2009

Moving In

Alexandra Charrington drove down a street of Ann Arbor. She was on her way to the University of Michigan. It was her first day of college and although she was nervous as hell she tried to hide that under her confident attitude. She knew that she had a dormmate and was not excited to meet them, but she couldn't afford an apartment and she had no family here to live with so it was her only option. It was Autumn but it was freezing compared to her home in LA. She shivered as she drove down the main road and eventually found her way to the University of Michigan. She got out of the car to take in her surroundings. The school was big. Like really big. She didn't know how she would ever find her dorm, but I guess maps were made for a reason. She took out two bags from her car she knew she could carry easily and walked to one of the many administration offices.

"Uhm, hello, my name is Lex Charrington and I'm looking for my dorm." She didn't make much eye contact with the office lady and continued to fidget with her bag.

"We don't have a Lex Charrington" The lady looked up from her computer screen at Alexandra, a little bit suspicious.

"Oh, wait. No, my name is Alexandra. I just like being called Lex." She was a little irritated but tried to stay as kind as possible. The lady started typing on her keyboard and clicked on her mouse a few times before nodding.

"Yes, alright Lex, luckily for you your dorm room is very close." She gave Lex a few directions and told her the basics of living in the dorms before sending her off to find her room. She walked through Michigan watching leaves fall from trees and friends meeting up for the first time this year. She couldn't help but wish she had someone to reunite with. Coming from California she was pretty lonely over here but she just guessed that that's what happens when you move away from your home. She eventually found her dorm and fiddled with her lock before the door flung open, startling her a bit. As the door opened a small head poked out from behind a rack of clothing. Music was playing in the room, the song was something Lex didn't recognise, and the girl walked out from behind the clothing.

"Hi there!" the girls voice was loud over the music, but she turned it down so Lex could talk.

"Uh, Hi." The girl had short blonde hair, though it was obviously bleached because some darker roots were showing. She was really short compared to Lex who was 5'7. Her outfit was simple, a purple jacket over a T-shirt that said 'little white lies' and dark grey tracksuit pants. Lex was not very excited to meet her but wanted to be kind until she had a reason not to be.

"I'm guessing you're my dormmate?" She had a huge smile on her face and looked really excited.

"That would be correct. I'm Alexandra but you can call me Lex." She walked over to where Lex was standing.

"Hi Lex! I'm Lauren. I haven't seen you around before; are you a freshman?" Lex shook her head and moved past Lauren to put a bag on her bed.

"No, sophomore. I applied last year but didn't get in, I only got in this year because I got a scholarship for swimming." Lex sort of mumbled her answer; that was a bad habit of hers. Lauren heard her though and came over to her bed.

"Oh, that's so cool! One of my best friends is also a sophomore and he used to be into swimming, you might see him around. What's your major?" Lex didn't know whether she was liking the amount of attention Lauren was giving her or hating it, but she went with it anyway.

"Theatre."

"Me too! Yay I love having theatre friends! Ugh, I love performing! A while ago my friends and I did a show called Little White Lies and it was so much fun! I played this character who was like a mean girl called Tanya, and she tried to help this guy..." Lauren was rambling on but Lex kind of lost focus and was in her own little world. She really couldn't decide if she liked this girl. I mean, usually she would be able to tell in under a minute that she didn't like someone but it had been almost five and she couldn't find any reason to not like her yet. Sure, she was a little loud and talked quite a bit but it was kind of comforting to have someone who actually wanted to talk to her.

"Anyways, sorry for rambling, but it's on YouTube if you want to watch!" She finished talking and Lex realised she had not been paying attention.

"Oh, that sounds really cool. I'll have to check it out sometime."
"So, what have you been in?" There it was, that annoying question. Lex really had never really been in things. She just had acting lessons and did drama throughout school. She never did musicals because she couldn't sing well enough and she didn't do film projects because she didn't like looking at herself on screen.
"Oh, just a few things here and there." She tried to be as vague as possible but this girl was persistent.

"Come on there has to be something you can name!"

"Um, well I used to make little movies with my older sister as a kid." Lex was quiet with her answer, she didn't like thinking about her sister. Lauren seemed to hear her though.

"Stop that's so cute. I need to see one sometime."

"Yeah, maybe." Lauren went back to unpacking but realised Lex didn't have anything apart from two small bags.

"Wait, where's the rest of your stuff?"
"In my car, I wanted to see how far away my dorm was before I went back and got stuff. Luckily, its pretty close."
"Well come on then!" Lauren hopped up and zipped up her jacket, ready to go.

"Oh, no, its fine really. I can get it all."
"No! I'm not allowing my new friend to carry heavy boxes all alone! Now come on!" Lauren started pulling Lex's arm gently. Lex chuckled and reluctantly left with Lauren to get boxes. Maybe she would actually have a friend here. Maybe.