the secret » david dobrik au

T W O

"Corinna! Our roomie's here!" the squeal that left Natalie Mariduena's mouth was shocking and otherworldly loud. She practically sprinted over to me, jumping on me with a warm hug. Even sweaty from moving with a big t-shirt and shorts on, she looked good. "I'm so excited to finally meet you!"

"You too," I smiled at her, gratefully accepting the hug. It was the only thing that made me feel like I belonged. "This is my aunt Lydia. She's helping me move in."

"Your aunt?" she directed her attention to Lyd. "You look our age. Corinna! Did you not hear me? Evan's here!"

"I'm coming!" Corinna yelled back from another part of the apartment. "I'm trying to make my fucking bed, asshole!"

"She woke up early this morning so we could try to have the place decent when you got here. Corinna is not a morning person," Natalie explained away her friend's yelling with the careless wave of a hand. "We've already started decorating the living room and stuff with stuff that Corinna had from last year in the dorms. If you don't like anything, just let us know and we'll figure it out. From your Instagram, I think we probably have similar aesthetics."

"Yeah," I nodded. "Not too worried about how the living room gets decorated, to be honest."

"Sorry," Corinna wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Jesus, those beds are high. I felt like a spider monkey trying to get all my shit on there. They're higher than the dorm beds are!"

"At least we have our own room this year," Natalie said as Corinna went in to hug me.

"I'm so glad you're here instead of the dorms. You're going to have the best freshman year ever, I can just feel it."

I hoped she was right. With two sophomores by my side who knew the ropes by now, I just prayed I could stay calm and make it through school without freaking out. It wouldn't be too bad as long as I could stay focused on work. Maybe I needed a hobby, too. I just didn't find anything interesting enough to make it a hobby.

"Do you want some help with the rest of your stuff?" Natalie asked. I could tell she was one of those extroverts who could talk to anyone without feeling awkward; I was completely jealous. I could barely have a normal conversation without looking like a freak.

"Oh, you guys are busy doing your rooms!" Lydia protested, probably because she carried the lighter bags up the two flights of stairs the first time. "Keep working. Can you show us which bedroom is hers, though, so these aren't sitting in the living room?"

"Oh, duh," Corinna laughed, sharing a knowing look with Natalie. "I'm sorry for us. We've been friends for so long, it feels like we're telepathic and when other people don't get it, we don't understand. Your bedroom is on the very right down that hallway, and the key to your bedroom door is sitting on the desk in there."

The landlord, I guess, had mailed me the key to the actual apartment about a week ago. I thanked the girls, then made Lydia follow me back to the bedroom, adorned with a full size bed, a desk, and a decent sized closet. Only one of the bedrooms had an en suite, and though Natalie and Corinna tried to offer it to me, I didn't think that was fair. After a game of rock-paper-scissors in one of our Facetime calls, Natalie won the room, meaning Corinna and I would share the other bathroom.

"This isn't too bad!" Lydia tried to sound upbeat, but I could tell by her face she wasn't very impressed. You have to understand that Lydia was a naturally bougie person; plain cream colored walls with tack holes and one of those blue mattresses you see at church camps was not her ideal living situation. It was nothing amazing to look at, but I knew the freshman dorms were one bedroom with two twin beds on either side and they were more expensive, so I could deal with it. Lydia whispered, "The girls seem sweet, too."

"Yeah... they seem good," I dropped the two suitcases I'd been lugging behind me on the ground in front of the bed. "I'm already sweating, and we have, like, ten more bins."

"Let's get a move on, baby, before I give up and make you do all the work," she smiled cheekily.

"Remind me again why you're the one helping me?" I shook my head with a laugh, following her back out of the apartment and down the stairs.

"Because you love me! And because Papa would've scared the shit out of those girls."

My grandpa was... different. He was loud and brash and bold and would say anything he wanted to. He was also a bit creepy, so that was the main reason I didn't want him to come. If he saw a pretty girl, he would flirt with them, and Natalie and Corinna did not deserve to deal with that.

"You make a strong point."

Lydia and I were two weak girls that made about eight trips to the car to get all of my stuff, half of it stuff that I didn't even need. It was my sixth trip up and down the stairs that I wondered why I brought so many damn clothes when I knew I'd wear a t-shirt and shorts every single day for the next two months.

She helped me unpack everything, helped me put up the tapestry on my wall, literally my only form of decoration, and took a picture of me sitting on the bed for her Facebook and "the memories".

It was when she was leaving that the weight sunk in my chest. We were standing in the parking lot, and all I could think was that I was going to be alone again. Lydia could tell something was wrong, so she pulled me into a tight hug. "Hey, hey, it's okay, love. I'm not going to be that far away. You call me anytime, any day, and I'll come pick you up, okay?"

"How am I supposed to do this?" I felt like I couldn't breathe. "I was never meant to do this. Never. I'm supposed to be there with Simon. Who is gonna take care of him? He came to us so we'd take care of him. I can't just leave him alone. Who's gonna take care of him?"

"Evangeline Grace," Lydia put her hands on my cheeks, her attempt to ground me. "That's what I'm here for. That's the whole point of him living with me. I will take the best care of Simon, okay? You are meant to be here. It's not selfish to want to do good for yourself. It's not, at all. You deserve to be here."

"What am I gonna do without you?" I hugged her tightly. This was the nicest I'd been to Lydia... ever. I attributed my sassiness to my freak out about being in a new place with random people and no friends. "What if I die alone?"

"Now, Ev, you have got to be the most dramatic girl I've ever met," she laughed, giving me one last squeeze. "Try not to die. Call me if you need anything, or if you just want to talk to me or Simon or Earl."

With one last hug and a wave, she was off, and I was alone.

I went back upstairs, unlocking our front door and letting it fully sink in that this was my apartment with my new roommates. If I was stuck here for the next year, I needed to make the best of it.

That's why I didn't even hesitate when they asked if some of their friends could come over.

"Sure," I shrugged. "Doesn't bother me."

I have to pee so bad but my dog is laying on my legs so cute and i cant get up so i finished this chapter to distract me <3 writing goals !

lemme know what yall think

ALSO howd u find this book genuinely i didnt even post that i started a new book so i guess if u follow me it gives u a notification that i started a new book?? Weird tho

Xoxoxo abby