New Love

Chapter 3: Emily

I walked into my apartment later that afternoon, exhausted from the heat and the walking from class to class.

"Hey." I greeted Mia Anders, my roommates, dropping my bag by the door.

"How was your first day on campus?" She asked, tucking her light brown hair behind her ear.

"Ugh." I collapsed on the loveseat kitty corner to her. "This campus is so huge. I only got lost like twice." Unfortunately the second time I got lost, there wasn't a sexy blue eyed man there to help me and I had to fend for myself.

"It certainly is a big change from Fairview, isn't it?" Mia chortled. I nodded in agreement. Mia and I had gone to high school together in a small town outside Nashville. We had ran in the same crowds, but hadn't talked much after graduation.

"You can say that again." I propped my feet up on the table. "I'm just happy you had a new roommate opening and let me slide in."

Mia waved her hand in dismissal. "Don't mention it. I'm glad you're here. In fact, I wanted to see what you thought about throwing a welcoming party this weekend. I can introduce you to some of the gang."

"Yeah, sure. Sounds fun."

"Great! I'll send out a Facebook and Instagram invite. Feel free to invite anyone you want."

I couldn't stop the smile from creeping over my face. I wondered if I could get Jay to come.

"We can hit up the liquor store later this week. Lucy's boyfriend is 21 so he won't mind buying us the booze. Maybe even a keg."

"Where is Lucy?" I asked. I had yet to meet our third roommate since moving in over the weekend.

"She mostly stays at her boyfriend's place." Mia explained.

Just then the door swung open and a short Latino girl with black hair stomped into the apartment with a duffel bag over her shoulder. She didn't stop to glance at either of us.

"Oh, there she is. Hi Lucy!" Mia called. She was answered by the slamming of a door down the hall. Mia winced before looking back over at me. "Her and Jason much be fighting."

"Does that happen often?" I didn't want to be stuck in the middle of my roommate and her boyfriend fighting.

Mia rolled her eyes. "Pretty often. But don't worry about it. They always make up once Lucy settles down."

I looked down the hall where Lucy had disappeared too. "Should we go check on her?"

Mia snorted. "Absolutely not. Lucy walks to the beat of her own drums." Mia frowned for a moment, then turned back to me with a smile. "Hey, I was about to catch up on 'The Bachelor.' Want to watch it with me?"

"No." I sighed and stood. "I'm going to head to my room and catch up on some reading."

"Suit yourself." Mia shrugged and flipped on the TV.

I retrieved my bag from the floor and headed down the hall to my room. As I threw my bag on the bed, and plopped down, his blue eyes and killer smile popped in my head.

"Get it together, Emily." I told myself, reaching for my psychology book. I was here to get a degree, not daydream about some guy.

Wednesday morning, I overslept my alarm. When I woke up, I only had forty five minutes to get to class. I jumped out of bed, cursing. I wanted to look cute today. I hadn't stopped thinking about Jay since our first encounter and I wanted to feel his eyes swoop over me again. Instead, I had to settle for dry shampoo, a ponytail, light makeup, denim shorts and a t-shirt. I shoved my feet into a pair of sandals and tossed my bag over my shoulder, ready to hoof it up the hill.