I smoothed the rich brown duvet over my twin bed and stepped back to survey my dorm room. It was just as it had been before I'd gone home for the holidays; the cream walls contrasted nicely with the dark hardwood floors, fluffy, colourful rugs lay beneath both beds on either side of the room and under the dark blue couch, lime green pod chair, purple beanbag chair, coffee table and TV, and the usual clutter of living all made the room familiar. It felt like I'd never left Canterwood Crest, even though I'd been away for over two weeks.

I grinned across the room to Carly Hart, my roommate and best friend. "Are we good, or what?"

"Totally good. We unpacked everything in under fifteen minutes. That's got to be, like, a record." Carly swept her straight blonde hair out of her eyes and flopped onto her bed. "I'm ready for a nap. What are you going to do?" she asked.

"Hmmm," I mused. What was I going to do? I could go down to the stable to see my buckskin Hanoverian mare, Glamour. I really missed her while I was away, and she needed some attention and exercise. Or I could settle down in the common room and relax with a book. Or… I could send Luke a text and see if he wanted to do something. I blushed as the thought crossed my mind. Luke Ramsay was my boyfriend. Hehehe, I couldn't get over saying that. I had a boyfriend. And the perfect boyfriend, too. He was smart, funny, sensitive, and really cute. Yes, I would see if Luke was here yet, and maybe he would want to get hot chocolate or something.

"Ooh, thinking about a certain someone?" Carly said teasingly.

"Maaaybe." I giggled. I dug my Blackberry out of my pocket and sent a quick text to Luke, asking if he was on campus yet. Immediately, I felt my heart start to race. Pointless anxiousness. But even though Luke and I had talked a ton over the break, we hadn't seen each other since that night. The night of Canterwood's Christmas ball. It had been a crazy evening, to say the least. Luke's girlfriend at the time, Amanda Fields, had been caught making out with Luke's roommate, and Luke had been devastated. I'd invited him back to my dorm, Orchard, so that he could regroup and avoid people. Somewhere in the time between sitting outside in the cold on the steps of Canterwood's ballroom and drinking hot chocolate that I'd made, Luke realized that he had feelings for me. I'd had a huge crush on him since the first time we met, but we'd been nothing more than close friends. I thought back to the moment when Luke had confessed that he liked me. It had been… magical; like in a movie, or something, only more surreal. The two of us were sitting on one of the couches in Orchard dorm's cozy common room. We had both leaned in, and I thought we were going to kiss, but at that exact moment a loud group of girls had come into the building and Luke had to go back to his own dorm. After promising to keep in touch over the winter break, he left.

My phone buzzed and I opened the reply from Luke. "Ohmigosh, Luke wants to see me. Now!" I squealed.

"That's great, Taylor!" Carly exclaimed. "Are you nervous?"

"A little," I admitted. I went over to my tall dresser and pulled out a pair of dark blue skinny jeans. Then, turning to my closet, I began pawing through the recently-hung sweaters. I found a pale blue oversize sweatshirt and held it up for Carly to see. "Too casual? I thought maybe this, with a dark grey tank top underneath."

"Nope, it'll look super cute."

"Ok. Good. Alright." I made myself stop talking. Nervous babbling was one of my worst habits. I slipped on the outfit and shook my golden brown hair out of it's ponytail. Straightened, my hair hung down to the middle of my back. I adjusted my shirt so that the wide neckline hung off of one shoulder. I quickly applied a dark brown liner to my eyes and darkened my lashes with a light coat of mascara. Deep breath in, exhale slowly. I smoothed a coat of peachy gloss over my lips, and slipped into a pair of tall chestnut-coloured leather boots. They were a Christmas present from my parents, and I was totally in love with them. Brass buckles on each ankle jingled softly when I walked. I yanked on my thick wool coat and a pair of light grey knitted mittens. Another deep breath, and I was waving good-bye to Carly as I walked out the door.

…

Just a short little chapter to get this story rolling. :) I have lots more on the way!

Hope everybody is having a good holiday!