November 1994

Kate Beckett had been looking forward to finally attending Standford University all year. She had graduated High School one year early because she'd skipped a year and finished at the top of her class. The prospect of being a student at one of the best universities in the country was a chance she couldn't let pass by. It was her chance to prove herself. It was her chance to becoming a lawyer and she wanted to become one of the best.

She loved the thought of defending the innocent and helping those who couldn't afford legal services.

The thought of standing up before a jury and thanking her clients for the privilege of representing them and the thought of knowing that people trusted her...it must be a great feeling...

So here she was, a 17-year old future attendent of Standford university, getting out of the cab this sunny friday morning with luggage in hand, in Standford, California.

As she approached the beautiful building she knew that she made the right decision. She watched curiously as students hung out in several places around the campus.

Kate smiled.

This was her new home. Her future.

After receiving her key Kate started to look for her dorm, the room that would be her home for the following four years. She was curious and couldn't wait to meet her roomie...or roomies?

"101...102...ah 103", she mumbled to herself and reached into her pocket for her key. She had no idea if her room mate was already there so she pressed her ear against the door, trying to listen to any noise coming from inside.

Nothing.

"Ok...seems like I'm the first one here."

She opened the door and carried her heavy luggage into the room. It was beautiful and very spacious. There were two beds which meant that Kate would need to share this room with only one other student. She didn't really mind. She had no problems at getting along with others, so it made no difference to her if there were one or two other persons in one room with her.

After Kate had chosen her bed and had put her cosmetic stuff into the beautiful and big bathroom she noticed that there was a third door.

"Hmm...this must be an adjoining room."

"Hi there."

Kate turned around after hearing the low and raspy voice and smiled shyly at the person who stood in the door way.

The girl was beautiful. She had dark skin, beautiful long, black hair and the look in her eyes screamed convidence.

"You must be my room mate. I'm Laney Parish."

The girl approached Kate and held her hand out.

"Hi I'm Kate." Kate smiled and took the hand of the beautiful girl.

"That will be 4 beautiful years here", the girl grinned and plopped on the bed that was left for her.

"Sooo...where are you from?"

Kate smiled.

"I'm from New York City. I attended Stuyvesant High School there."

Lanie raised her eyebrows.

"Stuyvesant High School? Isn't this for highly gifted students?"

Kate blushed.

"Yeah...kind of..." Oh my god. She must think that I'm the biggest nerd ever.

"That's great." Lanie grinned.

"It is?", Kate stammered.

Lanie nodded enthusiastically.

Kate smiled.

"Cool. And where are you from?"

Lanie flipped her hair and winked.
"I'm from Chicago and attended Collins High School there."

"Wow. That's great. I love Chicago. I have an uncle over there."

"That's cool. We can go to Chicago in our semester holidays."

Kate grinned at the girl. She seemed to have no shy bone in her body.

Richard Alexander Rogers was nursing a hangover most of his first morning back at Standford. He had arrived Thursday evening, after spending a great time clubbing and attending a handful of parties.

Richard Rogers was really something. His school agenda was far from boring. After he had finished High school he attended many university but was always kicked out because of bad behaviour. No one knew that this boy, who had nothing but nonsense on his mind, loved to write. He turned to writing after he was transferred to Edgewyck Academy at the age of 14 because he was homesick and withoug any friends. At first he had written several stories for personal amusement or for friends, starting with thriller stories or non-fiction stuff. His first serious novel was "In a Hail of Bullets." It was rejected 21 times before a publisher accepted it. Soon after, Richard won the "Nom DePlume Society's Tom Straw Award for Mystery Literature." Now at age 24, STILL a student at Standford University, he had several bestsellers under his belt and was very smug about it. But that is who he was. He was loved by many girls and envied by even more boys but he didn't really care. All he was looking forward to was to finally finish his last year at Standford. He could've dropped out with all the money he's earned with his books but his mother told him that she didn't pay thousands of dollars for his education for nothing, so he decided to get a proper education not only for his, but mostly for his mothers sake.

Rick groaned and opened his eyes. Worst. Hangover. Ever.

After mumbling to himself that he would never drink again he threw on a pair of cut-off jeans and a blue tropical shirt and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. With his tooth-brush in his mouth he left the bathroom and frowned when he heard laughter coming from the adjoining room next to his.

"Ah the new students must be here."

Rick grinned when he noticed that the voices coming from the other room were female. He needed to check them out. That is what he always did. He was far too curious for his own good. He hurried into the bathroom, washed his face and looked into the mirror. Satisfied enough he left the bathroom again and went to the door. He put his ear against the door and tried to listen to the girls but it was quiet now.

"Did they leave?"

Rick shrugged his shoulders and decided to give it a go. He knocked on the door and waited patiently.

After a few seconds he heard steps coming closer. The door opened.

Rick gasped.

In front of him stood the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

Sooo...Hello guys. This is my first Castle fic, so pleeease be nice. Haha. I really hope you'll like it. Please review and let me know what you think. Thank you guys. :)