Tina Palmer pushed a lock of her long, dark, curly hair behind her ear. She sighed, and then entered the dorm room that was to be her home for the next year. As she turned the knob, all sorts of fears were coursing through her- what if her roommate hated her? What if she hated her roommate? What if she wasn't smart enough? She remembered the moment she picked this tiny college in the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania. Pine Valley University- Pine Valley. The name alone sounded beautiful. It sounded like home. And it looked like home- with its cute tree lined streets, and quirky boutiques. Not that it looked like her home. Pine Valley was quite different from Manhattan. But it looked like a quiet place she would want to call home. She opened the door.

This she was not expecting. A tall, lanky boy, about 20 years old, with a mop of curly hair and a lazy grin, was stacking boxes. He looked at her and flashed a smile.

"Martina?" he asked.

"Uh, Tina," she said, startled. She had heard horror stories of people getting roommates of the wrong gender.

"I'm Sam," the boy said. Oh god, she thought. His name was generic. But wasn't her roommate supposed to be Madelyn? Maybe she had decided not to come? "I'm Maddy's brother," he went on. "She's down in the car with dad getting the rest f her stuff." Tina breathed a sigh of relief. Silly girl. She thought.

"That's cool," Tina said, putting her suitcase on her bed.

"Don't you have more stuff?" Sam asked quizzically.

"Yeah, it's all in storage. My mom couldn't make it this weekend, so we brought it up last weekend, and it should be arriving soon."

"Sam! Help!" a voice from the hallway cried. Sam leapt out of the room, and then burst out laughing. Tina stepped outside too. She smiled. A petite girl of obvious Spanish descent was sprawled on the ground, with stuff scattered all over- all of it was pink. "Oh no!" she cried. "Are you Martina? This is so not how I wanted to look when I met you!" Madelyn stood up. She was beautiful. "I'm Maddie Grey, and this is my hopelessly unhelpful brother Sam."

"Tina."

"Hey, are you tired of unpacking? Because I SO am! Wanna go say hi to people instead?" Maddy asked.

"Well, my stuff isn't here yet, so why not?" Tina answered.

"Great," Maddy smiled brightly. "Wanna come Sam?"

"I would but I told Colby I'd stop by and help her unpack," Sam replied.

"You are such a sucker for that girl big brother," Maddy said teasingly. He swatted her on the head playfully, before running off, with a quick bye to Tina. Maddy led her down the hall to the elevator. "My best friend is in a room upstairs. Her name's Danni, and she's really cool." The two of them got on the elevator. "So you're from the city? How cool is that? Are your parents here? Can I meet them? Do you have siblings? Uh, Sam is such a pain, but I love big families. My mom has three sisters and a brother and it's great! Oh, I'm talking too much. You must think I'm like, some small town hick."

Tina laughed. "No, I don't. Um, the city is amazing. I love it, especially in December. There is nothing like Christmas in New York. My mom's not here- she had a meeting, otherwise she'd totally love to meet you. And she's pretty much the only family I got so, yeah."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to- so she's an only child?" They got out of the elevator, and started walking down the hallway.

"Well it's actually a crazy story you wouldn't believe."

"When I was a few months old, my parents and I were in a plane crash. My dad and I were gotten safely out, but my mom went over a cliff trapped inside the plane. We thought she was dead, but five years later she resurfaced, and it turned out she only had amnesia."

"Okay that's creepy," Tina said.

"Overshare? Your story's not that ridiculous?" Maddy asked.

"No. Right before I was born my mom was found unconscious in a river. They gave her a c section, and when she woke up she had no memory of who she was. We spent years trying to figure it out, but to no avail. That's actually where she is now. She's following a lead."

"Oh my good we're like soul roommates!" Maddy cried. "If you want my daddy's an investigative reporter. He can help. And Danni's uncle is a certified PI."

"Thanks, but we have PI's. Plenty of them," Tina replied.

"Maddy!" a voice cried, before a curly haired blonde threw herself in Maddy's arms. "We're in college!"

"Danni, calm yourself," a boy chastised, wrapping his arm around her waist, as two cute boys walked by, checking her out.

"Tina, this is my best friend in the world Danni, and my cousin Ren," Maddy introduced. "Guys this is Tina, my roommate."

"Hey," Danni smiled. "So glad to see Maddy's roommate is totally cool. Mine- totally not."

"Already?" Maddy asked.

"She bitched about Ren being here. WHATEVER!" Danni cried.

"That's so cool how the three of you get to go to college together," Tina told them.

"Four," Ren said. "Dave-Danni's brother, and my best friend slash roommate."

"Yeah, he's at hockey practice," Danni informed her. "He's always practicing. It's sick really."

"No it's not," Maddy insisted.

"Stop crushing on my brother," Danni teased.

"Stop making out with my cousin," Maddy gave it right back.

"This is kind of an incestuous town," Ren informed Tina. "Not to the point of actual incest, but, ya know. It's a small place."

"Hey, I'm not one to judge," Tina shrugged. A cell phone started ringing. Ren picked it up.

"Yo man what's up? BJ's? In like, 15? Awesome. Later." Ren closed his phone and looked at the girls. "Want to meet Dave and his friend Ben at BJs for lunch?" They nodded their approval, and started down the hall.

BJ's was a cute place. It was kind of like an upscale diner. When they got there, two boys had a big table saved for them. The blonde one looked like the boy version of Danni- definitely Dave. The other, had jet black hair, piercing blue eyes, and a killer smile. Tina sucked in her breath. Maddy looked at her slyly. They were all introduced, and sat down. Tina found herself in between Maddy and Ben. Benjamin Shepard. What a great name.

They talked for awhile. The food was great. The company was great. Tina looked around happily. Definitely home.