Walking into the gates of Clear Rivers Campus had me very nervous. I know it was my idea to find this place, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to meet new people and live in a new area.

My first thought was wow. This place is really nice.

When I looked at Daryl, he had an expression that no one else but me would be able to understand. It was regret.

"This is actually the back where we came through." Lisa said.

"There's two entrances?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah." One of the guys said. "We didn't get to formally meet." He said. "My name's Jase." He reached out to shake Daryl's hand and I was relieved that Daryl actually shook his.

"So where you guys from anyway?" The other man asked.

"Atlanta." I said.

"Georgia?"

"Yeah."

"Wow." He said.

"Well I've got a lot of work to do." Lisa said. "Frank, Jase, why don't you two show Leann and Daryl around?" She threw a key to one of them. "They can stay in 46B. I think it will be perfect for them." She smiled and got into a car. With one last wave she was gone.

"You people are gonna like it here a lot." Frank said. He touched my arm.

"Yeah we don't know if we're stayin' yet." Daryl said and pulled me closer to him. He narrowed his eyes at Frank.

"I understand." He said. "We're strangers, I get it. But you're gonna end up staying. No one has left this place willingly."

Willingly?

"So this up here is the community center. We call it the CC." Jase said. When neither of us said anything he continued. "It basically has anything you need. There's a little shop where you can get clothes and stuff. We actually have a bar and restaurant as well."

"What?" I asked.

"Yup. You heard me right." Jase said. "Well, actually…it's a cafeteria." He laughed.

"And over there is the gym, there's an indoor pool, too. Next to that is the courtyard where you can play basketball or tennis or anything your heart desires." Frank said.

Daryl and I looked at each other. This is two much to take in. Jase and Frank were saying some other stuff, but I wasn't listening. "It can be kinda overwhelming." Jase noticed my expression.

"Why don't we show you to your house so you can get situated and relax for a bit?" Frank said.

"Yeah." I nodded.

We stood outside our new house…or room I should say.

"So this is it." Jase said. "It's only got one bedroom, but there's two beds."

"It's fine." I said. "Thank you."

"Well…let's get out of your way." Frank handed Daryl the keys. "If you need anything, just give someone a buzz."

"You have phones?" I asked.

"Well…kind of." Jase said. "They only work inside the walls. They're more like walkies."

"…oh okay." I said.

"So I guess we'll see you around, pretty little lady." Frank said.

I smiled just not to be rude. I didn't miss the look Daryl gave him, though. We watched them walk away. "Oh one more thing," Jase said, "there's schooling here, you know for kids? Just thought I'd let you know."

"School?" I grimaced.

"Yeah, you should attend." Frank said. They walked out of sight.

"I ain't goin' to no school." I looked at my brother.

"You don't have to." He reassured me. "So what do ya think?"

I inhaled deeply. "I don't know. The people seem nice, but…this place is too normal. It's almost scary."

"Yeah." Daryl nodded. "That's how I feel, too." He unlocked the door and we went inside.

"Wow." I said. "This is nice." I glanced at Daryl.

I sat down on the couch. "Pretty comfy."

"Yeah." Daryl said. "Very nice." Something in his voice sounded unsure. It bothered me.

"What's wrong?"

He shrugged.

"Daryl? Don't shut me out."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are! I can tell when yer startin' to shut down. So tell me what's wrong."

He sat down on one of the chairs. I sat next him. "I don't want ya gettin' used to this place." He said. "We don't know if we're stayin'."

I smiled. "That's okay. Whatever you decide. Let's see the rest of the room." I grabbed his hand. "Come on."

I walked into the bedroom, there were two beds along the walls. The room itself was pretty small. Our dorm room also had a kitchen area.

"Wait," I said realizing something, "where's the shower?" Daryl and I shared a look.

"The bathrooms don't have their own showers." Jase said over the walkie. I called him. "Everyone has to use the locker room showers. Haven't you people ever seen a college before?"

"Obviously not." I said rolling my eyes. "Wait, so ya mean we gotta shower with other people?"

"Well…there's a curtain." Jase said. We didn't say anything to that. "Look, it's not as bad as it seems. You'll get used to it eventually."

"Yeah, I doubt that." Daryl said.

"All right. Well, thanks." I quickly ended our conversation. "Let's get the hell outta here." I laughed.

"I'm with ya on that, little sis." Daryl raised his eyebrows.

"Just kiddin'. That sucks, though." I glanced around. "Well, I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Like hell ya are. I ain't gonna let some peepin' Tom look at my baby sister."

I huffed. "Well, what are ya gonna do, stand outside the door?"

"Hell yeah."

I blinked. He couldn't be serious?

I took my shower quickly even though I was lucky enough that no one else was in there. I stepped out and wrapped a towel around myself. Daryl was standing in the hallway outside the door just like he said. I guess he was guarding it or something. The thought made me laugh. I walked out there in my towel. My brother gasped when he saw me. "Leann, what are ya doin'?" He tried to stand in front of me to cover me. There wasn't even anyone around.

"I'm not gonna put dirty clothes back on."

"And what do ya think yer gonna do then?"

"I'll find somethin'."

I looked in my closet, back in the room, to see if there were any clothes I could put on for the time being. There was a pair of jean shorts and a little black tank top. It would do for now.

I quickly put them on. The shorts were shorter than I wanted them to be. I have never been one of those girls who walked around with their butt cheeks hanging out of their shorts all the time. I don't like it; I think it's uncomfortable. The tank top was also a little short exposing my stomach. I wonder briefly who owned these clothes. Then I remembered this is a college dorm.

I felt a little strange but I figured I would only have to wear them today and then never again. I mean…it didn't look that bad, although it did look a little funky with my boots. I dug around in the closet for a pair of sneakers or flip-flops or something. I found a black pair of converse. Perfect.

I hurriedly put them on and went to find Daryl because I thought I heard him calling me.

I found him in the kitchen. "Did you call me?" I asked him.

He had his back to me and turned when he heard me. "Yeah, this…" He stopped what he was going to say and just looked at me.

"What?"

He cleared his throat. "…ya ain't wearin' that."

"Daryl—

"I can see yer stomach and—turn around." I did. "Yer shorts are too short. Yer butt's showin'."

"No it ain't." I felt Daryl pinch my bottom and I squealed.

"Put somethin' else on."

"This was the only thing in nere." I whined.

"Bullshit."

I crossed my arms and pouted. "I'll just wear it today then never again, okay?" I smiled innocently at him.

He scowled at me. "Fine." He snapped. "Anyway, some dumb broad brought this stuff over from the pantry or whatever."

"Some dumb broad?" I giggled.

"That's what she was." He said. I kept laughing. He smirked at me. "Ya think that's funny?"

I nodded. He tugged at my hair a little. "So are you gonna shower before we go?"

"Go where?"

"To the cafe to get some food."

Daryl sighed. "We gotta go there now?"

"Don't ya wanna eat?"

"Course I wanna eat, but…" He sighed again. "Whatever."

I giggled. "So you gonna shower?"

"Wasn't really in my plans."

"Well, fit it in there cuz we got plenty 'a time." I giggled.

Daryl sighed. "Damn, girl, always makin' me do stuff." He walked away.

I laughed. "Do you want me to stand outside fer you?" I teased. "Might be some women peepin' at ya. Or men."

"No. I can handle 'em."

When Daryl came back after his shower, I took his and my clothes to wash them. Man, did they reek! I threw our clothes in the washer together then I scrubbed his vest clean the best I could. It looked way better than it did. I hung it up to dry.

"Ready to go?" I turned around slowly. Daryl stood before me wearing a pair of dark colored jeans and a grey shirt.

"Yeah, let's go." I smiled. "I washed yer clothes fer ya, by the way."

"Thanks, baby." He bent down and kissed my cheek. I giggled.

The cafeteria was like a regular cafeteria. Buffet style. Everybody gets their own food. There wasn't a lot of people inside. Daryl and I grabbed some trays and piled on some food then sat down. My brother picked a seat far away from the other people. I looked over and saw a girl probably a little older than me. Her clothes were very slutty. I scrunched my nose up. "Now that's a dumb broad." I said roughly. "Skanky bitch."

"Leann?" Daryl said surprised.

"She is, though. Look what she's wearin'."

Daryl slightly turned to look at her. "If I ever caught you wearin' clothes like that...I'd skin ya."

"I wouldn't." I crossed my arms in front of me.

"Well…good then."

I briefly looked around, there was a kid that kept looking at me. I shyly looked away. "This place kinda reminds of Hampton Lake."

My brother gave me a look. "Yeah, it does."

"What if it's just a big repeat?" I said sadly.

"It won't. I won't let that happen." My brother pushed my hair back. "Yer stayin' with me all the time."

I smiled. "Are ya ever gonna stop bein' so overprotective 'a me?"

"Nope." He said with a mouthful of food. "Never."

I saw the boy looking at me again. I started to feel self conscience and made a low whimpering sound.

"What's 'a matter, Leann?"

"That kid keeps lookin' at me."

"What kid?"

I pointed without looking. "It's makin' me nervous."

"Don't worry 'bout 'im. Yer here with yer brother." I got up and sat next to Daryl so I wouldn't have to see the kid anymore.

Daryl said something that made me laugh while I was drinking, which caused my drink to come out of my nose. He laughed because he did it on purpose. He and Merle used to do that to me all the time when I was little. I got up to get some napkins.

"Hey." I heard someone say.

I looked over and one of the kids that kept looking at me was right next to me now.

"Hey?" I gave them a weird look.

"You're new here, right?" I just nodded. "Sorry, news travels fast here. And we all kinda know each other."

"Really? This place ain't small."

"Yeah, well as I said, we all know each other." He kept staring at me. He was kind of cute actually.

"So…are you gonna tell me your name?" I finally asked.

"Oh, sorry." He said. "I'm Chad."

"Hi, I'm Leann." I said. "But call me Le."

"Nice to meet you, Le." Chad said. "We should hang out sometime. There's other people here around our age."

"Ya mean like her?" I pointed to the skanky girl from earlier.

Chad looked over his shoulder. "Oh that's Summer. If you haven't met her yet, you're lucky."

"Why is she like a…bitch or somethin'?"

Chad laughed. "You could say that."

I looked over and Daryl was watching us. "Um…I should probably go."

"Oh yeah, sorry." He stepped aside. "Seriously we should hang out, though."

"Uh, sure."

"Cool." Chad said. "See you around then."

"Yeah, see ya." I waved at him then made my way back to Daryl.

"What was that all about?" He asked me immediately.

"Just some kid bein' friendly." I said nonchalantly. "He invited me to hang out sometime."

"Hmm." Daryl said. "That the kid that was starin' at ya?"

"Yeah." I shrugged. "His name's Chad."

"Was he botherin' you?"

"No. He was actually pretty nice."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." I looked at him wide-eyed.

"Cuz if he weren't ya can tell me."

"Why? You gonna beat up a kid?" I smirked.

"Depends."

I sighed. He's never gonna change.

"You about ready to go back to the room?"

"I been ready." I smiled. "I'll take our trays back."

"All right. I'll meet ya outside." Daryl said and walked out.

I walked our trays where they were collecting them. In the process, I heard girls giggling and one of them said, "she's a freak. Look at her, she's like a robot with that thing on her leg." I quickly turned my head and looked at them because I realized they were talking about me. It was the slutty girl from before and her friends. "She's gotta missing finger, too." They saw me looking at them. "What?" The girl said. I blinked a few times then put my head down and quickly walked away. I heard them laughing.

I walked right passed Daryl who was waiting for me outside the cafeteria. "Whoa, hold up, Sissy." He caught up to me and grabbed my hand. "Where ya goin'?"

"I don't know if I wanna stay here." I said quietly.

My brother was quiet for a moment. "Why? Did somethin' happen in nere? Did someone do somethin' to ya?"

"No." I put my head down and rubbed my eyes. "Let's just go back to the room."

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