Citrus [completed]

Chapter 3

The first week was busy. First, I went with Blair to finish stocking our apartment and make it feel like home. This meant that I was picking out drapes, matching towels, and cute rugs while Blair found little plants and niche knick-knacks that she claimed 'needed to be in our living room'. I had to draw the line at the random garden gnome she found, with a pinched face, that she wanted to leave on our balcony.

Next, I had to worry about my classes, which had started with a bang. Iverson University boasted about the many programs they offered to all students, but what drew me here was the fashion major. Their classes were notorious for the amount of work that went into them, but they led to connections that would help later. I had started my shifts at The Viper again. Lucy had welcomed me back with a quick inspection before barking orders. The shifts at the bar were by far one of the easiest parts of my week.

Blair and Eden were determined to drag me to multiple back to school functions when I wasn't at work. I relented a little, letting them drag me to different clubs. However, I drew the line at the bonfire the school was planning for the beginning of a week-long event called Rush Week. I tell Blair I want a quiet night where I lay on the couch. That was why I was alone in the apartment for the first time.

This leads me to my peaceful evening where I was sitting on the couch, cartons of Chinese food sitting on the table. Most are empty after I after gorging myself. With a full belly, I was making a ton of progress, the beginning of a fashion suit was on my mind. Curves and certain shapes raced through my mind as I drag my pencil against the light paper.

The idea of having Blair model it for me races through my mind when suddenly, I hear an ungodly buzz go through the entire apartment. I jump, my hands flying to my chest as if to still my racing heart. I almost reach for a pillow as a weapon when it sounds again.

Abandoning my spot on the couch, it takes me a few seconds to realize it was just the horrific doorbell. A loud, jarring, ugly doorbell. I hadn't heard it yet because we had yet to have visitors. I wasn't counting Eden, who was more like a leech on our couch. Not expecting visitors and knowing most of my friends are taking part at the beginning of Rush week, I slowly make my way towards the door.

The doorbell went off again, impatiently waiting for me to respond. It took me a minute to find the screen. These apartments were high-end and allowed video of who was trying to buzz into your apartment, and when I first saw the screen in the wall, I told Blair that it was hers to deal with. It seemed like I would be the first to deal with it. It took me to press a few different buttons and a distressing amount of beeping before an image popped up onto the screen. It showed a grainy image of the main outside entrance of the building.

My eyes scan the screen for a few seconds and I take in a tall person, with slightly frizzy hair and an irritated expression. There stands the Colby daughter, bundled up in a light pink blazer and skirt while wearing a button-down and a fuzzy scarf around her neck. She visibly shivers on the camera.

I click the buzzer and ask, "Hello?" Even though I know who it is. It seems like I couldn't escape the talk of her and her brother. They have been the talk of the entire campus. It was like they were celebrities among celebrities. She startles before looking at the monitor. She looks around as if she's unsure where the voice was coming from.

She speaks, her voice ringing through my suite, "Hello," I'm taken back by the southern twang but she keeps going, "I'm sorry for bothering you but my name is Vanessa Colby. I'm in suite 1267," She says to my astonishment.

My head whips towards my door and I stare at it as if I can stare through the wood and at my neighbor's door. Vanessa's door, apparently. What were the odds? I turn my attention back to the monitor. Vanessa smiles sweetly at the camera, "I forgot my key card when I ran to pick up a package. Do you think you could let me in?"