"Ma'am! You cannot park your car here, this is where the campus bus pulls up." A stern voice came from a man clad in his blue campus police uniform.
"We just need to unload," Abby shouted, heaving a suitcase out of the trunk.
"I will write you a ticket if you don't move this car, immediately!" he said, more firmly.
"Just move the car, Mom," Clarke grumbled, embarrassed.
"Okay, okay! Just get this one heavy basket- oh!" The handle of the basket snapped and various things went tumbling across the blacktop.
"Mom! Just move the car! I'll pick this up," Clarke insisted, pushing Abby towards the driver's side of the vehicle.
"Okay! I'll be just a minute." Abby said with a pointed glare at the officer. Clarke hurried to scoop the bottles of lotion and shampoo into the basket as her Mom drove the blue Civic into the lot.
"So sorry about her," Clarke apologized, flustered.
"No problem. Move-in week is always hectic." He picked up the final item: Clarke's favorite green Nalgene bottle.
"Thanks." She offered the older man a smile. He returned the gesture, his sun-wrinkled face kind despite his harsh voice.
Clarke scooped up the broken basket under one arm and pulled the suitcase along behind her and she approached the residence hall. She paused in front of the door, looking up to see the silver lettering on the outside of the brick building. Frontier Hall. This is it.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed through the doors and was greeted by a blast of cool air, a welcome reprieve from the hot August day outside. The entrance to the Hall held a reception desk when students' mail was delivered and spare keys could be found, which was currently empty, and a small lounge area. The elevator was directly across from the doors, framed by a pair of fake potted ferns.
Clarke punched the up button and stood back to await the car. The Hall smelled… homey. Clarke smiled. It's finally happening! I'm at college.
"Hey, going up?" A boy asked, crossing the lobby to the elevator.
Clarke nodded.
"Perfect. Moving in, I see?" he observed, leaning casually against the wall above the elevator button.
"Yep," Clake confirmed, unsure of what else to say. He was attractive, she realized, and although she wasn't particularly fond of long hair on boys, it worked for him.
The elevator luckily arrived before the moment got too awkward for Clarke, dinging as the door slid open and a trio of boys hurried out.
"Murphy, you asshole!" One of them shouted, bumping Clarke in his haste. Startled, the broken basket started to slip out of her hands.
"Woah!" The long-haired boy reached out to steady it.
"Sorry!" Someone called back over their shoulder as they burst out the door into the bright summer sun.
"Thanks," Clarke hurried to say to the long-haired boy, sparing a glance at the disappearing offenders.
"Let me take this for you. I bet you're going up to four?" he said, pressing the button without waiting for her response.
"How'd you know?"
"Lucky guess," he grinned lopsidedly and Clarke felt her heart flutter.
"I'm Finn, by the way." He shifted Clarke's basket onto his hip and offered her a handshake. Clarke took his hand, reveling in the final half second of the gesture when it seemed to go on longer than necessary.
"I'm Clarke," She smiled at him, dropping his hand and unconsciously wiping her palm on her jean shorts. "Do you live here? In Frontier, I mean?"
"Nah, I go to St. Thomas. Couldn't get into the University of Minnesota."
"Oh!" Clarke didn't know what to say. "I've heard good things about- about St. Thomas." She had never heard of that school in her life.
"It's alright, I guess. Though they don't have nearly as many pretty girls over there as they do here," Finn smirked at Clarke with shining dark eyes. "Which room you headed to?" he asked, easily stepping out of the elevator as it opened on the fourth floor.
"Uh, 12. 412," Clarke told him, pulling the suitcase over the ridges of the elevator door track, hurrying to keep up with Finn as her stomach filled with butterflies.
Finn's face fell for a second, but then he regained his composure. "Not too far from the elevator, nice."
"Yeah," Clarke agreed, following him down the carpeted hall, unsure what else to say. Flirting had never been her strong suit.
The walls were lined with boxes and odd pieces of furniture including microwaves and chairs and even a full futon. Music flowed out of an open door farther down that hall. Handmade welcome signs adorned each door, and several had little whiteboards with messages scribbled on them in blue Expo marker. It looked like a college dorm. It was a college dorm. The thought made Clarke smile again.
"412," Finn said, rapping his knuckles on the door.
Welcome to the U of M, Clarke G and Raven R! the maroon and gold sign read. The little golden gopher mascot stood in the corner of the paper, holding up a foam finger and grinning with its little buck teeth.
The door swung open, revealing a tan skinned, dark haired girl. She grinned out from the room, not seeing Clarke past Finn.
"Finn!" She cheered, planting a kiss on the boy's mouth. "I didn't know you were coming by today, my roommate's supposed to be here soon," She said, rocking back on the balls of her feet after detaching herself from the boy. Clarke blinked at her, glad Raven hadn't noticed her yet so she had time to wipe the stunned expression off her face.
"Here," Finn gestured to Clarke. "Found her in the elevator."
"Hi," Clarke said lamely, hoping she looked friendly and not like some kind of wide-eyed idiot.
"Welcome home!" Raven said, stepping back from the door and sweeping her arm into the dorm. "I already picked the left side, hope you don't mind. Doesn't make much of a difference though, we'll be on top of each other either way. Looks smaller in person than it did on the housing website, doesn't it?" Raven chattered, leading the way into the dorm.
Clarke made a sound of agreement. It did indeed look smaller in person than in the photos. Raven had her bed on the left side of the room made up with a dark blue comforter and a single pillow. She was still in the thick of unpacking, judging by the various boxes and duffel bags strewn around on her bed and desk, but Clarke's side of the room remained untouched. The bare mattress sat on its plain wood frame and the desk situated at the foot of the bed looked new.
The edge of the desk narrowly missed the frame of the door inside the room, which led to the shared bathroom.
"The other two girls in the adjoining dorm haven't moved in yet," Raven informed her, stepping aside to let Finn into the room. He placed Clarke's basket down gingerly on the mattress.
"We should head out, let Clarke get settled. Want to go for subs, Rav?" Finn asked, fiddling with his belt loops and looked as if he'd rather be anywhere else at the moment.
Raven frowned. "I suppose. Need help carrying anything in, Clarke?"
"No, no. My mom is here to help," she told Raven quickly.
"Okay, well, I feel bad to just meet you and ditch."
"Don't worry about it! I'm sure we'll be spending plenty of time together," Clarke assured Raven, really not wanting Finn to stick around. The air in the room was tinged with an uneasy awkwardness.
"Alright. See you in a few, then." Raven grabbed her phone off her bed and slipped out the door. Finn made eye contact with Clarke before he followed his girlfriend down the hall and Clarke felt her cheeks redden.
"Great. My roommate's boyfriend has infidelity problems," Clarke muttered, feeling guilty. Raven seemed nice though. Maybe Clarke could just forget that Finn ever said anything to her and move on.
Clarke let a deep breath out and patted the tops of her thighs, nodding as she took in the space once more. "College, here we go."
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hey guys! I just want to say a few things before we get into the story. I have never written something like this before. There are going to be some sensitive topics. I will label chapters that some people may find troubling or offensive. I just want to give fair warning to everyone before they start reading.
Thanks for reading, and please don't hesitate to leave me your thoughts, questions, comments or concerns! Thanks,
-Birch66724
EDIT- I went through and corrected several things in this first chapter, and wow... Let me just say I am surprised that anyone stuck around to keep reading. I promise that the writing does get much better. :)