Far

two

I am woken up by my phone buzzing at five in the morning. Alexa is calling me, and for a second my heart sinks, could she be in trouble?

I quickly, but quietly, get out of bed and walk out into the hallway, sucking in a breath before answering, "Alexa? Is everything all right?"

"Ariana! I have so much to tell you," she says with such energy.

"You do realise it's five in the morning?" I question, squinting my eyes from the bright light.

"I know, I know," she says sarcastically, "but I have been up all night putting my room together and the excitement has kept me awake for the past hour so I figured I would just call you!"

"I take it you like it then?" I smile.

"I do! I love it here, I'm sorry but I don't think I will be moving back to Washington anytime soon," she says.

"How tragic. I thought I could persuade you to stay with me and the clouds and the trees," I laugh.

"No, I am made for the sun," she says.

I miss her already.

"How is your dorm? Is your roommate nice?" I ask.

"It's an average dorm, but it's really nice! I haven't met my rooma- oh, wait a minute," I can hear the sound of the door opening.

I wait for her to come back as she introduces herself, "Ari, I'm going to have to call you back, my roommate is here."

"Okay, bye! Be safe," I say and she reciprocates before I hang up.

I quietly walk back into my room and lock the door before making my way to my bed.

"Is everything okay?" Lili sits up, her hair sticking up in all directions.

"Oh, yeah, my friend just called to tell me about her school. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you," I apologise.

She shakes her head, "It's fine! I'm a light sleeper so everything wakes me up."

I giggle before saying goodnight, even though it's morning, and try to get just a little bit more sleep.

Three hours later, I wake up with the sun barely lighting our dorm. I look over to Lili's empty bed before getting out of my own.

I check my phone and several texts from Alexa.

dude. my roommate is from Italy?!? no wonder she got in at five in the morning.
her name is Francesca and is totally gorgeous.
she says her nickname is Chez!!
oh my god i have to call you when i wake up.

I laugh and respond saying how cool that is and how I'm excited to talk all about it.

I go to the top drawer of my dresser and pull out my toiletry bag. I grab underwear and a bra before picking out an outfit. Jeans and a yellow crewneck seems reasonable as I am going out to get some things to keep my room and my studies organised.

I slowly walk towards the showers, hoping they're not too crowded, mentally preparing myself for the fact that they're unisex.

Keeping my eyes down, I quickly find an open shower and try to be as fast as possible, the idea of someone opening the curtain and seeing me bare gives me chills. I quickly dry off and change, and walk back to the dorm with my long hair soaking the back of my crewneck.

When I walk into the room I see Lili with a boy, I wonder if he's her boyfriend?

"Hi," I say to both of them.