Hope Estheim lugged his suitcase through the dark hallway, searching for his room.

Room 810.

Nope. What would his roommate be like? Would it be a strong guy who defended him from bullying, or a dumb nerd that he had to defend himself. What if it was a girl.

811.

No. It wouldn't be a girl. They wouldn't stick him in a room with a female gender that would try to talk to him. Or worse. Date him.

812.

Would he be liked? Would he be made fun of? Would his past or his hair color or his secret of being a l'Cie affect the way people thought of him?

813.

His suitcase suddenly felt a lot heavier than it did before. A lurching feeling began to crawl into his stomach.

814.

What if he wasn't smart enough to go here? What if he was too smart? What if he gets no friends and has to be forever alone his entire life?

815.

This was the room. Hope blinked away the worried tears and grabbed his key inside his pocket. He slowly felt it sink to the key whole, and turned it. He heard the click, and pushed the door open. All the lights were off. The lonely 14 year old stepped into the little living room with a couch and an old blocky television. On the coffee table was a knife. Gasping slightly and looking away, he walked into the kitchenette and saw no food or dishes in the sink. Sighing, he stepped down the little hallway and quietly yelped, "Hello?" No answer.

Hope was alone. In a way this was a good thing, since he didn't have to deal with girls or guys or anyone teasing him, but he would be so lonely as well. Hope opened a door to one of the two bedrooms at random and threw his suitcase on the floor. He climbed into the bed and cried himself to sleep. Why did he even decide to sign up for this school?

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY BED?" Hope felt something smack him in the head. The poor teenager felt falling and then he thumped on the floor. Looking up in horror, he realized he had a roommate. And this roommate…

Was a female.

Why is there a kid in my room? Lightning screamed down the hallway. Hope started at the floor realizing what just happened. She picked up her cell phone and jammed a number into the thing. She waited impatiently for someone to pick up.

"Hello? Yeah, Mr. Johnson, I have a problem. Yeah. There's a freakin' 5 year old squatter in my room, can you get rid of it? Yeah, I was out last night with my sister and I come back this morning to get ready for school and there's someone in my bed, and – I'M NOT RAMBLING, SIR.JUST BE A GOOD PRINCIPAL AND GET. HIM. OUT."

Hope heard all the talking and screaming from the girl's floor. His eyes began to water as he picked up his unmoved suitcase. And sat on the top of it, waiting for the mortifying girl to come back and stab him with the knife he saw earlier. He then heard a light knock on the door. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he waited for someone to say something.

"Finally, you're here – Oh, Serah, what are you doing here?" Hope heard gentle footsteps come into the house.

"Oh, nothing. I just heard screaming and I was wondering if you were all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just trying to deal with a squatter in my house right now."

"What? There's someone in your house? Where? We should call the police! Or just attack him ourselves!"

"Serah, that would be child abuse, I'm not gonna go and-"

"What? Lightning, a kid is not a squatter." Hope jerked his head up slightly. Lightning? What kind of name is that?

"Go see for yourself." Hope's eyes welled up in tears again. His life is over. How come the counselor gave him the wrong room? Or maybe he sent him here to die on purpose. He wiped the tears from his eyes, but then they just continued to come. He wanted to go home, but there was no home for him except here or an orphanage now. He heard the gentle footsteps then angry footsteps follow.

When they finally came close enough to the door, Hope sniffled and looked up. Serah's mouth almost fell open. How could she call a little boy so innocent a squatter? And, what was he doing here. Hope stared worringly into the girl's eyes. She looked a lot like Lightning, but much more innocent and only a couple of years younger, but they both looked like college kids, which Hope expected, but he didn't imagine they were going to be this tall.

Serah slowly walked over to the silently crying kid, his eyes staring fearfully into hers. She kneeled down at Hope's side, and took in a breath. Lightning leaned against the door, waiting for her to say something.

"Hi there," Serah said, almost whispering. Hope could tell she was a lot sweeter than the woman at the door who attacked her. "what are you doing here?" Hope took a couple seconds to process his words then spoke. "I – I'm gonna go to school here and this is my room." Lightning looked incredibly confused and Serah looked almost sad.

"What do you mean? You know this is a college, right honey?" Hope smiled microscopically and nodded.

"I… took the test and got in. This was the only place I could go besides… this was the only place I could go." Serah nodded and her eyes moved to Hope's pocket. Hope stared at it for a second and pulled out his room and key, shakily handing it to Serah.

"Why are you giving this to me?" Serah asked, staring at the room key.

"I'll leave. I'm sorry I stayed in your room. This is the hey that a man gave me, He said this was the right room, but, apparently not. I can sleep in the hallway, or I don't even have to go here, I guess. I-I'm so sorry." Starting to sit up, Hope felt Serah grab his arm.

"Lightning didn't know that she was having a roommate. That's why she… attacked you this morning. If you're really supposed to go here, then stay. If my sister doesn't want you here, you can stay with me. But, can I ask you a question? How did you get into this school?"

"I… passes the test, and I don't have a home otherwise, so I figured here would be the best place to go." Serah tried her best not to cry at the pained looked in his eyes and looked over at Lightning.

"Light, I'll take him. You can have the room to yourself. C'mon, kid!" Serah said joyfully, happy to accept the little boy into the school. Lightning nodded, but almost with hesitation. Serah opened the door and they walked silently to the door two rooms away from Lightning's. Light suddenly heard a knock on the door and opened it.

"Oh. Mr. Johnson. You're too late. He's already gone." And she slammed the door in his face, leaving the teacher awestruck of how she treated him. Lightning slumped down on the couch and thought carefully for a minute. She felt like she had just given something up. She had never felt so alone.

I hope you enjoyed the story! This is basically my first story since my first one called His Sacrifice was just another story idea edited lightly from another fanfiction (with permission of course!) by me. And my second story was like, 100 words long. But I do really like my story at the moment, so I'll see how this turns out! Even if it gets no reviews. SO yeah, thank you for reading my first real fanfiction!