Chapter 1
The college campus of New York was buzzing with excitement as students, both new and old filled its ground. A new school year had approached, a new year to start anew and to be free from your parents. To dress your best to impress others. To make plans to attend every event they hold. To be a part of every single club on campus. To go to class on time and be on top of all of your assignments. To pull all-nighters. To go to every party that the Greek houses hosts. And also to procrastinate. College was life in itself.
Pearl had longed to graduate from high school and escape the imprisonment of her small hometown in Nebraska. She had yearned for life out there in much bigger places, where she could venture out and discover new things, things which she couldn’t find back at home. It was strange for her to want this considering she was a ‘stay at home and study instead of go out and hang’ kind of girl.
Around her junior year, she had begun her search of colleges, preferably ones with a good dance program; she loved to dance. So she looked into some art schools, but some had not peeked her interest. She then looked toward the universities in New York, and that’s where she found it, the University of New York. It was perfect, an excellent dance program that offered all genres of dance. A fairly large and beautiful campus, which she loved and it was right in the middle of New York itself; she was sold. Pearl gave no hesitation in applying once she found her dream school, and after many months of waiting she received her acceptance letter before her senior year in high school ended.
And now, after the two and a half long months of summer vacation, there was Pearl facing a tall skyscraping structure that was her place of living for the school year. Two large suitcases flanked her sides, the rest of her stuff still sitting in the trunk of her mother’s car. Her ice blue eyes scaled the structure of the building as if engraving each structure into her brain.
“Pearly, can you please help me to unload the rest of the stuff?” her mother called.
The young girl looked to the right side of the car where her mother stood. She was tall and fair skinned, her hair a pale blonde and her eyes were as green as emerald. Pearl then moved to the trunk of the car, unloading the rest of her belongings into a brightly orange bin that was provided by the dorm for residents moving in, her mother bringing round the last of the boxes from the back of the car. Soon both the back seat and the trunk were bare, Pearl closed the trunk with a hard thud.
“Are you sure you do not need any help unpacking dear? I’m not due to leave tomorrow for home.”
“I think that’s quite alright mother. It’s not much, so it would not take me long to unpack. But thank you for offering.”
Her mother soon had her arms around her daughter, embracing her in a warm hug.
“I’m going to miss you sweetie. Oh, the house is going to feel much emptier with you gone.”
“Mom, you and dad are not going to be alone. You still have Paton in the house, remember?
“Well, your brother is usually in and out nowadays with his friends. He is in high school, and he’s just doing…high school kids things.”
“Hopefully things that aren’t illegal,” Pearl gives a look of disapproval towards her mother.
“Oh you know your brother, he’s a little angel. But anyways, you better get going if you want to get all of that unpacked,” Pearl’s mother gestures to the orange bin full of her belongings. After one last tight hug, her mother departs, leaving Pearl in the wake of her new home for the year. With one last look at the building and a heavy sigh, she begins to push the bin towards the entrance.
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Luckily Pearl’s dorm was only a few floors up and that the dorm had an elevator, or she would have nearly died from pushing such a heavy load. Once she stepped onto the third floor of the dormitory, she slowly made her way down the hall with the orange bin in tow. The hallway was pretty much clear of other students since her and her mother arrived late than others. But Pearl didn’t mind, it was less of a hassle for her to deal with when she moved in.
Pearl had her room assignment engraved in her head due to her photographic memory. “Room 308, Room 308,” she mentally repeated this in her head while her eyes kept a lookout for her destination.
“Aha, there it is!”
To the right, there was a thick wooden door with the number 308 on it. Also on the door were two name tags, one with her name on it and the other with the name of her roommate.
“Oh, I wonder if she has already made it here. I’m so excited to meet her.” Pearl was ecstatic to meet a new person, especially the person who she would be living with for the year. Judging by one of their phone calls they had over the summer to discuss what each would be bringing for the room, Amethyst seemed like a sweet and interesting girl. However, assumptions were far from the real thing, and she wouldn't know who her roommate was until she actually met her.
Pearl dug her hand into her pocket to fish out her dorm key she had collected from the front desk earlier. After inserting and giving it a good turn, the door became unlocked and Pearl proceeded in.
She was greeted by an unexpected sight.
Things were flung across the room, including on what Pearl presumed to be her bed and desk. A girl, who looked to be about half of Pearl’s height was prancing around on her side of the room; music blaring through her earphones and her mind completely oblivious to her surroundings. She was faced away from Pearl, so she didn’t take notice when she had come in. Soon she had turned around to pick up something off of the floor and saw Pearl standing at the door with her bright orange bin. She then paused her music on her phone, took out her earbuds and proceeded to introduce herself.
“Oh hey, you must be Pearl. I’m your roommate, name’s Amethyst!”
