Friends.

Chapter 1: Fun Night Stands

A/N: I have a zero tolerance for rudeness policy. No one is forcing you to read this, it is entirely your perogative and if you're one of those people who like to comment rude/annoying things, turn back now because I will not put up with it, there is no necessity for that kind of shit in this community and I will not tolerate people commenting things to make me feel bad about  something I have created. That being said, I hope you like it and thanks for reading xxx

The day I met Gemma Styles, it was 2009, I was 16 turning 17 and it was my first day at university. Her dark hair fell just below her shoulders, accentuating her pale face and a sweaty side fringe covered her deep-set eyes. She was clearly exhausted from moving her belongings into our dorm room but smiled triumphantly as she unpacked the last of her boxes, a quirky dimple indented in her cheek as she did. She was only slightly frazzled in comparison to me, she was mostly excited, a little ditzy but she had an aura of cool that made her completely and utterly terrifying.

Having exceeded all academic requirements at an age younger than my peers due to my "particularly astounding intellect for a person of my age", I had been moved up a year during high school, meaning I graduated and completed my GSCE's a year earlier than I was meant to, and am one of the youngest first year at university. Gemma was 18 turning 19, and the two year age gap made her all the more intimidating.

She gracefully set up her side of the room and her confidently indivdual style was instantly evident through the pastel blue lanterns she hung across the wall, the posters of supermodels wearing Haute Couture that she sticky taped to the brick wall that her single bed was up against. Accompanied by her Mother and Stepdad, and her little brother Harry, she moved everything in, bit by bit, as I sat quietly on my bed and watched in silence.

Before they left, she politely introduced me to her family. 

"Hi, I'm Gemma. I'm your roommate. This is my Mum Anne, stepdad Robin, and my little brother Harry." She tried to dismiss them as though she didn't need them anymore, the same way any girl this age moving out of home does- with a mock confidence, trying to convince herself more than anyone else that she was old enough and independent enough to do this. My eyes had dragged across the room, taking in her extremely normal familiy, she was the spitting image of her mother, though her mother's skin was slightly tanner and her skin was slightly aged with skinspots. She was beautiful nontheless. Gem's stepdad didn't make much of an impression on me, he was busy packing up the empty boxes to take with them as he left the door, her little brother trailing behind him after giving me a small wave hello and goodbye. He was so young, so innocent in his baggy grey pants and lighter grey cardigan. Much like Gemma's aura of cool, he had this sort of welcoming aura that made me smile warmly at him as they left the room, a cheeky smile had spread across his face as he mussed the curls around his face. 

It was terrifying to go from being a big fish in a little pond at Peterborough High School, to being a very little fish in a massive pond at Sheffield University. My law degree was set to take 3 years and I intended to finish top of my class, I wasn't here to make friends, I was here to study and continue on the career path I set for myself from the age of 14. But the minute Gemma's family left, she was no longer terrifyingly intimidating, she was warm, buzzing and full of conversation. We were instantly friends, her sense of humour was like no one else I'd ever met, we shared so many common interests; fashion, ambition, everything.

Six months into our friendship, Gemma invited me to go home with her over semester break to meet her family properly, she came from a small town in Cheshire, called Holmes Chapel. During high school, I would've spent any break I had reading next semester's course work, memorising, studying and preparing, but I'd already done that for next semester, so I allowed myself a short break.