September:

"Which one is yours?" huffed Sully, as he shifted the heavy box in his arms.

"Ummm, sixteen, I think," muttered Michaela distractedly, glancing down at the bundle of papers that had been thrust at her about half an hour ago and then up at the row of dorm rooms.

"There!" she exclaimed, spotting a room with the door ajar, "it's that one."

"Great!" replied Sully, a tad sarcastically, as he followed in her wake; did she have to bring all her books with her?

"Hey, how is it that you live in this town and I still managed to beat you here?"

"You didn't have an over emotional mother driving you down," explained Michaela rolling her eyes as she knocked hesitantly on the door before pushing it open further.

"True," chuckled Sully, as he dumped the box down by the door, "my mum practically threw me out the door. I think she's looking forward to actually having food in the fridge again."

Michaela giggled nervously before turning to survey the suite. Four doors to what she presumed were the bedrooms opened up in the central common room where she stood. A worn but comfy looking sofa along with a handful of mismatched arm chairs took up most of the space but a tangle of loose cabling suggested that there had once been a television by the bay windows. The carpet, once a deep blue had faded to an odd grey colour and was smattered with the remnants of an age of college parties.

"This one's free," called Sully, who had wandered into one of the bedrooms on the far right.

"Not a lot of closet space," he continued as Michaela followed him in, "but it's got a great view."

Michaela turned eagerly to look out of the miniscule leaded window only to be faced with a flat, brick wall.

"Very funny," she replied dryly as Sully burst into laughter behind her, "least I won't get distracted."

"Hello!" called a cheery voice from the common room, "anybody here?"

Michaela slapped Sully on the arm as she hurried past him out of the bedroom. A tall, red haired girl with a pencil shoved behind her ear, was negotiating the close quarters, a heavy box balanced precariously in her arms.

"Hi," she called again, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement as she spotted Michaela in the doorway, "I'm Charlotte, call me Charlie."

"I'm Michaela, Mike for short," explained Michaela with a grin, "and this is Sully."

"Lemme help you with that," offered Sully quickly, grabbing the box easily, "which room?"

"Thanks," replied Charlie gratefully, "the far left."

"My arms are killing me," she moaned, rubbing her right wrist vigorously to ease the cramp. "Did you finish moving all your stuff in?"

"Not even close," grimaced Michaela, "most of it's still out in the car."

"Ugh," sighed Charlie, collapsing exhaustedly into an armchair and swinging her legs up so they dangled over the side, "me too. It's just going to have to wait a while."

"I best go get my stuff before my "hired help" gets bored," laughed Michaela as Sully ambled back into the common room, muttering under his breath.

"Good luck," grinned Charlie as she registered Sully's disgruntled expression, "I'll be here."

"Head's up, Michaela!"

Michaela glanced up in time to see Sully grab a football from one of the many boxes littering the corridor outside her suite and lob it towards her head. With a shriek, she ducked out of the way. A loud expletive followed by a dull thud suggested collateral damage and Michaela, having ascertained the coast was clear of any further missiles, hurried forward.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed, reaching out a hand to the sandy haired boy just staggering back to his feet, "I'm so sorry, are you ok?"

"I'm fine," he replied slowly, rubbing the bump on the back of his head, "was that ball for me?"

"No," replied Michaela with a slight smile, "for me. That was Sully's idea of a joke. He knows I have next to no hand eye co'ordination."

"Sully?"

"That's me," grinned Sully, coming up behind Michaela, "sorry about that. You ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine," assured the young man with a broad smile, offering his hand first to Sully and then to Michaela, "I'm Danny, Danny Simons, Pre Med."

"Michaela's pre-med too," replied Sully, nudging her affectionately with his shoulder, "Best look out for her, she's a handful."

"Need some help?" continued Sully, gesturing at the multitude of bin bags scattered at their feet and blithely ignoring Michaela's suddenly mutinous expression.

"Sure," replied Danny easily with a chuckle, "I'm upstairs, in 25."

"25?" repeated Sully, his eyes brightening in surprise, "me too. Guess we're room mates."

"Guess so," laughed Danny, stooping to grab the rest of his bags, "see you later Michaela."

Tipping his head slightly in her direction in true Texan style, Danny slung the bags over his shoulder and swaggered off up the stairs after Sully, their peals of laughter clearly discernible over the babble of students.

"Hey, it's me!" called Sully barely waiting for a response before he pushed open the door. His brow instantly furrowed as he took in the uncharacteristic mess of clothes strewn across the room. Michaela was usually freakishly tidy and had been known to morph into somewhat of a hell hound when placed within a five mile radius of disorder of any sort. Something was clearly wrong; apocalyptically wrong.

"What are you doing?" he queried as Michaela peered out from behind the closet door, "what's with all the mess?"

"Oh, nothing," replied Michaela blithely, glancing down at the pile of discarded outfits, "It's no big deal, I'll sort it out later."

"No big deal?" echoed Sully, his eyes widening in disbelief, "you sure you're feeling ok?"

"I feel fine," assured Michaela, disappearing back into the cupboard, "I'll be out in a minute."

"No big deal," mumbled Sully, wandering over to the stereo and grimacing slightly at the slow classical number now issuing from it, "Mind if I change this?"

"Sure, whatever you like," came Michaela's voice from the closet, her tone suspiciously muffled as though she had just pulled a jumper over her head.

"There's a big party going on tonight," began Sully conversationally, "I just saw them hauling kegs up the stairs."

"Yeh, I know," replied Michaela, as she strode out from the closet to peer at herself in the small mirror on the dresser. Scowling, she pulled off the strappy top and disappeared back into the closet.

"Grace told us about it last night."

Grace was Michaela's other suite mate. A smart mouthed, young girl from the Deep South, she had brought her lively Caribbean nature with her and had transformed the suite into a tropical retreat filled with great food and laughter.

"You going with her?" asked Sully curiously, leaning back against the small book case.

"Yeh I thought I might, for a bit," conceded Michaela, poking her head out again to meet Sully's bemused expression, "why?"

"Well," continued Sully slowly, "I guess I just figured we'd be going together,"

"What made you figure that?" offered Michaela archly, as the blush deepened on Sully's cheeks.

"I dunno, I mean…" fumbled Sully before folding his arms across his chest and meeting Michaela's amused glance with a scowl, "it's a college party. A real college party. With drinking and loud music and kissing. Just doesn't seem like something you'd enjoy."

"I'm well aware of what a college party entails, Sully," retorted Michaela a tad acerbically, "and how do you know I wouldn't enjoy it?"

"Fine!" huffed Sully, "so are we going then?"

"It would be nice if you actually asked me," replied Michaela from the closet, the humour clearly audible in her voice.

Sully rolled his eyes and sighed before offering, "Michaela, will you come with me to the blow out-guaranteed-to-make-you regret-you're-alive- tomorrow, party?"

"No," stated Michaela sombrely, emerging from the closet at last.

Sully's eyes widened as he scanned the simple, short black dress, his glance instantly darting down to the side slit that revealed more of her long legs than was really necessary. Her long, coppery tresses, for once not scraped back in a practical knot, had been styled into elegant coppery curls that cascaded down her back and across her bare shoulders. He swallowed hard before meeting her gaze again, his expression dark.

"Why not?" he breathed.

"You waited too long," continued Michaela sedately before a broad grin escaped her control. "Danny already asked me this morning," she explained before reaching out to give Sully a quick peck on the cheek, "so I guess I'll see you there."

Laughing at the somewhat stunned expression on Sully's face, Michaela disappeared towards the front door to meet her date, the approving catcalls of her room mates echoing behind her.