On the Wrong Foot

This is my first fic ever. I have never shared a piece of my writing before so this is probably really rough. Please be kind.

I do not own these characters.

Mary arrived in Cambridge on a Saturday all by herself. Mary's parents did not approve of her going off to university and living away from home. She wanted a real university experience and that meant leaving her title behind and moving into a small dorm room on the university campus. As she approached Kings College she was immediately overcome with nerves. She watched as dozens of students and their parents running about trying to get situated. Mary really did miss her family at this moment, but she knew she had to become more independent and do this. Mary did not know anyone else going Cambridge and was scared of having a roommate.

She stepped off the elevator on the fifth floor and wandered down to room 525. The room was on the right side and the door was already open, which was a surprise. She prepared to meet her roommate, hoping she was just as nervous and excited as she was. Mary saw an older woman folding pieces of clothing and packing them away into drawers. As the woman peered up at her a smile crossed her face and stood up immediately. She walked over to Mary introducing herself,

"Hello, my name is Isobel Crawley and this is my son Matthew Crawley. Do you live on this floor?"

Turning around from the closet a young man with tousled blonde hair stood looking quite stunned. He was handsome although Mary did not think he was her type. She wasn't sure what was wrong and why he just continued to stand there completely silent.

"Umm…actually I do, in fact this is my room. Is your daughter perhaps around somewhere, she must be my roommate".

Matthew continued to remain silent but eventually spoke up on the issue. "No, I do not have a sister this is my room, you must be mistaken!"

Mary replied, "No, no, you must be mistaken…it even says it here!" She provided him with the email from the residence office she received in the summer. Matthew began to scan the document looking to find an error in the document, but found that there were no mistakes. Both of them had been placed in room 525. Isobel spoke up before Matthew had a chance to reply.

"I'm sorry but we never got your name."

"I'm Mary Crawley."

Finally able to speak up he said, "Well that must be it, we have the same last name. It's not exactly a very common one. They must go alphabetically".

Mary retorted, "Yes, that very well may be, but that doesn't explain why you a boy, and myself a girl have been paired together in a room. It is not proper at all!"

Isobel offered. "Well how about I go downstairs to the residence office right now and get this all sorted out".

Mary and Matthew were left alone while Isobel went to sort out the problem. Matthew just continued to unpacking his clothes and completely ignored Mary. He was not really sure why he was being so stand-offish but something just came over him. He still could not ignore that Mary was gorgeous and had long dark curls that hung to the middle of her back. She had the loveliest fair skin and just thinking about getting a closer feel made hum blush. As much as he was taken aback by her beauty, she seemed a little rude. The whole room switch-up was not his fault, yet she seemed to be so aggravated with him.

Mary was the first to speak, "don't you think you should wait to unpack, I mean this is my room".

"Excuse me? I was here first Miss-I-Think-I-Own-The-Place!"

"That is Lady Mary to you…"

Mary regretted saying this immediately. She did not want people to see her is an aristocratic snob even though she was quite acting like it at the moment. Before he had a chance to reply she spoke up.

"Look I am really sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. This whole moving in process has been anything but easy and I'm just really stressed out and anxious

Unfortunately Matthew was too annoyed at this point just to let it all go. But he also did not want to continue fighting either so he just said, "Whatever you say, Lady Mary."

Mary turned to sit on the other bed since nothing could be resolved until Isobel returned.

Isobel eventually walked in to the room looking a little worried, which made Mary feel a little anxious herself. "So, I have some bad news…unfortunately every other room in the building is assigned and filled and there is nowhere to switch either of you."

Matthew jumped in, "What are you trying to say mother?"

"It looks as though you two are going to have to be roommates until further notice. Unless someone decides to drop out there is nowhere else for either of you to go."

"Just great," Mary thought. As if things couldn't get any worse- they did.

"Of course it is completely unorthodox, but why don't we try to make the best of a bad situation", Isobel suggested.

Both Mary and Matthew replied with a groan. This situation would not have been easy if they had started on the right foot. Mary could tell this was going to be a very long school year.