This is not how I planned on this chapter going, but WELP
I really love my wife
Hope you guys enjoy! This one's a bit different from the other chapters lol
Nialle really fucking hated her roommate.
Owen was probably the most opposite of opposites you could get from Nialle. Obnoxious, lazy, messy, and worst of all:
She was an absolute asshole.
Nialle spent Owen's birthday (which she only knew because Owen had a giant "Word-of-the-Day" style calendar filled with cats and the date was circled) outside with West while he worked with the track team. He eventually had to go off to do one-on-one training with a few of the members who had a meet that week, leaving Nialle to go back to her room.
Which was not just locked, but fully jammed closed.
She could hear Owen cackling on the other side, and after standing outside fuming for a solid three minutes, she stormed off. All of her books were in there, so she couldn't do any work, and all her clothes were dirty from sitting on the grass, so she didn't really feel like doing anything with a lot of people around.
She thought about going to the library, but Ryan might be there, and she was pretty sure he and Owen were plotting something against her and West and she didn't like the thought of what he would do.
And that's how Nialle ended up sitting on the roof, throwing individual garden rocks off the roof. She'd gathered them from the lining of the large brick pots, sat near the edge, and began aimlessly tossing them.
Nialle tried to tolerate Owen, she really did. But Owen purposefully went out of her way to fuck with her, and she had just about enough. She leaned over the ledge on her arms, her legs crossed beneath her. She could see West and a small girl at the long jump, West sitting at the edge of the sand as she ran. He raised a red flag as she passed, the blow of a whistle audible from even this far away.
West was the kind of kid that she had no clue why he wasn't cooler. He knew, i some way, all of the popular kids, and he seemed to have the lowdown on every single student. It creeped her out almost, but he didn't seem stalkery.
Just. Observant is all.
Nialle dropped the last of the stones in her hand and leaned back. Her dark braid fell off her shoulder and along her back, brushing the roof. She sighed, leaning back to lay down. Her back popped, making her flinch, but she ended up stretching out like a cat.
The sun felt nice, even if it was a bit hot. 'D been a while since she'd sat by herself, no distractions, in nature. It used to be one of her favorite things, climbing out onto her roof and staring at the stars.
After what felt like years she heard the rooftop door open. Nialle was practically hidden behind a flower box, so whoever it was didn't see her. She waited a second before sitting up a bit and looking up.
She didn't recognize the girl right away, green sweatshirt, strawberry-blonde ponytail. But she eventually clicked that it was one of Owen's friends, one she'd seen at the breakfast the day prior.
Her body seemed to move without her registering it, and as she took a few steps the girl whirled around.
Her bangs were a mess, not to mention her ponytail. Her face was red, rubbed raw by what Nialle assumed was her sleeve, which was spotted with water. "O-oh. Sorry, I didn't know you were-" the girl started, Nialle finally noticing the guitar case in her hand as she swung the strap over her shoulder.
"It's fine, I was just…" What was she doing? Cloud-gazing? "I was just relaxing up here." Nialle fidgeted with her hands, wishing desperately that she hadn't work yoga pants so she'd have pockets. "W-what about you? What's your name again?"
The girl chuckled, brushing her hair from her eyes. "It's Emmy." Shit that was adorable. "You're uh, Nialle, right? Owen's roommate?"
"Wish I wasn't," Nialle muttered, flashing Emmy a joking smile. She laughed, rubbing her hand up and down her arm. Nialle's gaze flashed to the guitar. "Oh, were you planning on…" she gestured towards the black case.
Emmy seemed to jolt out of a haze. "Ah, I was just trying to find a distraction."
"Can I listen?" Nialle asked, instantly regretting it. "Er, uh, I didn't mean- shit I didn't mean for that to sound so blunt I-"
"Y-yeah, it's fine," Emmy smiled, swinging her guitar back into her arms. She seemed to cradle it, almost like a child, before she sat on the edge of the nearest flower box. As Nialle sat down, she saw that one of the flowers was sprayed an unnatural shade of neon pink. "It's not amazing but…"
Nialle shrugged. "I have low standards, seeing as I can't even hold an instrument properly." Emmy smiled softly, and Nialle noticed that one of her eyes appeared clouded and fuzzy. They were an odd shade of gray, but seemed to reflect the sky in a way that made them appear blue.
"I don't know what to play," Emmy chuckled, pulling her guitar out. Unlike the case it was carried in, her guitar wasn't absolutely crowded with stickers. Two stickers were placed on it- one Nialle recognized as Owen's orchestra symbol, the other being a small label. On it was two names, Emmy and Casper Wadetin.
Nialle shrugged. "Play something you like."
"Uhm… I'll play Scarborough Fair Canticle. It's not that hard," Emmy muttered the last part under her breath, brushing her bangs from her face one more time before she began playing.
Now, Nialle didn't like music all that much. She found it distracting or loud most of the time. But the song was incredibly… calming. As if it settled some storm she'd been fighting for years without knowing.
She understood why she was president of their club now.
When it ended, Nialle had to take a moment to shake her head out of it. "Wh- why'd you stop?"
Emmy chuckled. "The song ended."
"Then play again," Nialle demanded, tensing back. "Er, please?"
The German looked at her for a moment before her face broke out into a big smile. "Ah, o-oh! Okey Dokie! What do you wanna hear?"
"Something like that," Nialle whispered, scooting a bit closer. "It was really pretty. How'd you do it?"
Emmy seemed taken back for a second before her face flushed. "Thanks," she whispered, looking away. "I just... played, I guess. It's hard to explain." The girl's hand shot up to her neck as she looked away. Her eyes flashed back to Nialle. "But sure, I'll play something like it."
Nialle sat through song after song, listening to Emmy list them off. Claude's Girl, Flowers in your Hair, Yellow, Skinny Love, the list went on and on, and before she knew it, the sky had turned dark.
"Look at the time," Emmy chuckled, letting her guitar rest in her lap as she ran her fingers over the strings gently. It created a sound like a whisper, and Nialle almost believed it was the wind.
The girl pulled out a phone from her pocket, showing Nialle the lock screen. 8:48. It'd been over two hours. Nialle suddenly remembered why she was on the roof in the first place with a heavy sigh. "How am I supposed to get into my room?" she muttered out loud, hands cutting through the small amount of bang she had.
"Do what now?" Emmy chuckled, zipping up her guitar case as she stood up. She held out her hand for Nialle to take, hauling her to her feet.
"Owen kinda locked me out of my room," Nialle shuffled, crossing her arms. The temperature had dropped significantly.
Emmy's face went from a look of confusion to realization, pity, and finally realization. "Hey, wanna stay in my room? It's not far from yours, so you can run there in the morning and change if you want."
"You…" Nialle was taken aback. "But we… we just met? You'd let me stay in your dorm?" Emmy smiled with a nod. "B-but what about your roommate?"
Emmy's face fell a bit. "I don't have one," she whispered, digging her hands into her pockets. Nialle held back from asking more. "So, you wanna sleep over at my room?"
"Uh, y-yeah! Sure," Nialle coughed, trying to sound less enthusiastic. Can you not be gay once in your life, dear lord.
Emmy looked back at Nialle and gestured with her shoulders. "C'mon then! I'll lead the way."
The two walked quietly down the steps of the Azalea Arts Center, Nialle slowly making her way next to Emmy. Nialle was slightly taller than the other, but it was subtle, perhaps less than an inch. She took the time to look at the girl a bit closer.
Her outfit was incredibly simple, just an oversized green hoodie pulled over gray jeans, her shoes a pair of white ballet flats. She had a bunch of hair ties pulled onto her wrist, and she kept pulling on hand out of her pocket to twirl with a loose strand of hair framing her face.
Her profile was incredibly petite, not matching the more bulky frame of her lower body. Emmy didn't seem to have a lot of fat, just leg muscle, unlike Nialle who couldn't seem to lose weight for the life of her. The girl seemed distracted as they walked outside, her gaze only flickering to Nialle once.
The stark contrast Nialle noticed between Owen and her friends was almost jarring. Ethan and her were similarly agitated, but she had respect for his insane work ethic. James was honestly super sweet from the few times he'd been in their room before. He and West seemed to get along really well too.
Emmy was the strangest.
She was soft-spoken, at least from what she'd seen. Her hobbies weren't dangerous, she didn't seem to have any educational problems, and she was honestly intriguing to Nialle.
She was way too cool to be Owen's friend.
The two ended up at Emmy's room shortly after, Emmy pushing open the door and letting Nialle in. "I've been having a lot of guests lately," Emmy muttered, shutting the door. "Not that I'm complaining."
Nialle looked around the room a bit, studying what she had. Half of the furniture was barren, a few blankets occupying some empty space. There was an oil painting hung above a couch, of which was placed pile of pillows and bedsheets.
The desk with any stuff on it was relatively clear, a few sticky notes and pictures pinned up to a cork board balanced on top. A few sheets of homework were scattered on it, a book placed face-down on a page sitting right next to the chair.
Orange sheets were draped over the bed, with white pillows placed along the top. It looked like one of those creamsicles West had given her on her birthday, a box of which sat uneaten since in the girl's dorm fridge.
"Cute room," Nialle mused, walking over and sitting on the creamsicle bed. "Thanks, I tried really hard on it," Emmy rolled her eyes with a smile. She propped open a closet, placing the guitar precariously on the top shelf. "Do you need a change of clothes?" Emmy called over her shoulder.
"Oh, uh," Nialle looked down at her clothes, covered in grass and dirt. "Maybe."
Emmy leaned back from her closet, quickly closing the door. She walked a few steps to the dresser pulling open the bottom drawer. "Is a shirt and shorts okay?"
"That's… that's great…" Nialle zoned out, staring at a porcelain rabbit propped on top of the desk right across the room. It was staring directly at her, the ribbon tied around it's neck shaking slightly in the air conditioning.
"-le? Nialle?" Emmy came into view, looking at her confused. "You good?" Emmy turned her gaze in the direction Nialle had been looking. "Oh, the rabbit. Is it creeping you out?"
Nialle took the clothes out of her hands, looking the shirt over. "N-no, it's nothing. It's just… pretty is all." She ran her fingers over the fabric of the shirt, a soft lilac color. The shorts were white with little pink starfish scattered across. The shirt had a moon printed on the back, something Nialle realized when she held it up. Under it read 'Love you to the moon and back'.
Emmy waltzed over to the couch, grabbing a set of white sheets and tossed them over to the bed. "You can change in the closet if you're uncomfortable," she smiled, turning and pulling it open. As she grabbed a soft lime comforter from the bottom, Nialle noticed how dangerous the shelf tilted when the door moved.
"I think I'd rather change out here," Nialle stood up. "I don't want to die by closet."
Emmy burst out into laughter, lip curling up to reveal her teeth. She appeared to have a fake one, seeing as it was an unusual light gray compared to the rest which were white. "What happened to your teeth?" she asked casually, pulling off the dirty t-shirt over her head. She saw Emmy turn her head away suddenly.
"Oh, the fake one?" Emmy resumed her path to the bed, beginning to lay out the sheets and tucking them into the sides. "I'm surprised you noticed. It got knocked out when I got mugged."
"WHAT?!" Nialle shot up, mid pulling on the snug shirt. "When did that happen?!"
Emmy glanced at her briefly before quickly snapping her head to the bed. "Earlier this year. I wasn't at school for the first semester due to some bad leg injuries and losing vision in one eye. It also had me in therapy for a bit, so by the time I was let out, my parents asked if I could just stay at the hospital until the next semester."
"That's… wow," Nialle sighed, finally pulling the shirt down all the way. It surprisingly fit quite well, but she assumed that was because it was big on Emmy in the first place. "Any other life-threatening incidents I need to know about?"
Emmy seemed to tense up as she pulled the comforter on. She appeared to think something over before shaking her head. "Not that I can think of, no."
"Still, that's quite the feat," Nialle chuckled, changing out her pants for the shorts. They were a bit shorter than she was normally comfortable with, especially around another girl, but they were incredibly comfortable. Emmy glanced over and smiled.
"I think those fit you better than me," she turned around, grabbing a pillow off the couch. She tossed it to Nialle, who barely managed to catch it. Emmy looked her up and down for a second before whispering something to herself and grabbing another pillow. "So when do you normally sleep?"
Nialle watched her throw a pillow on the floor by the wall as she grabbed the book off her desk. It was one Nialle remembered- an originally french novel translated over to both Japanese and English. It was really dramatic at times, but some parts were just plain boring. She took a glance over Emmy's shoulder to see the page number. "You're only on chapter 6?"
Emmy sat down on the pillow, leaning on the wall. "Oh, uh, yeah. Mr. Patrick's giving me extra time on it. It can be uh…" She paused as Nialle threw her pillow down next to Emmy's, sitting down next to her. "It's hard for me to read."
"Oh, the eye thing?"
"The eye thing."
Nialle watched Emmy slowly scan the page, stopping half-way down. She seemed to stare at the character for a moment before flushing in frustration. She glanced over at Nialle slowly. "Can you… can you tell me what this says?" Emmy turned the book around and pointed at a sentence.
"It says 'Napoleon'," Nialle answered, leaning back against the wall. Emmy whispered thanks before resuming, Nialle watching as she finally reached the next page. After two more pages of this, Nialle sighed, and tapped Emmy on the arm. "Hey, do you want some help?" Emmy looked at her confused. "Like, do you want me to read it to you?"
Emmy's face lit up. "You'd do that?" Nialle nodded, Emmy suddenly standing up. "Dude, thanks a bunch!" Nialle took Emmy's outstretched hand and pulled up, but before she could let go, Emmy was pulling her towards the creamsicle bed. She sat her down, gesturing for her to stay seated as she half-skipped over to the mirror over her dresser.
Nialle watched her take out her contacts, Emmy's vision suddenly becoming unfocused. She tapped around and grabbed a glasses case, from which she pulled out a pair of square-framed glasses that she propped on her face.
She looked really fucking adorable.
Emmy grabbed the pillows on the floor on her way back, climbing past Nialle to the opposite side of the bed. She propped up the extra pillows behind Nialle before pulling down the comforter and laying down. Emmy tapped the spot next to her, but Nialle just pulled up the blanket to her shoulders and laid on top of it.
"Okay, where'd you leave off?" Nialle tried to focus on the novel, continuing on from where Emmy'd been. They read 5 chapters before Nialle noticed that Emmy'd fallen asleep.
She pulled the glasses off of her face, Emmy's eyelashes fluttering. Nialle was scared for a moment that she'd woken her, but Emmy remained asleep. Nialle returned the glasses to the case and placed a sticky note on the page she'd ended on.
Walking quickly over to the lightswitch, she looked over at Emmy slowly. "Way outta my league," Nialle whispered, flipping off the lights and letting the room go dark.
"Nialle, sweetie, what are you doing?" her mother yawned from the doorway. Nialle turned quickly in her chair, holding out a tablet screen.
"Look, momma! I'm a Pisces!" she smiled, waving the article as her mother slowly walked up. Her mom leaned down onto her knees to look her in the eyes.
She ran her hand through Nialle's long hair, brushing it out of her eyes. "Honey, I'm glad to see you're so enthusiastic, but do you think it can wait until tomorrow? It's 2 AM," her mom smiled, taking the tablet and turning it off. Nialle reached her arms out and let her mom pick her up. "Ooh, you're getting too big for me!" she laughed, placing her on her bed.
Nialle wiggled under the blankets, glancing up at the glow-in-the-dark star and moon stickers plastered on the ceiling. The room was once her sister's, and she was the one who originally put them up.
"My big ol' 8 year old," her mother kissed her forehead, tapping her finger on the end of her nose. "How'd you grow up so fast?"
Nialle closed her eyes with a hum. "Night mom," she yawned, getting a chuckle from the older.
"Night, little river," she whispered, flipping off the lights and closing the door.
Nialle is my wife I swear I love her a lot
I add way too much tension I swear I'm sorry. I just really wanted to establish some characters and it turned into… this, I guess.
The song referenced are here:
(The title is Out of My League - Fitz and the Tantrums)
Scarborough Fair Canticle - Simon & Garfunkel (More specifically, the Celia Pavey cover)
Claude's Girl - Marika Hackman (this is technically Emmy's Theme btw)
Yellow - Coldplay
Flowers in Your Hair - The Lumineers
Skinny Love - Bon Iver
I hope this chapter was good? I wrote it at like 2:30 AM so i may just be projecting my gay lol idk