Game Theory × NH

011 | sodium

× Mercury

The room needed a lot of work. I enjoyed color like every other girl, but there was such a thing as having too much of it. And my new dorm was a grand example.

"This one is your bed," Chloe said, walking the room and patting the twin that was pushed up against the window. It had a navy blue comforter and some matching pillows on it - it seemed like the only thing in the room that wasn't bright. "And that's your desk," she continued, pointing to the wooden surface in the corner next to the foot of the bed.

I picked up my suitcase and plopped it on the comforter and took a seat next to it. The bed was softer than I expected, which wasn't saying much because I had low expectations... but still.

Point 1 for London.

"You can change or add whatever you want to your side of the room. The stuff already there was defaulted before I knew I was getting a roommate. I'll take my stuff back tomorrow." She walked over and grabbed my other two bags and sat them next to the bed by my feet. "You can keep the duvet and pillows, though. That came with the bed."

"Oh, good," I said, relieved, thinking back on my checklist of things I absolutely needed to bring to London, and the comforter wasn't one of them. "I'm glad I have something until I can go out and buy what I want."

Chloe smiled, showing me her white teeth. She seemed like a sweet girl and I was happy to have her and not that other chick that was in the room to be my roommate. Chloe was tall, a little taller than I was, with short platinum blonde hair that fell in layers to her shoulders. Her eyes were the color of salt water, blue with a hint of hazy green, and her skin was a cream that reminded me of New York vanilla ice cream.

"If you want, I can show you around the city," Chloe offered. "I know where the best deals are."

"That would be great, thank you," I said honestly with a smile.

"Hey, Chloe," the other blonde interrupted. She was standing in the doorway in her ugly pink dress. "I'm going to go. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Ohh," Chloe teased. "Spending the night with Niall, yeah?"

The girl opened her mouth to respond but when she looked over Chloe's shoulder at me, she seemed to change her mind and said, "of course," with the wickedest smile I had ever seen.

And then she left the room as swiftly as she had appeared, Chloe yelling after her. "Stay safe! Use protection!"

The image of the girl hanging on Niall's arm as they walked down the hall played in my head and I couldn't help but think that she was trying to let me know that Niall was hers and no one else's - marking her territory, if you will. But the joke was on her because I couldn't of cared less about their sex lives... or their lives in general.

"You're going to love it here," Chloe continued where she left off. She took a seat at her desk and said, "Just the other day someone tried to cook a single deep dish pizza with a blow dryer. It set off the smoke alarms and everything."

I laughed. "Are you serious? Did it work?"

"Oh, yeah," she grinned and gestured to her small garbage can in the corner of the room. Sticking up from the top of the trash was a Chicago Town deep dish pizza box. "And it was delicious."

Shenanigans in the dorms sure to keep things interesting. Point 2 for London.

I reached down and pulled out something comfortable to wear to bed along with a towel and toiletries bag from my suitcase. "I think I'm going to go take a shower and crash. Where are the bathrooms at?"