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It was heartbreaking to leave my family in Alaska, but I was happy to be doing something on my own. I had never been completely alone; my over-protected family was always nearby. This time, it was just me. After years of living in the shadows, moving from place to place, constantly protected was, hopefully, was worth the price of freedom.

I sighed, remembering the horrible fights between Matt and Rachel that led to this adventure. I finally had to pull the childish card, I threatened to leave and never contact them. It was a lie, but I really wanted this, needed my own life. Leaving me alone was never supposed to be an option. Matt and I applied to all the same schools, but with money being tight we had to make the tough decision. Matt and Rachel were now in Alaska, where he had been accepted with a four-year full scholarship and she was working at the local hospital finishing her residency, while I was in Seattle…alone.

Being alone came easily to me. I really only had Rachel and Matt. My whole life revolved around them, so I tended to live in my head. It was just easier since we moved so often, and I rarely had to make any friends. I didn't go to school; Matt and I were homeschooled. Not that I minded, I didn't relate to most people.

There was no reason for the self-pity or loneliness that was seeping through; I was finally at the University of Washington, pulling my two suitcases through the doors into my new home…a dormitory. This is where my life would begin, this is where I would find myself, and hopefully some answers about my life, as short as it may be.

Suck it up, Katie. So what if it's prison like, I thought, as I gazed at the cement building. This was now my home. Making it safely to the third floor, only slightly annoyed by the perverted comments in the heads of male Neanderthals. The new craziness of hearing people's thoughts was distracting, but over the last month, I had gotten better at dulling the noise, keeping the voices from driving me mad.

I pushed open the door to my room. It was larger than I expected, two extra-long twin beds, one on each side of the room; a large window separated the two halves. At the end of each bed, a squat four drawer dresser, in the corners near the door small desks, dull white paint covered the walls…quaint intuitional, not a style I would have chosen.

At least I will have my own stuff. My roommate had already claimed the right side of the room. I hoped it's a girl, it was a coed dormitory.

The roommate's bed was made in a brown and green quilt; there was a laptop on the desk and multiple pictures surrounding the desk and bed. Curiously, I examined the dozen pictures above the desk. There were a few pictures of the same boy and girl smiling. Both tanned skin and dark hair, similar features…the others were group shots, mostly boys. Only a few had girls, and the same girl smiling face in a few of the pictures. All the boys were muscular, handsome behemoths of human forms. I swallowed hard hoping these were pictures of my roommate's family. Hoping, the boys in these pictures would not be sleeping just feet from me.

I lay my suitcase on the floor and unzipped it. Pulling out my favorite soft, purple throw blanket and green cotton sheets from one of my suitcases, I made the bed, finishing the task by tossing on my pillow. Glancing down at the three silver framed pictures I brought laying in the case, protected. I took a deep breath, missing the faces staring back at me.

Matt and Rachel were the only family I had; two of the framed pictures were of the three of us. The last one was of my grandparents, they had passed away two years ago, but I always felt them with me. I shook away the sadness, standing up, I set the frames on the small desk. My laptop, the last piece in the suitcase, I pulled it out setting it next to the pictures. I zipped the bag, and slid it under the bed. I opened my other suitcase which held my clothes.

My clothes fit easily into the small dresser, glad I didn't have much for once in my life. Sliding the second suitcase under the bed, my side of the room was complete.

Pulling open my laptop, I promised Matt an email after I was settled, and I needed to see if I could find a weekend job.

After it booted up, I opened my Gmail and made a quick note to Matt than the job hunting can begin.

Matt-

I miss you. I am settled in, going to look for a job. I will let you know how everything goes.

Give Rachel my love…I love you

KEM

Maybe a bit too short, I thought as I hit send. I pulled out the paper I bought at the airport from my purse and began to get maps for a few restaurants and pubs that were hiring from the Internet. I was in luck, there was a bar just a few blocks away.

I pulled my wallet out of my purse, inspecting the contents to ensure they were what I needed. I shoved the wallet back into the small bag and headed to the bar. With the new semester starting, I felt like I needed to get my foot in the door as soon as possible, it wouldn't be long before places were flooded with college applicants.

I found the small corner bar easily, the outside dressed in UW posters and bumper stickers. The smell of old smoke and alcohol hit me, it was the smell I had come accustomed to…New Hampshire…it was our home for eight months, the longest home we ever had. There was normalcy and a semblance of a life, and I hoped I could have that here.

I squared my shoulders and walked in confidently. The bartender looked up and smiled.

Young, fresh meat, he thought.

"Hi, I was wondering if you were still hiring," I said as he looked me up and down. His greasy hair fell in his eyes as he leaned against the bar, a faded snake tattoo showing on his forearm.

"We are, but you need to be twenty one," he emphasized.

"I assure you, I am old enough. I worked as a server and bartender in New Hampshire. May I speak with someone who can hire me?" I pressed getting annoyed with his cynicism.

"Sure, babe, wait here." He turned toward the back smiling, his thoughts were sultry and horrid.

The bartender walked out with a younger man following. He was tall, but most people towered over my mere five feet two inches. He was perfectly pale with dark blond hair and hollow brown eyes.

"Hello, I'm Greyson, the assistant manager," he introduced holding out his hand.

I took a calming breath and silently chanted I am happy. Not entirely normal, but I feared touching people, another crazy aspect of me that I hated. At least this annoyance I grew up with, it wasn't new, and I had learned how to handle it.

"I'm Katie Morgan." I shook his hand continuing my happy chant hoping he wasn't in any negative mood.

My hand burned as soon as he took it, his face didn't change, and he seemed passive as he rocked my hand up and down. I shoved my hand in my pocket when he released.

"Trent tells me you are here for a job." Greyson motioned me to a pub table.

"Yes, I need some extra money and I just need something on weekends."

"First, can I see an ID?"

I pulled out my wallet and handed him my New Hampshire driver's license, which said I was twenty four. It had never been contested. Matt had found people to make our ID, doctor our records, it was the reason we were able to go to college, to expand our lives.

"Looks good. Let me get you an application." Greyson handed my ID back to me and headed to the bar, returning with a sheet of paper and a pen.

I filled the application quickly, putting down Rachel and Matt's address in Alaska as well as my previous history in New Hampshire. I handed it back, waiting for his scrutiny.

"Did you really work at Kay's?" he asked.

"I did, but only for a couple months. I was a server and bartender. I will admit, I was not the best bartender."

He nodded, "You only want to work weekends?"

"Friday after 6, anytime Saturday or Sunday," I answered eagerly.

"Can you come in about seven on Wednesday? It's the slowest night, and you will get better run through of how everything is setup. We can get your paperwork completed. It should only take a couple hours."

"Really?" I squealed. "That would be fine. I will see you Wednesday."

Greyson held out his hand as I jumped from the bar stool. I took easily, thanking him as my hand burned again under his touch. He was happy and desired, it was then I realized I couldn't hear his thoughts. He was silent. It was comforting in a 'I'm not that crazy' kind of way.

I jogged back to campus, stopping to grab a salad and soy milk before heading back to my room.

Skipping down the hall, I heard voices from my room. They weren't loud, but I could hear the intensity in the tenor.

Time to meet the roommate, I thought.

"You can't stay here," a male voice commanded.

"We don't know anything," a female voice challenged.

"You realize who this one looks like, right?" a different male asked.

"Not possible. It's just not possible."

Enough eavesdropping, I pushed the door open. The earthy smell from the room made me smile missing the woods I loved and missed.

The four strangers in the room glared at me as I entered. The boys were easily pushing seven feet tall, their tanned skin and dark hair only emphasized the danger I sensed. The two girls were different, one tall, muscular, the other small, feminine. They all had black hair and the darkest of brown eyes. They were all from the pictures, except none of them were smiling at me.

"Who are you?" One of the boys shouted.

"I'm Katie Morgan, this is my room," I whispered looking down at the gray carpet shutting the door. Breathe…Breathe…I repeated.

I set down my food items on my desk. I could feel the tension in the room; it was hard to distinguish between all the voices in my head, not knowing which voices were theirs, which were from down the hall or the floor below me. My range was quite exceptional, and as much as I wanted to listen to their thoughts, I tuned everyone out. It wasn't like a light switch off and on, but I could dim it, so it never interfered, it never drove me crazy.

"I'm Leah, your roommate," the taller muscular girl said. "That's my brother Seth, Jared and Kim."

"Have you been the only one in the room?" Jared barked.

"As far as I know. Why?"

"It's nothing, something just doesn't feel right." Jared crossed the room in two steps.

Leah stared at my eyes, feeling my face heat knowing how freakish my eyes could look.

"It's the eyes, I know they are weird. I'm still trying to get used to them." I explained.

"It is unusual," Leah commented visibly relaxing. "You have contacts or something?"

"No, my eyes were deep forest green a year ago, then I woke up one day and they were yellow. They aren't so bad most days, maybe more hazel, but some days they can be really yellow, like crazy monster yellow." I sat down at my desk picking at my salad.

"You're not going to elaborate?" Jared asked.

I could feel there was more to his question, but I didn't want to open myself to his anger. "Um…No. I mean that's the whole story."

I picked up a picture of me, I looked ten or so, Matt and Rachel on either side of me. I handed it to them.

"See, green." I said. "That's my twin brother Matt and my sister Rachel."

They all stared at me, none of them truly relaxing. I began to eat my salad trying to ignore their irritation. I did not understand their obvious hatred of me or their weird fascination.

"Who's this?" Seth asked breaking the minutes of silence holding one of my pictures in his hand.

"Those are my grandparents. They passed away two years ago."

"And these are Matt and Rachel, too?" he asked picking up a different picture.

"Yeah, it was taken just a few months ago."

"Where are they?"

Seth was full of questions,I thought.

"Matt received a scholarship to the University of Alaska and Rachel is finishing her residency there."

"You're from Alaska?" Seth asked.

"No. I was there for about a month helping them settle in to the new house, but that's it." I turned my chair toward him. "We moved around a lot when I was younger. I've lived all over the country, but my favorite was New Hampshire."

"You don't like sunny warm places." Seth asked.

"I'm sorry?" I asked confused about his question.

It wasn't that I didn't like warm places, but after Texas, warm humidity reminded me of the nightmares people commit against each other. After Texas, we kept to cooler more northern states…mostly for my own sanity. I wasn't about to layout my skeletons to perfect strangers who seemed to want to kill me.

"I need to get back to my room," Kim sighed lifting herself up from Leah's bed. She seemed like she was trying to escape.

The three others nodded at each other, a silent form of communication. My phone rang as they walked to the door. I fished it out of my bag, Matt flashing on the ID. I waited for the door to close behind them before I answered.

"Hey," I greeted trying to sound cheerful.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

"I know you're not. I can feel it, Katie."

"It's fine. I am just trying to settle in. I found a job already." I tried to change the subject.

"That's good. Is that why you are upset?"

"Matt, I am fine. You need to let me deal with myself, by myself," I huffed.

He relented. "I miss you little one. If you need me, please call. I worry when I don't know why you are upset."

"I love you, Matt. Give Rachel my love. I will talk to you soon." I snapped my phone shut as the tears began to stream down my face.

He would always know when something was wrong. He called it our 'twin thing', but it was more than that. Our connection was strong and even thousands of miles apart I felt the tenor of his emotions, the deep bond we shared from birth. It made me miss him as well as comforted me.

After packing my backpack for the first day, I decided it was a good time to try and go over some information on the Internet about my classes. Students posted what professors were looking for in assignments, which professors would try and humiliate students on the first day. It didn't take long for me to realize my class schedule would be pretty interesting. The sky darkened in the few hours I spent on my laptop. I brushed my teeth then I was safely in my favorite green pajamas crawling into bed, pulling the blanket around me as I curled on my side. Breathing in, Matt scent lingered on all of my things and for now it felt like home.