MOSTLY ACADEMIC

“You had me at ‘hello’. You had me at ‘hello’”- Jerry Maguire(1996)

Life had never been simple for me. Sometimes it had been hard, sometimes strangely linear, and most of the time it had been both at once.

When I was twelve, all I wanted for my birthday was one normal dinner with my parents, just the three of us at the table. Instead, I spent the evening with my nanny and my teddy bear, Bobo. Years later, when I wished to study abroad and finish my graduation in another country, life surprised me. It took exactly fifteen minutes to convince my father, all thanks to Mr. Ray, and after that everything moved fast. A month for the visa. A few packed suitcases. And then cab ride to the airport.

Now here I was.

St. Louis Crestwood University.

A prestigious Ivy League college, the kind people only talked about in glowing voices and nervous smiles. I told myself this year would be different. This year, I would start over. I would stop hiding behind the fact that I was a little curvy. I would enjoy my life. YOLO, as they say. I wanted all the boyfriend drama, all the romance, all the love. As long as none of it touched my insecurities.

I wanted to prove I was worth it.

Standing before the grand entrance of Crestwood, I could hardly believe this was real. Through the main gate, I saw hundreds of students scattered across campus, laughing, talking, and already looking like they belonged here. I was a week late to join the session, but I told myself I would catch up.

I had to.

The moment I stepped into the glass hallway, an excited petite blonde nearly collided with me before grabbing my hand and dragging me forward.

“You seem new here,” she said brightly. “I’m on the college council, and I’m here to help you with accommodation in your dorm. I hope you’re staying on campus and not with the Hunter boys. Well, I hope not. I mean, you’re a girl, and they’re a bunch of horny boys.”

She smiled so widely her teeth practically blinded me.

I gave a small laugh. “Yeah, I’m hoping I’m on campus too.”

“Fantastic. Come with me. You’re okay with roommates, right?”

“How many roommates?”

She glanced at me, then at my necklace, and I caught the meaning immediately.

“The most expensive ones are two-bed dorms,” she said. “Then four, then six. I’m guessing you’re thinking two-bed?”

“Oh, definitely.”

“Okay!” She exhaled in relief and handed me a key she had grabbed from the counter. “Room 103. First floor, third room on the right.”

“Thanks.”  I nodded.

“You’re welcome, babygirl.”

I gave her the slightest nod and turned toward the staircase.

My heart thudded as I walked past the white wooden doors and reached for the doorknob, hoping my roommate was already there.

I was right.

The room door was open.

And just as I turned the knob, the door swung wider.

Flash.

Two people were completely naked on the bed, having what could only be described as mind-blowing sex. All I could do was stare.

The girl had purple hair, and the man on top of her was muscular, with dark curls falling over his face as he moved against her. They were making the kind of noises that made my soul leave my body.

I wasn’t even sure if the situation was scandalous enough to count as real, because then the boy looked up and caught my eyes.

Oh.

His eyes.

Grey-blue.

He stared straight through me, a smile spreading across his face as he spoke in a gravelly voice.

“Liking the view, Kitty Cat?”

Utter disbelief hit me.

How dare he!

“Nope. I actually,  would not like the view right now,” I said, finding my footing even though my heart was trying to escape my chest. Bravo, Ramona.

Oh, that voice. The way he looked at me. It was infuriating.

The girl lifted her head, flushed and embarrassed. “Oh! Sorry, you are?”

She looked confused for a moment before she glanced between us.

“The council head told me this was my room,” I said, still trying to process the fact that I was standing in a stranger’s dorm room while they were naked.

“Oh, you’re the late kitten,” she said, laughing at her own joke.

She sat up completely, still very much unclothed, and I wished with all my heart that I could unsee everything I had just seen.

I think my brain actually stopped working.

Then reality snapped back in.

Was I really standing here, looking at two naked people, one of whom now seemed to enjoy mocking me?

The girl nudged the boy. “Do you mind, Liam?”

He smirked again. “Whatever you say, sweetheart.”

Then he got up and walked into the bathroom like nothing in the world had happened being

Butt naked.

A man.

In our restroom.

I was going to change dorms as soon as possible.

If my first five minutes at Crestwood University were any indication of how the rest of my “fresh start” was going to go, I was in serious trouble.

The air still carried the heavy, unmistakable scent of expensive cologne, sweat, and a blatant disregard for basic roommate etiquette.

“I’m Jessica, by the way and he is Liam my bestfriend,” the girl with the purple hair said, entirely unfazed. She casually pulled an oversized vintage band tee over her head, completely ignoring the fact that she had been mid-act less than two minutes ago.

“And don’t worry about Liam. He doesn’t bite. Well, unless you ask nicely.”

She laughed at her own joke, and to my surprise, I found myself blinking at her instead of panicking.

Jessica was… cool. Effortlessly cool. The kind of girl who could walk into a room half-dressed, make a joke about it, and somehow leave everyone else feeling like they were the awkward ones.

Still, my mind was stuck on a loop: grey-blue eyes, “Liking the view, Kitty Cat?” Absolute, unadulterated confidence. He hadn’t even had the decency to look embarrassed. If anything, he had looked amused that he’d broken my brain.

“I… I think there’s been a mistake,” I stammered, my voice sounding a lot less brave than it had when I gave him my snappy comeback. “The girl downstairs—the council member—she said this was a two-bed dorm. For girls.”

Jessica paused with a mascara wand halfway to her lashes. She looked at me, then at the bathroom door, which was currently vibrating with the sound of a heavy bassline from whatever playlist Liam was blasting in the shower.

“Oh, it is a girls’ dorm,” Jessica said, popping the p. “Liam doesn’t live here. He lives at Hunter’s. You know, the off-campus house? But he basically crashes here sometimes, I hope that’s not a problem.

Hunter’s. A bunch of horny boys. Well now I’ve got a live example to one of them god knows how much more horny others boys can be.

“Right,” I said, a familiar, uncomfortable warmth creeping up my neck. My insecurities, the ones I had promised myself I’d leave at the airport, were already clawing their way back to the surface. I was curvy, wearing a slightly wrinkled travel outfit, and feeling entirely out of my depth next to this effortlessly cool, purple-haired girl and her devastatingly handsome, shirtless best friend.

I didn’t belong in this room. Not yet. This is just too soon.

Then Jessica smiled at me like we had already known each other for weeks.

“Oh my God,” she said, dropping the wand and pointing at me. “You’re Ramona, right? The late arrival?”

I blinked. “Yeah.”

“Perfect. Then we’re roommates.” She hopped off the bed and extended a hand. “Ignore Liam. He’s annoying, but he’s mostly harmless.”

I stared at her hand for half a second before shaking it.

Her grip was warm and firm. Casual. Easy.

And suddenly, weirdly, I felt myself relax.

“I need to go handle something,” I blurted out, though now I wasn’t even sure what I meant by it. “I’ll be back.”

Jessica tilted her head. “Handle what?”

“Something very urgent,” I said, already backing toward the door.

“Like what?”

I pointed vaguely at the bathroom. “Trauma.”

That made her laugh. Really laugh.

And somehow, that laugh made me feel just a little less like I was about to implode.

Before Jessica could answer, I spun on my heel, dragged my massive suitcase back out into the hallway, and let the door click shut behind me.

My dad, Mr. Ray, always said that everything in life was a negotiation. If you don’t like the terms of the contract, you find the person in charge and rewrite them.

Granted, he usually applied that to multimillion-dollar real estate deals, but I figured it worked for housing assignments too.

I practically marched down the stairs, the wheels of my suitcase clattering loudly against the wooden steps. The blonde council member was still at the desk, currently organizing a stack of neon-colored welcome flyers.

“Back so soon, babygirl?” she asked, flashing that blinding, high-wattage smile. “Forget your Wi-Fi password? It’s 6989sexybrats..” she doesn’t even let me speak before she blurts out.

“Not exactly,” I said, leaning against the counter and trying to channel even a fraction of my dad’s commanding presence. “I need a room change. Immediately.”

The smile faltered slightly. “Oh? Is there an issue with Room 103? Jessica is usually super chill.”

“Jessica is fine,” I said, keeping my voice low so the passing students wouldn’t overhear. “But her best friend, Liam Whatever, is currently using the place as some kind of experimental stage production. I didn’t pay the Ivy League premium to be a live studio audience.”

The girl’s eyes widened, and then she let out a low whistle. “Liam Hunter? Of course. I swear that boy treats this entire campus like his personal playground. Look, Ramona, right?” She checked her roster. “I’d love to switch you, but we are completely booked. Every single two-bed, four-bed, and six-bed on campus is full. You were a week late, remember?”

Panic settled into my chest.

“There has to be something,” I said. “A single. A storage closet with a cot. Anything.”

“Nothing, girl, unless you want to live with that bunch of boys. And trust me, they don’t allow girls as roommates. Even if they did, it’d be a terrible idea.”

“Oh, never. Not in this lifetime.”