Fall Semester, 2012.
There was a boy in her room.
Just like last year. Except this time, the boy in her room was her boyfriend and most definitely not her roommate.
But, she wasn't in her room. Cath was stood in a room just a few doors down from her own, watching as her twin sister dropped her bags on her bed, and sighed loudly as she turned back towards her. Wren's hair was still cut short, she'd had it trimmed back into a pixie-like cut just before they'd returned, and she was still the 'prettier one'. Cath didn't think she'd changed all that much. Her own hair was clipped up and the same glasses still leaned against her nose with ease, but that didn't mean she felt at ease to be back. Part of her had missed it, she supposed, but she realised as she entered the building and looked at signs of what last year had been, the only parts she'd missed were Levi. Reagan too, she guessed.
"Do I have to unpack all of your things?" said a familiar voice from behind her. Cath turned around to see Levi in the doorway, grinning from ear-to-ear, despite his question.
"I'm coming now." Cath said, turning back to her sister.
Wren smirked, before shaking her head. "Stop it."
"What?" Cath asked, eyebrows rising in surprise.
"That look. I'm three doors down, Cath. Not in another country. Go un-pack."
Perhaps it was just the fact that Cath had spent the summer back in the same room as her sister; the late nights huddled around her laptop as they trawled through the reviews of Carry On; as they discussed the ending of Simon Snow and The Eighth Dance and just in-general having her twin sister back.
Wren interrupted Cath's train of thought by speaking again. "Besides, I don't want you hanging around here when my roommate gets here. You might kill my cool."
"Fine. I'm leaving." Cath said, turning away and joining Levi in the corridor. Despite the fact they'd spent weeks of the summer together, Levi was still waiting outside of their dorm room. It wasn't the same room as last year, but they were in the same building. Heck, it was lucky that Cath and Wren were even on the same floor, so she couldn't complain.
The walk didn't take long. A few strides, and she was there. "I left the door unlocked." Cath reminded Levi softly.
She wasn't looking at him as she spoke, instead she was opening the door by herself, but she could hear his smile as he replied. "I know."
The room looked similar, at least, it was a blank canvas but it felt familiar. It was plain, with two twin beds and two desks, just like their last room. Reagan was yet to arrive, because her side (which Cath assumed was going to be the same as last year, despite the room change) was still empty aside the furniture. Levi, who obviously had assumed the same, moved past her and lay down on her bed, stretching his long legs across the sheets freely.
Cath just looked at him, and he smiled at her. "What?" He said, "Do you want me to leave whilst you get your Simon Snow on?" His question was asked with a grin, and Cath couldn't help but grin in return.
"No." She replied, rather than refuse the fact that she did in-fact have posters in her bag, and just one of the commemorative busts.
"Do you want me to help you get your Simon Snow on?" He returned quickly, his grin not budging a bit.
Cath snorted. "No."
"Is that just a Cather thing? Would I be invading? Or are you into feng shui and I just didn't know about it?" Levi asked, budging slightly on her bed, but keeping his eyes on her as he did so.
"I'm not unpacking yet." She replied, not really answering any question he'd put forward. "Are those questions a way of you asking if I brought my posters?" Even after the amount of time they'd spent together, and the innocent activitys they partook in (mainly her reading pieces of her own writing), she was still surprised that this boy was fine with her obsession over these characters.
"I'd say yes, but I know the answer." Levi said.
"Hey, look. It's like you guys never left." A new voice. Or, a new-old voice. Cath turned to find Reagan in the doorway. Reagans eyes were locked on Cath's bag, the top un-zipped, and the sight of a Simon Snow poster peeping out of it. "And here's me thinking you might have out-grown him. Another year of looking at this creep before I sleep."
"Nice to see you too, Reagan." Cath replied. And it was, really – she'd missed Reagan. She supposed, despite their obvious conflicting personalities, that she did consider the girl a friend. Even if she was still a little intimidating at times.
Reagan entered the room, dropping her bag on her bed. "I guess we're not mixing it up, then." She said from her stooped position over her bag, without looking over at either of them. "With the beds, I mean. Not the posters. Though, it kind of does apply to those too."
Whilst Cath didn't feel the need to explain herself – at least, not anymore, and not to Reagan – she still replied with "Well, that poster is new." She said, pointing to the poster at the top of her bag. The new release of the last book had meant a whole lot of new merchandise and it'd be silly if Magicath wasn't the owner of some, or at least, that had been Cath's argument.
Reagan didn't honour that with a response; instead she grabbed a few piles of her clothes out of her bag and started to place them in her closet. She did, however, turn around a few moments later. "So, how long did you cry during the summer over that book?"
And Cath didn't honour that with a response.
"Why are you unpacking here, anyway? Aren't you practically going to be living with Levi this whole semester?" Reagan asked un-shamefully, whereas this question still caused Cath's cheeks to change to light shade of pink.
"I- I live here." Cath replied.
Reagan snorted. "I know. Let's go get lunch. We haven't criticized together all summer." Reagan's eyes moved to Levi and they changed slightly, as if this was the first time that she'd seen him since she'd arrived, "Coming?" She asked.
He shook his head, but smiled (of course) whilst doing so. "Nah, I have to get back before I head off to work." He pushed himself up from Cath's bed and moved towards her, planting a quick kiss on her forehead before he said, "See you later, Cather." And he left.
Now, that was a little weird, Cath thought, but she decided not to comment – it wasn't like Levi had even seen Reagan this summer, so nothing could have happened to create tension anyway.
"Let's go, dreamer. We'll miss lunch if you keep staring into space." Reagan said in an impatient tone, tapping her foot loudly by the door as if to emphasise: nobody in real life actually tapped their foot, Cath had thought, because it was just one of those things seen in sit-coms by the sarcastic characters. But perhaps Reagan was just one of those sarcastic characters, she reasoned with herself, as she followed her into the hallway.
"I'll just call for my-" Cath cut herself off as she turned in the direction of her sisters room and noticed that Alejandro was there, leaning against the doorpost. Apparently, it hadn't been the roommate that Wren had been worried Cath would show her up in front of. "Never mind. Let's go."
So far, Cath. So good.