As is customary for me, I like to state my inspiration for my stories (whenever there is one/some). This storyline is inspired by several songs from Broadway Musicals. This first segment was inspired by the song "What Is This Feeling?" This song will play a role throughout much of this opening.

I have an idea where this story is going, so we'll see how it works out. I hope you all enjoy!

EXTENDED SUMMARY: After attending a local community college for two years post-high school, 20-year-old Astrid Hofferson finally decides to leave her past behind her and attend a larger university a few hours from her hometown, Raven Pointe. With this new experience comes Heather, her roommate. How can Astrid be expected to live in the same dormitory with this girl who is the exact opposite in...well, just about everything? And, what's the story behind the boy Astrid meets on campus during the first day of classes?

Chapter 1: Time For A Change

It was time for a change. This town held too many memories—bad memories. Twenty-year-old Astrid Hofferson constantly questioned her decision to stay and attend community college for two years following her graduation for high school. Astrid had never had the best relationship with her parents so why did she ever think that living at home for two more long years would be a good idea? It didn't help that, even years later, Astrid couldn't walk through town without the memories of…him. She needed to get away…and that's why she found herself applying to Berk University, a public university located an hour and a half away from her hometown of Raven Pointe.

As Astrid packed everything she owned (at least, that's how it felt), she thought about the university and what she had read online about the school. It was not a large university, by any means, but it was big enough (from what she had seen) to hide in the crowd…which is exactly what Astrid planned to do. Here she could start over fresh, no more reputation and no more stares.

She had enrolled as an undergraduate to continue where she had left off after her two years of GED classes at RPACC, the abbreviation for Raven Pointe Area Community College. Because she would be a non-commuter undergraduate student, Berk University required her to sign up for university housing and she was not looking forward to that. The only people Astrid had ever lived with were her parents and they had never exactly gotten along. How could she be expected to live this whole school year with a total stranger? Of course, she did not have a choice; she didn't know any other girl who attended Berk University and she needed to have a roommate. At least her and her roommate (the university had told Astrid the other girl's name, but Astrid had forgotten it already) would have separate bedrooms.

Regardless of how the living situation was going to suck, Astrid did not plan to return home to Raven Pointe until the dormitories closed. Anywhere was better than here. The less time she spent here in Raven Pointe, the better. Currently, Astrid had two suitcases full of just clothes and she was working on her third. Tomorrow was the day that she would finally leave this place and Astrid was counting the hours as she folded her clothes. Tomorrow could not come soon enough.

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Early the next morning, Astrid moved all her belongings out into the trunk and backseat of her blue car. It was a challenge to make everything fit in the small space, but Astrid managed. Shutting the trunk and doors, Astrid took a step back to admire her car.

This car, a blue Nissan Skyline, was Astrid's second car. Both cars—this one and her first car—she had bought with her own hard-earned money. After what had happened with her first car, Astrid was very protective of this one. Never again would she let that occur again.

Patting the back of the car, Astrid stepped toward the driver's door. "Ready to finally leave this stupid town, Stormfly?" Yes, Astrid did name her car and no, she did not care how weird it sounded to do something like that.

Confident that everything she would need was safely tucked into all the available storage areas in her car, Astrid started the engine and pulled away from her house and hometown without a single "goodbye" or glance back.

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The drive to Berk University was new; Astrid had opted not to visit and tour the campus before applying to the school. She had decided not to waste her time. If she didn't like the university, then that would be nothing new. It would be like living back in Raven Pointe.

As Astrid drove, the radio played song-after-song, followed often by commercials, but Astrid paid little attention to it. The radio was just there to break up the monotonous silence that would fill the inside of the car otherwise.

Surprisingly, the traffic on the highway was sparse. Astrid had expected there to be more cars, but the traffic did not pick up until she arrived closer to the city of Berk. Berk, as Astrid had read on the website for the university, was a small town, so move-in day for the university turned the city streets into a gridlock. Luckily, Astrid had left Raven Pointe early enough that she did not have to sit too long in the traffic.

When Astrid finally arrived on campus, Astrid checked in and learned she would be residing this year in Bork Hall. Facing the move-in traffic one last time, Astrid found a rare parking space outside the suite-style dormitory. Snagging a cart, Astrid loaded everything from her car onto it to take into the building. As she waited for an elevator, Astrid glanced over a plague that described the history behind the building's name. Apparently, Mr. Bork was a founder and supporter of Berk University. Not that Astrid cared really; he was long dead by now.

Astrid's room was on the fourth floor, so she had to wait for the elevator to stop on floors two and three before it even reached her destination. Already she could not wait to be done with this whole "moving in" process, but (as she continually reminded herself) it was still better than living back in Raven Pointe.

The university student ID given to Astrid at check-in was her key to enter the room. With a swipe, the door unlocked and Astrid entered, taking in the clean suite before her. To her right was a small kitchen and a common seating area—living room—was directly in front of her. On either side of the living room were the bedrooms. Looking in both, Astrid chose the one with the best view out the windows. She had arrived before her roommate, so she had every opportunity to be picky about which room would be hers for the year.

Once all of her belongings were placed within the dormitory, Astrid walked back to the parking area to move Stormfly to a designated parking lot. Though Astrid did not much care if others found parking spaces near the dormitory, she did care about getting ticketed for parking in a non-designated area. That is not how she wanted to start off this new school year.

The walk back took about fifteen minutes and Astrid began to question the description on the university's website claiming it to be small. Although, to be fair, it was a bit unfair to have students park so far away from everything else. Even the commuter parking lots were closer…but there was no way that Astrid wanted to live at home…well, in Raven Pointe anymore. She had lived there long enough.

Immediately upon entering the dormitory again, Astrid set to work at finding places for all of her belongings. Still her roommate had not arrived. Perhaps Astrid would get lucky and the other girl would be a no-show. Astrid wouldn't mind this one bit. She'd always preferred being alone anyway.

Late afternoon found Astrid in the room that was to be her bedroom. She was completing various tasks to arrange the room and place her clothing and belongings in places where she would find them again when needed. As Astrid was placing her folded clothes into the provided dresser, she heard the door open and close, followed by the sounds of multiple pairs of shoes on the floors. So much for her roommate being a no-show.

The other girl was talking to her parents, instructing them where to place her belongings. Astrid ignored them and continued folding her clothes. Shortly after the girl and her parents entered the dormitory, Astrid heard a knock on the frame of her bedroom door. Before she could say anything in reply, the other girl entered.

"You must be Astrid. It's a pleasure to meet you. I just came to introduce myself. I'm Heather, your roommate."

Figured it was time for another modern How To Train Your Dragon AU. Hope that everyone likes. As I said, I have some very detailed plans for where this story is going to go, so…yep, we'll get to those, then.

Thank you all for reading and supporting Roommates!

Posted: September 21, 2014