Kim:
The drive to college was long and numbing—but maybe that was just me. Jared had been right; the travel distance did turn out to be about three hours all up. Longer for us, on account of my mom's persistent appetite. She tried to keep a flowing conversation going, without much success; I mostly just slept.
Once we arrived, it took about five hundred trips back and forth between our car and my room to unload all my stuff. In my frantic, emotionally unstable state, I ended up packing almost my entire room into those boxes, thus had a lot more stuff to move in than probably necessary.
With a final hug and kiss goodbye, I watched my mom turn out of the car park, leaving me to start on the epic journey they call college, just like I had planned from the beginning. It's ironic the way things worked out in the end. It's almost as if my short-lived relationship with Jared had never even happened, and my life fell into place the exact way it was supposed to from the start.
Yay… I thought flatly, taking in the atmosphere around me. You've finally escaped, Kim.
Masses of other students were laughing and nervously navigating themselves around the campus, introducing themselves to one another excitedly, while I stood in the middle of it all, feeling like I wasn't even really there. It's funny how I probably brought more stuff than anyone else, yet I could actually feel that I had left something behind—despite all the too-full boxes.
Your heart, I thought lamely. You left your heart behind.
I made my way back into my room after seeing my mom off, and quietly pushed my door closed. I took a seat on my bed that was parallel with another on the other side of the room, momentarily wondering about my roommate and what she would be like.
Poor girl, I thought. I wasn't going to be much fun to live with. I'd be the weird, quiet girl who had too much junk in the room and a history that included a hometown-werewolf not-really-ex-boyfriend. What an uncomfortable first conversation that would be.
I sliced open the flaps of one of the boxes in front of me, only to realize it was half filled with stuffed toys. I had seriously been spaced out when I was packing all of this. I shut it back closed and pushed it aside to find the stuff that I actually needed.
Whilst bent over, deep into a pile of clothes, I heard the door fling open and bounce off the wall. I shot my head back up at the sound to see what at first, looked like a floating box. A second later, I realized there was a tiny figure carrying that box, whose head I couldn't see behind it.
"Need a hand?" I asked.
"Please!" my new roommate squeaked.
I hurried over to her, taking as much weight of the box as I could manage as we gently lowered it to the floor next to her bed.
She had sandy blonde hair, pulled into a messy ponytail and bright blue eyes framed with thick lashes. She looked like a little doll.
"Thanks," she said, dusting her hands off. "I'm Dee."
"Kim," I replied, taking in her tiny height. She was even smaller than me.
"So I guess we're roommates," she said, after a silent moment past between us. "You're not a weirdo are you?" she joked with a little giggle, easing the tension.
"Depends," I answered, then let out a small laugh, remembering my earlier concerns about having my roommate think I was a weirdo. "No, no, I'm normal, I think."
"Good," she responded, pushing her box against the wall, "Because I'd hate to be cooped up with someone who's always bringing boys back to the room at all hours of the night."
Oh, wow, I thought.
"Trust me," I told her. "You definitely won't have that problem with me."
Definitely not, I added in my head.
We talked a little more about our majors and hometowns, trying to get all the trivial, but necessary first-introduction stuff out of the way. And then she started on the topic I silently hoped would never come up…
"So, do you have a boyfriend?" she asked.
As soon as she asked, of course, my thoughts went straight to him. And I guessed my tone must have been sad when I answered, "No."
She nodded, seeming to understand by my reaction that was a touchy subject.
"Typical moving-to-college break-up," she assumed, as if she knew my situation all too well.
Typical, I repeated in my head. Yeah... right. Werewolves. So typical.
I didn't deny what she guessed, though. I figured it would be easier for her to assume that than for me to even try to explain my situation. I wouldn't have even termed what I had experienced a "break-up." It seemed a lot more like a breakdown. A mental breakdown.
"So what was he like?" she asked, without hesitation.
"Who?" I asked, caught off guard.
"The guy you broke up with before coming here."
I shrugged. "I don't know. Just… a normal kind of guy, I guess."
Normal. What a lie that had been, in every sense of the word.
"Nothing special, hey?" she extracted from my lame response.
"Oh, he was special, alright." Half human-half werewolf kind of special, to be exact.
"Fair enough," she chuckled, needing no further elaboration.
"What about you?" I asked, desperately trying to draw the attention away from me. "Boyfriend?"
"No, no. I'm a free bird," she answered, seeming as though she was trying to sound casual.
I didn't say anything at first, trying to read the real expression behind her words. I guess she must've realized, because then she added, "Typical moving-to-college break-up."
"Ah," was all I said, trying not to push any further.
"But I'm not bitter," she continued with a smile, even though I hadn't asked. "That crazy-out-of-this-world kind of love is gonna find me one day…"
I had to laugh a little at her optimism. She was so cheery and happy, like a little puppy.
I picked apart her choice of words in my head. Crazy-out-of-this-world kind of love is exactly how I would have described imprinting. Definitely crazy. And definitely out of this world.
It was apparent that neither of us cared to take that conversation any further, so we started back on other random things and eventually ended up unpacking in the process of getting to know one another.
It was a lot more difficult for me, seeing as I probably had double the amount of possessions she did. She had finished up unpacking long before I was even half way through, so she just sat talking to me while I continued.
"You know," she mused, as she ripped open a bag of chips, sitting on her bed, "I almost didn't make it into this college."
"Really?"
"Yep. I got a rejection letter at first, because I didn't make the grades or something. It's pretty black and white, it is. You're either in or you're out, once those big guys have decided, there's no ifs ands or buts," she told me matter-of-factly, while nibbling away on her chips.
"So…?" I pressed, waiting for her to continue.
"So then, I guess they gave me a second chance. Hardly ever happens, I hear. But a week later, I get a call and another letter sent in the mail, and voila!" she said, using hand gestures for emphasis, "I'm officially enrolled, crummy grades and all."
"Wow."
"Wow, indeed. I didn't apply anywhere else either, so I'm thanking my lucky stars for this. Someone up there must love me," she said, pointing her finger to the ceiling.
"Must've been a relief," I said, imagining where I would be if I hadn't been accepted here. I didn't want to think too much into it, because I knew where my thoughts would eventually stray. La Push.
"You have no idea. Proudest moment of my life, it was. I even framed the letter and brought it here with me," she said with a smile.
"Are you serious?" I asked, laughing.
Instead of answering, she was leaning over her bed, rummaging through a half opened duffle that sat on the floor in front of her, while chips spilled out of their bag onto her sheets.
"Here," she said, passing me the silver frame.
She wasn't kidding. She had seriously framed her acceptance letter and brought it here with her. I thought she had been exaggerating.
I was about to crack another joke when I stopped short at the sight of her full name.
"Destiny?" I asked. "Is that your real name?"
"Ha, yeah," she said, a little embarrassed. "Don't even start with that, I got enough about my stupid name back home. It's just Dee if anyone asks, 'kay?"
I didn't answer; I was already caught up in my own thoughts. I barely noticed her hand waving in front of my unblinking eyes while she called my name, trying to reclaim my attention.
"Kiiiim," she cooed. "Kimmmmyyy. Earth to Kimmy."
I'm pretty sure she was throwing chips at me while doing this too, but I couldn't hear her anymore. Because in that moment, the corny coincidence of the situation washed over me…
Destiny had been given a second chance.