Unraveled - A Harry Styles Fan Fiction

Ch. 3 - Jordan

The boys dropped me off at my apartment building, making me promise to let them know if I would come by their party later. "You have my WhatsApp number, Jordan! Shoot me a message and I'll send the address!" Zayn called out the window as they drove off.

How could I have been so lucky to meet two students at the same university I would be attending right when arriving to Spain! My first friends, I smiled to myself. 

My apartment was on the third floor of the building. I rang up to apartment 306, and was buzzed into the building. There was no elevator in sight, so I began to drag my bags up the polished marble stairs. Halfway up I was greeted by a breathless girl about my age running down to meet me.

"Jordan, right?" she asked. She was shorter than me by an inch or so, and had honey-colored brown hair and a radiant smile on her face. 

"Yep!" I responded. 

"Hello! I'm Maddie, one of your housemates! Let me help with the bags, moving everything up all these stairs is the worst part of this building," she laughed. 

"You are an angel, thank you so much," I gushed, handing her my big backpack. We struggled up the rest of the stairs together, me dragging my giant suitcase and Maddie lugging up my backpack. 

Finally making it onto the landing, we walked a few doors down to the one with 306 printed in gold on the door. "Here we are! Welcome!" Maddie said as she pushed the door open with her foot. 

I took a moment to take in my surroundings while Maddie began a quick tour. It was small, cramped, had cracks in the walls and multiple issues with appliances, Maddie was telling me, but all I saw was a cozy home in the city of my dreams. "So the toilet runs unless you jiggle the handle just the right way, and there is no food processor so our kitchen sink clogs up pretty often. You'll know when it does, it's disgusting. We have a washing machine, but no dryer, I know, very European, and the floors are pretty creaky, but it's home." Maddie finished her mini rant and turned to face me, a big smile on her face. I could already tell we were going to be friends. 

"It's perfect. You have no idea what the apartments at UCSB, my home university, are like. Isla Vista is one big sinkhole and everything is broken," I laughed. "One time, a friend of mine was taking a shower and the whole thing sunk down a foot into the apartment below them! The girls living underneath the apartment had to run up and tell her to turn off the water or else it would have fallen straight through!" We were both cracking up and gasping for air by the end of my story.

"Oh my god," Maddie said, "Well this apartment is a bit old and in need of some love, but nothing like that!"

"I'm glad," I laughed. 

"Well, here is your room, at the end of the hall. My room is right next door, and then there's Amelia's after that, and Isabella lives over here," Maddie said, pointing across the hallway. Amelia and Isabelle are grabbing takeout for us all, but should be back soon."

I stepped into my room and let out a sigh of contentment. The room was sparsely furnished, with a simple bed and bed frame in one corner, and a window with a small wooden desk beneath it across the room. There was a lamp on the bedside table that turned on and off with the light switch and provided the only light in the room, and a small closet off to the side.  A simple skinny dresser made up the rest of the furniture in the room. The room was small, but was all that I needed.  

"I'll let you get settled, and then we can eat with the other girls once they get back. Let me know if you need help with anything!" Maddie said excitedly. I opened my suitcase and took out the stack of books I had brought with me. Mostly my favorites, read so many times I could practically recite them from memory, and some were books I hadn't yet had the chance to read and hoped to find the time for. I stacked them on top of the dresser, along with a small porcelain cup for my rings and earrings, and my favorite candle from home. The rest was easy, just transferring clothing into the dresser and hanging up coats, sweaters, and dresses in the closet. I was just beginning to hang up photos and artwork on the wall by my bed when I heard the front door open.