Chapter Two
The two girls continued unpacking in silence. Emily glanced over every once in a while, examining Paige, trying to figure out what it was about her that was so oddly fascinating. There was this energy about her made Emily feel so completely on edge. She decided it had to be how little Paige spoke to her because there was no other reason for her to feel so nervous.
As the time passed, Emily kept trying to think of something to say, to reach out, to connect with Paige, but felt awkward with how distant the other girl continued to be.
Finally, Emily attempted to break the silence.
"So how long have you been swimming?" she asked softly.
It took a moment for Paige to turn, as if she wasn't sure Emily had been talking to her.
"Since I was little, I guess," Paige told her shrugging. "I think I had my first competition when I was six."
"Me too," Emily replied, smiling. "I remember because the first meet was on my 6th birthday," she added, her face warming at the memory. She caught Paige's eyes and could make out maybe the faintest curling of her lips into a smile. "It seemed like such a big deal then," Emily continued, rolling her eyes. "Crazy huh? Considering where we are now?"
"It's no big," Paige responded casually. "I mean, wasn't this the whole point? Getting to swim in college."
"I guess so," Emily admitted, considering Paige's words. "Just finally being here."
Another long beat passed as the two girls continued unpacking.
"So you have your car up here?" Emily broke the silence again.
"What?" Paige asked, a confusion expression on her face.
"You said you drove with a friend."
"Oh yeah." Paige nodded. "We took her car. I don't have one."
"That's cool. I do, but my parents were ridiculous about not letting me bring it."
"Sucks," Paige commented, frowning. Another long moment passed as Paige finished up her unpacking and slid a suitcase underneath her bed. Emily continued watching her out of the corner of her eye as Paige stared out the window at the quad below.
She finally turned back to Emily, flashing her a sad, hopeful smile that felt like the first real emotion the girl had expressed since they met. Emily couldn't help but love it. She made a mental note of it, memorizing it. She knew she shouldn't, but something about it got to her. That smile, it made her dizzy.
"You're right," Paige finally agreed. "It is weird. Finally being here. It's kind of like, what now?"
Emily smiled sympathetically. It was just a few words, simple and sweet, but it was an understanding that passed between them, even just for a moment. Emily kept her gaze fixed on her for a long moment and saw Paige inadvertently grin before the other girl looked away.
Emily turned back to her things and reached into a duffel she'd stuffed with personal things. She pulled out a frame that she had always kept out on her nightstand back at home. She set it down on the desk, angling it to face the chair.
Paige looked over curiously at the photo, which she could see from her point of view. She moved across the room cautiously, almost as if there was an invisible room dividing the place in half and there could be consequences for crossing it.
"That your sister?" Paige asked, pointing to the photo of Emily with another brunette.
Emily looked back up and saw that Paige was looking at the picture of her with her girlfriend Maya, arms wrapped around each other, smiling. Even though the shot was over a year old, it was Emily's favorite picture of them, and she refused to change it despite Maya's insisting she update it.
Emily smiled nervously. She knew this moment would come where she had to come out. She promised herself she wouldn't try to hide who she was, but she had hoped they would have gotten to know each other even a little better before the question came up.
"Oh. No. That's Maya. My girlfriend," Emily blurted out nervously.
Paige's jaw dropped slightly in mild shock. "Oh." She turned away awkwardly and moved back to her side of the room, continuing to arrange a few of her things.
"She's in California," Emily explained, her voice filling another awkward silence. "I mean, she is now," she stuttered out. "She goes to UC Santa Cruz. She grew up there, so she really wanted to go back. And it's a big deal that she got in out of state."
Paige simply nodded, barely looking at Emily.
It had already been awkward and uncomfortable to start, but now it was as if something had changed in an instant. Emily had feared for months that this might happen, that she would end up living with someone who was so completely not okay with who she was and wasn't even willing to get to know her because of it. She hoped it wasn't all a lost cause, that maybe Paige was just shy, quiet, didn't open up right away, but every time Emily glanced over at Paige, she looked like she was searching for any reason to dart.
It didn't take long for one to come. Paige's phone began ringing on her desk, and she reached for it excitedly.
"Hey!" Paige said into the phone, a wide smile. "Wait, who? Oh my god, no way! I thought he was going to State. Are you downstairs? I'm heading down now."
Emily watched as Paige disappeared out their dorm room door.
Well, at least she knew her roommate could talk, Emily thought to herself. It just obviously wasn't going to be to her.
An hour later, Emily had finished unpacking her things into her desk and had tackled almost one entire suitcase of clothing, arranging things in the small dresser and the wardrobe closet that would be hers for the year. She was exhausted and was about to reach for her phone to start bugging Hanna again that she couldn't keep Spencer's organizational skills all to herself when she heard the door creaking open.
"Knock, knock!" a raspy voice called out from the door. "Is this the residence of one Emily Fields?"
Emily looked up, smiling instantly as she saw the head poking into her dorm room. "Spencer."
"Hey!" Spencer said sweetly, a broad smile. She crossed the room and wrapped Emily in her arms. "How are you?" she asked, finally releasing Emily from her grasp.
Emily took a deep breath. "Good. I think. It's still so weird though."
"I know," Spencer agreed as her eyes scanned the small dorm room with a touch of sadness in her eyes. She and Emily had planned to room together until she'd gotten her Penn acceptance. They were the only two who knew they would be able to share the same space and still come out of it alive, sane, and still friends. "I can't believe that you guys are moving away. Makes me sad I'm not going to be here too," she lamented.
"You're going to be amazing at Penn though," Emily asserted.
"I hope so," Spencer replied, crossing her fingers in the air. "So this is your room," she continued, motioning to the space.
"It is. And don't you dare sit down," Emily insisted just as Spencer was about to take a seat on Emily's bed. "I have a million bags to unpack."
Spencer laughed derisively. "Trust me. You don't have a million. Hanna has a million. You packed light."
"Speaking of, how is Hanna?" Emily asked, wincing, wondering if she should even dare to inquire.
"Oh my god, you should have seen her and her mom this morning." Spencer rolled her eyes. "I thought those two were going to kill each other. I got there at 8 and we didn't leave until 1030, mostly because they kept arguing over whether it was acceptable for them to drive three hours with the rear window completely obstructed by Louis Vuitton."
Emily laughed. She could picture the entire scene. "Sounds like fun."
Spencer shook her head insistently. "I should have ridden with you."
"And witnessed my mother's near sobbing when they left? No thanks. It was bad enough that my roommate had to see it."
"So you've met her? What's she like? Where is she?"
"She got a call and disappeared." Emily shrugged. "She's all right, I guess. We haven't talked much. Her name's Paige. She's on the swim team with me." It was really all the information Emily had. She wondered if that was normal.
"Well, that's cool," Spencer replied, her voice soft and encouraging. Emily was happy Spencer was there. Out of all of them, she was the one who could maintain her calm, who could bring out the silver lining, who could make things seem like they were going to be all right. "At least you guys have swimming."
And there she did it again, making it all seem okay, Emily thought.
"Yeah," Emily agreed.
Spencer, almost involuntarily, began reaching for clothes from Emily's bag, and crossed the room to begin hanging them up. "So how's Maya? Did you call her yet?"
"Not yet. It's like three hours earlier there," Emily explained, her eyes glancing to the clock which read 3:00. "She's probably still checking in."
"I always forget that. When does she start classes?" Spencer asked as she finished hanging a batch of clothing and moved back to Emily's bag.
Emily shook her head as she opened her dresser drawer and began laying her socks inside. "Monday too."
"How you doing with her being away?" Spencer asked gently.
"Honestly?" Emily stopped and turned to her, leaning back against the dresser. "It's been three days, and I already miss her. And we have three months to go until break."
"I know it's hard, but you guys are going to be fine," Spencer told her, smiling sweetly. "I mean, she's crazy about you. You're crazy about her. It's going to be okay."
"Yeah. I know," Emily replied, frowning. "But that doesn't make it easy."
"It'll fly by."
"Four years?" Emily asked doubtfully.
Spencer shrugged, as if it was all she could offer. "So they say."
Emily nodded, as Spencer returned to the unpacking.
It had grown warm in the room, and Emily realized the lack of air conditioning was going to be a painful thing to get used to.
"I think I'm going to grab a soda. You want something?" Emily offered.
"I'll go with you."
"No, you stay," Emily smirked. "Someone has to unpack me," she added, teasing.
"Fine," Spencer relented, smiling. "Grab me a Coke."
"You got it!" Emily told her before stepping out of the room in search of a vending machine.
It was only a couple minutes later that Spencer was stirred by the sound of the door creaking.
"That was fast," she announced, impressed. Spencer spun around when she heard unfamiliar laughter and saw two girls entering the room, one with cropped reddish-brown hair and another shorter girl with dark hair and eyes. They were huddled close together as if they'd been deep in conversation, giggling and gossiping.
"Oh, hi!" Spencer exclaimed, wondering which was Emily's new roommate. "I'm Spencer, a friend of Emily's. Is one of you Paige?"
The girl with the reddish brown hair looked surprised that Spencer knew her name. "That's me," Paige answered finally, then motioned to the girl beside her. "This is my friend Pru."
"Cool. So you're on the swim team with Emily?" Spencer asked.
Paige smirked. "Yeah. What about you? You guys play for the same team?" Paige asked suggestively, maintaining a straight face.
Spencer wasn't completely sure if Paige had just implied what she thought until she saw Pru's eyes widen as she let out a muffled laugh and nearly choked out the soda she was drinking.
"Excuse me?" Spencer asked firmly.
"Or are you more into diving?" "Paige asked mockingly as the girl beside her tried to stop from laughing.
Spencer's mouth opened in disbelief as Pru dissolved into giggles.
Paige turned to Pru and pulled her towards the door. "Come on. Let's get out of here."
The two disappeared before Spencer could finish processing what had just happened. She felt the anger boiling inside her, but she was secretly glad that Emily hadn't been there to witness. After she'd told Emily she wouldn't be going to Penn State with her, she'd felt guilty and had hoped that she would be paired with someone who would adore her the way all of them did. She felt her stomach drop as she realized it might be exactly the opposite for Em. She hoped more than anything that maybe the girl didn't mean what Spencer thought. For Emily's sake.
A few minutes later, Emily reappeared in the doorway to the dorm room carrying two Cokes victoriously, like she'd battled evil lords to get them.
"You have no idea how many vending machines are empty," she announced. "It's like a massive raid happened."
"I met your roommate," Spencer grumbled as she took the soda from Emily's hand.
"Paige?" Emily wondered.
"Yeah, apparently when they make that roommate match form with all your personal characteristics, they should have included a box to check for bitch," Spencer muttered angrily.
"Why? What happened?" Emily's face was covered in concern.
If Spencer thought she couldn't feel worse, she was wrong. The look of trepidation on Emily's face was already painful enough to see. The thought of telling her was too much.
"Nothing. She just… said something," Spencer deflected.
"About what?"
Spencer hesitated. Before she could say anything, Emily jumped in.
"It was probably just a misunderstanding," Emily insisted as she opened her Coke and took a seat on the bed.
Taking a long swallow from her soda, Emily wondered what possibly could have been said, but at the same time, part of her didn't want to know. She didn't need another reason to be nervous around her new roommate, and Spencer tended to jump to conclusions anyway. She figured she'd rather just let it go and focus on the fact that for one more day, she at least had two of her four favorite people nearby.