lines her desk and dresser along with magazine cut-outs of wedding dresses. She gets some sticky-tack to stick a couple of her West-Side Story posters on the wall surrounding her bed. That's been her favorite movie since she was just a young child.
Occasionally looking up from her laptop, Nicky rolls her eyes. Of course she would end up roommates with a girl she has nothing in common with - one who obviously seems to be extremely family oriented and very feminine. "This your first time away from family?" She decides to ask, even though she can already guess the answer.
Surprised to hear the other woman speak to her, Lorna turns her head to stare over at her. She slowly nods, not sure what else to say - communicating is certainly not one of her strong suites. "Uh pretty much. Is this yours?" Her voice a bit shaky when she asks that. She casts her eyes downward, to embarrassed of herself to look at the redhead - who is much more confident and outspoken than she is. That makes her wonder how the college even made the decision to make them roommates.
"Nah - I've been living on my own for years now," Nicky chuckles as she reaches for a can of Diet Coke. She takes a gulp of it while leaning back in her chair and kicking her feet up on the desk. "This time I'm just doing something productive while I live on my own. Where ya from, kid? Outta state or somethin'?"
Lorna takes a deep breath trying to stop herself from panicking. She's never been good at making friends, even less at keeping them. But she's a bit relieved to know that her roommate is actually making an effort to get to know her - the least she could do is try to make the same small talk back. "I've been living in Brooklyn all my life - a three-hour drive from here. Where are you from?" She looks across the room at Nicky. Maybe there's a reason the two of them were placed as roommates - there's always a reason for the people in Lorna's life. So obviously they'll end up getting along, even if they are from opposite ends of the track.
Shutting off her laptop, Nicky turns her chair so that she's facing the brunette. "That would explain your accent," she smirks, "I'm from the city - New York City that is. What're ya goin' here for, huh? I'm just here for the parties." The redhead asks with a gentle chuckle, staring across at her new roommate. She still can hardly believe that the two of them will have to share the same room for a whole year. They couldn't be any less alike if they tried.
Figures, Lorna thinks, she'd be stuck having a hardcore party-er as her roommate. Everything that she had hoped wouldn't happen, is happening. She should never have let Franny fill out that form for her – her sister always nagged her on how she hardly had any friends or social life, for that matter, so surely she would make sure that she would be living with someone completely opposite of her ways. "Interesting that you chose to come to a university like this, after living in the city. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I want to do – leaning towards a Master's in English. I write a lot, and read too." She states, a tiny smile starting to form as she talks about one of her favorite interests, "You can't seriously say that you spent money to live here just to go to parties?"
The redhead laughs at how mortified Lorna appears to be at the thought of her only reason to live her is so she can attend parties. She lets a smirk spread across her face while staring over at her, "Ah so you must be one of em' hard-working students. You gonna teach little kids English or somethin', eh? And I was joking – Red would have my head bashed in if her hard-earned money was only used for my partying! I'm here to get a degree in business; I plan to open my own bar someday. You know because then I can get paid to party all night while I drink!" Nicky laughs even more, amused at the many expressions her roommate is showing. It's going to be quite an interesting year for the two of them, she thinks.
Lorna is awoken the next morning by the sound of her phone going off. She quickly reaches for it, a small smile on her face when she sees who it is. Clicking answer she cheerfully speaks into the phone, "Well, hello there, Christopher. How nice it is to hear from you! How've you been?" She met Christopher - her boyfriend of two years now - at a dance her junior year of high school. Instantly she fell in love with the guy, everything about him was exactly what she dreamt of in a man.
The sound of his breathing, alone, makes her heart swell with joy. Her smile grows as she waits to hear his voice. "Lorna - good to hear your voice. I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it up there yesterday, had to work a double shift. I could come up today, if you don't mind. What's your roommate like?" Lorna feels her body tingle with warmth at the thought of seeing her boyfriend today.
Her head nods enthusiastically, "Of course I don't mind if you come up! Well - uh - she's not the kind of roommate I was expecting...guess that's what I get for lettin' Franny fill out the forms. You know how she's always saying I don't hardly got a social life and all that." She lets out an exasperated sigh, annoyed with herself for allowing her sister to make the decision on what kind of person she'd be living with for the next year.
"Maybe she did you a favor, Lorna. It might be good for you to get out of your comfort zone a little. Anyway I'm gonna get going - I'll see you this afternoon," the line clicks off leaving Lorna to stare dreamily ahead at her picture of him that sits against the desk. She goes over to it and holds it her hands, stroking the edge of the frame lightly. Meeting Christopher was one of the best things to ever happen to her - he was everything she could ever dream of.
The sound of someone's throat clearing abruptly brings Lorna out of her thoughts. She turns to where it came from and sees Nicky's eyeing her suspiciously. Gulping timidly she looks over at her, "S-sorry. Didn't mean to wake you." She hates how weak she sounds, but she still hardly knows the redhead which makes it harder for her to talk to her. Maybe it was a good thing for her to let Franny fill out those forms - now she might learn how to cope with her anxiety.
Nicky chuckles as she shakes her head. She gets up off her bed and walks over to the tiny counter - that sits in the entrance way - where she starts a brew of coffee in the pot that she brought with her. "It's fine, kid - I was already up anyway," she says while obtaining a coffee mug from her closet. Setting it down beside the pot, she looks back over at Lorna. "Was that your boyfriend you were talkin' to?"
A smile forms on the brunette's face at hearing that question. She nods her head with enthusiasm, "That was - his name's Christopher, he's coming to visit this afternoon. If you're here maybe you can meet him. He's a real nice guy."
After Lorna finishes applying her make-up and slightly curling her hair, she heads down to the lobby to wait for her boyfriend. She sits down in one of the chairs while watching outside. When she sees his car finally pull up and park, she rushes outside to it. Her face glows with an ecstatic smile as she stands on the sidewalk waiting to greet him. But her heart drops a little when she sees another girl get out of the passenger side.
The smile fades a bit, she looks up at Christopher with a confused expression showing on her face. "Who is she?" She asks, her tone bitter as she points her finger over towards the unfamiliar woman. "You didn't mention anyone would be coming with you, Christopher," Looking over at the other woman, Lorna prays that he isn't doing anything with her - she hopes he isn't cheating on her, there's no way she'd be able to live with such a predicament.
While wrapping Lorna in a tight embrace, he presses a kiss to her lips and smiles. "Oh you remember Angela, don't you? My brother's girlfriend. She's thinking about coming here next year so I offered for her to come up with me today - so she could kind of get a feel for the campus and everything. Sorry it was a last minute thing or I woulda told ya sooner." He says, secretly hoping she buys his excuse. In an effort to keep her convinced, he pulls her in for another kiss - allowing his hands to trace down her body.
They follow Lorna up to her dorm - giving each other secret glances when she's not paying attention. Once she keys in her code the door opens and the three of them enter. She notices her roommate is still there - immediately turning to them when she hears their footsteps. Nicky stares right at Lorna, quirking her eyebrows as if to silently ask who the other woman is. "This is my roommate, Nicky," she states, looking at her boyfriend. Then she glances back at the redhead, "This is Christopher - my boyfriend - and Angela, his brother's girlfriend." She nearly spits out the last part, not entirely believing it.
Nicky musters up a fake smile to give to the strangers - she can tell there's something going on between them and that this Lorna girl is too naive to notice it. "Nice to meet the two of you - Did the three of you graduate from the same high school?" She asks, inwardly rolling her eyes. It's so obvious that the two have feelings for each other and are trying their hardest to keep the tiny brunette from finding out.
Before Lorna can even open her mouth to say anything, Christopher speaks up. "Lorna and I did. Angela lives up in Albany - she graduates next summer. Where are you from? Are you from the city? You look like a city-type of woman." He looks her over, taking in every aspect of her body. He notices faded track marks on her arms and shakes his head, "Guess you shot yourself up with heroine too! Definitely must be from the city then - where else ya gonna sell drugs, huh?"
Shocked at how rude her boyfriend's being, Lorna gives him a dark stare while lightly slapping him on the shoulder. "Stop it, Christopher! Don't just assume things about people you don't know, that's really ignorant." She gives an apologetic look over to Nicky - hoping she doesn't hate her now. She would never forgive Christopher if he ruins her year by having her own roommate completely despise and ignore her. So when she sees the redhead shrug her shoulders with a smirk she feels a bit relieved.
Unfortunately Christopher doesn't let up as he roughly grabs Lorna by the shoulders, angrily looking into her eyes. He refuses to let his girlfriend spend a year living with some former drug dealer. "First of all - do not fucking slap me! Or you'll be dead sorry! And second, I'm not fucking assuming things about her. There's evidence clearly on her arms that she used to shoot herself up with fucking heroine. And there is no way in hell that you're gonna live with a roommate like that! You ain't doing drugs Lorna - your family and myself will disown you if you do. You better find yourself another roommate." He yells in her face - not caring when tears start to fall from her eyes.
"Christopher - that's enough," Lorna cries out, pushing him away from her. She timidly looks up at him, hurt clearly shown in her dark brown eyes. "You don't get to tell me who I can and can't be roommates with - that's my choice. And I'm staying right here, it's none of my and certainly not your business what Nicky's done in her past. So just stop it Christopher." She sniffles, walking over to her desk and sitting down in the chair. She can't believe how rude he's been - he never acted in such a way before.
Nicky can't help but give a quick glare over towards the light-haired man. Not just out of anger for her own self but also at the fact that he would threaten to hurt such a tiny woman as Lorna. "You think because she's living with a former drug-user that she's gonna end up doing drugs? Really - are you that stupid? Do you have that little faith in your girlfriend? Besides this a fucking state university, you know how much trouble I'd get in if I got caught with drugs? I'm not a moron and I gave them up years ago. And even if I was still doing them I certainly wouldn't force Lorna to use them." She rolls her eyes as she sticks her middle finger up at Christopher - she has no idea what Lorna even sees in the guy.
Shaking his head in a rage he goes over to the distraught brunette. He forces her to stand up and grabs her by the shoulders, shaking her harshly. "Let's make one thing clear - if you don't get a new roommate, we're done. I fucking mean it - you're already messed up in the head, Lorna, you don't need to be even worse by using drugs! Oh wait until your parents find out, they're gonna be just thrilled." Christopher merely growls while lifting his hand to slap her across the face.
Seeing what's going on, Nicky angrily gets up and walks over to them. She yanks Christopher away from the now trembling brunette, glaring darkly into his eyes. "I think it's best you and that friend of yours leave. You've done enough damage for one day," she shouts as she stares at him with a rage boiling inside, "I mean it - get the fuck out now!" She pushes him along with Angela out of the room and into the hallway, she closes the door behind her. There's something she needs to say without her roommate hearing. "You're a real asshole - you know that, Christopher? Yelling at your girlfriend like that - who only wanted to spend her afternoon visiting with the man she loved. And you bring along another woman? Can you be any colder towards her? You may be foolin' Lorna but you sure as hell aren't foolin' me. It's so fucking obvious that you and this Angela are cheating on your significant others with each other. That's fucking cruel - playin' around with other's true feelings like that. Now I may have just met Lorna last night but I don't care - I will make your life hell if you hurt her anymore than you already have. I'll track down where ya live and come re-arrange your face. So whatever's going on between you and Angela, it stops - now. I won't mention it to Lorna if you stop right now. But if you refuse than I'm telling her. You have five seconds to make up your damn mind!"
"Oh please," Christopher seethes, rolling his eyes. "Like she would believe you - she barely knows you. Besides you have no right to assume I'm the bad guy here - Lorna's got some hefty issues. She's a lot of fucking work. She has at least two panic attacks a day and she's fucking scared of people. So excuse me for wanting a break fom that! She's too caught up in her own world to notice what's going on anyway, so it's no big deal. You sure you wanna be stuck with a freak like her? You know - now that I think about it maybe her using drugs would be a good thing, maybe that'll make her a normal person." He laughs, along with Angela, and shakes his head.
Rage enters Nicky's brown eyes as she stares at the laughing man. "You're a fucking scumbag!" She yells at him, her face reddening with the amount of anger she's feeling inside. "You're justifying your actions by using your girlfriend's mental illness?! No - you don't get to do that! She's the one who has to deal with her symptoms, you don't. You're a fucking worthless piece of shit, Christopher! And quite frankly, you don't deserve to be with Lorna. I'm not stuck with a freak like her - she's not a freak, and I'm very happy to have her as my roommate. Now why don't you and Angela just get the fucking hell out of here so that I can go take care of and comfort your girlfriend - more like your soon-to-be ex." She flips them off before entering back into her room, slamming the door loudly behind her.
Lorna lay sobbing on her bed, curled onto her side. She feels her stomach churn at the thought of their relationship ending - Christopher was supposed to be her soulmate. How could she live in a world where she's without the man that she loves so deeply? Tears fall from her eyes in truck-loads. She hates that she's so far away from home right now - far away from her older sister, who knew exactly what to say to get her through a painful break-up.
Seeing her roommate in such a state brings an overwhelming amount of sadness to Nicky's eyes. She gently walks over to her, placing a comforting hand onto her back and rubbing it in soothing circles. "I'm so sorry for what happened with your boyfriend, kid. That was absolutely disrespectful of him to treat you in such a way! Are you okay?" She gently asks, looking sadly down at her.
Shaking her head timidly, Lorna slowly turns so that she's looking right at Nicky. Her eyes are glazed over in tears and pain. What a way to start off the semester, she thinks to herself. "No - I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let him come, it was rude of him to say what he said about you. I don't know what his deal is - I have never seen him so angry before. Maybe he's just upset at how far away from each other we are. That must be taking a toll on him as well," she sniffles as she casts her eyes out the window. They go wide when she notices something she wishes she had to never see. More tears come rolling down her cheeks, "How - how can he - he be doing this? He lied right to my face - telling me that she was here to look at the school... And now - now he's out there having a full on make-out session with her! God, I'm such a fuckin' idiot - I should have known this was happening." She sobs louder as holds onto frame of the window.
"He's the fuckin' idiot here, kid," Nicky's voice rasps while she makes her way over to the brunette, sitting down beside her and pulling her into a hug. She runs a hand comfortingly through her hair, "I can go out there and beat his ass if you'd like. I have no problem doing so!" The redhead says with a small chuckle, gaining her a tiny laugh in response. She smiles gently at the other - realizing that the two of them will get along just fine, and that there's something about Lorna that makes her heart beat a little faster.
Lorna wipes her tears before reaching to open the window. She quickly goes over to her desk and grabs a pencil, carries it back over to the window where she carefully aims to throw it at Christopher's head. Watching as it falls, a pleasing smile spreads on her face. When it finally hits him right on the head, Lorna can't help but laugh at the sound of his yelp and utter confusion. She sticks her head out of the window while flipping the two of them off, "I'm done with you Christopher - have fun with that whore of yours! I hear she's slept around with all the guys up in Albany!"
Laughing behind her, Nicky is astonished at what she just witnessed. But it makes her happy that the two of them are roommates - Lorna is a very intriguing woman and Nicky definitely plans to learn all about her.