The Unexpected

Chapter Two

'Seriously, where the hell is it?'

'Where's what?' Katie sighed, she was trying to focus on a piece of coursework. Ele's all-too-frequent strops were not helping. 'What have you lost this time?'

'My textbook, I had it last night.'

'You mean the one that is tucked under your wardrobe?' Katie sighed. She just needed out, she was getting sick and tired of Ele now, she loved her in small doses, if they had separated into single rooms when they were supposed to months ago then she would probably be best friends with her now. As it stands Katie doesn't know what will happen, if and when, they ever do get separated.

'Thanks,' Ele said. Her tone was the complete opposite to what it had been mere moments before.

'Can you not just keep them all on your desk or your shelves?' Katie huffed. 'It's not that hard. They even gave us more shelves when they started this whole thing.'

'I normally do, just get off my case.' Ele snapped.

'Fine. I am going out.' Katie grabbed her phone, key and her headphones before stalking out of the room. Not caring to make sure the door didn't bang closed behind her.

:: :: ::

Katie breathed in the early spring air as she made her way out of her block. She was just happy to be outside. That was one good thing about this university, there were lots of green, nature-filled open spaces. Even with the campus being on lockdown they were still free to walk about, which Katie was in awe of. She started wandering, not taking notice of the direction that she was going in. She was just happy to be outside, to be surrounded by life, and nature. To be in her happy place.

With her music flooding into her ears, her face turned towards the spring sunshine it wasn't long until Katie had calmed down. She had needed this. With the stress of her coursework and sharing a room with Ele still, she was finding she needed to take more and more time outside. She loved uni, even if the experiences weren't what she had been dreaming of since she was a little girl. It was new, it was an adjustment; even though she had already been there for a whole semester.

She loved the course she was doing, she loved the people she had met on her course. She loved the campus, the library, the history of the place. She loved the girls on her floor, and for the most part, she loved Ele. Sharing her space wasn't something that she was used to, she was fine whilst it was a stop-gap, but it had been months, and she wasn't coping well now. There seemed to be an end in sight though, things were relaxing, no one was getting sick anymore. She kept her fingers crossed that soon she would be able to have her own space; though that meant something new to get used to.

Hours passed before she decided to head back to her room, in all honesty, if her stomach hadn't started rumbling showing her that she was hungry she probably would have stayed out longer, despite it getting late in the evening.

'Phew,' Ele breathed a sigh of relief as Katie walked through the door. 'I was going to come to find you soon, I was getting worried.'

'Sorry, I just went for a walk, I hadn't realised how late it was.' Katie's heart swelled, if she was worried enough to come and look Ele must actually like Katie, which was something that she had been beginning to worry about. 'I didn't mean to worry you. I am hungry though. Do you want me to make you some food?'

'That would be great. I prepped a lasagne, you could heat that up?' She smiled. 'I just need to finish this chapter,' she motioned to the book open in front of her.

'That's fine,' Katie said with a smile. 'I won't be long.'

:: :: ::

Katie's email pinged. She was too engrossed in her work to look at the notification. Before long her phone was pinging without a break. She sighed and figured she should probably see what was going to make her phone blow up. That was when she read the email.

She couldn't believe what she was reading. Was it finally over? Were they lifting the lockdown?

'HAVE YOU SEEN?' Ele screeched as she burst in. 'They're ending it.' She pulled Katie to her feet and began twirling her around the room. 'We can finally have a proper university experience!'

'It also means you get your own room,' Katie said, trying to calm her racing heart down. 'Which is what you've wanted since you got here.'

'Yeah, though it will be strange not having you here with me...' Ele admitted. Her smile falling a little.

'We don't have to become strangers cause we aren't so cooped up anymore,' Katie said, a seriousness to her voice to hide the worry that she felt.

'Good, I don't think I could cope with that. I don't think that I would have lasted so long here without you.' Ele blushed a bright crimson as she spoke. More candidly than Katie had ever heard her.

Katie pulled Ele into a hug, her throat feeling scratchy as tears welled up in her eyes. 'I love you Ele, you know that right?'

Ele pulled back, her face mirrored Katies as tears welled up in her amber eyes. She leaned forwards and gave Katie a swift, gentle kiss on her cheek. 'I love you too,' she smiled.

:: :: ::

The girls were moving the last of Katie's things into her new room; thankfully it was only the floor below the one she had been on. So not very far from Ele and all the friends she had made at all. They weren't even in different blocks. Though it would be weird not to just be able to walk down the hall and bump into them so easily.

'You know that you're welcome to come up and hang with us whenever you want. In fact, we expect it.'

'Good, as I had every intention of doing just that.' She smiled, at her now ex-roommate. 'Thank you for helping me with all this,' she nodded at the boxes filling the room. She hadn't had that much stuff with her, but she had seemed to accumulate things over the months.

'Anyway,' Ele said, her hands deep in her pockets now they were empty. 'I, uh, need to head back upstairs, I have an essay due tonight that I should have already finished.'

Katie shook her head, Ele was a procrastinator when it came to her work, the frantic rush to get things done on the day of the deadline - and the moods that came with it was certainly something that Katie wasn't going to miss.

She held out her arms, 'not so fast missy,' she smiled as she enveloped the stranger who had turned into her very best friend over the past months. 'You don't get away that easy!'

They laughed as they broke away from the hug. 'See you soon. Don't be a stranger,' Ele said. pointing her finger at Katie as she stood in the doorway.

'See you,' Katie smiled sadly as Ele moved out into the corridor, the door gently shutting behind her.

Katie sank onto her bed and looked around her. The room felt small, and large at the same time. She started mentally planning how she was going to put everything. With only one term left she felt like this wasn't ever going to feel as homely as the other room had.

Plus Ele wasn't here so how could it?

This was going to be a strange term, but it felt right after the strangeness that had been the year so far.

This was by far not what she expected her first year at university to be like. She just hoped that the rest of her time here would be... less eventful. Though she doubted that somehow. 

The End.