The Lovers of Atlanta

Chapter 1 : New Beginnings

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

There's a boy in my dorm.

I looked down at the number 560 painted on the door, then back at my schedule in the little corner labeled

Potter Hall, Rm: 560

This was definitely Room 560, maybe I wasn't in the right hall? All these dorms looked the same in a way to me, they were all rustic and old looking, maybe i should find Dad and just wait to grab my stuff till later

As I was thinking, trying to figure out if this was even the right room, the boy spoke.

"You must be Theodora!" The tall boy said, grinning with a hand held out towards me.

I stepped back a bit, trying to balance the large box in my arms.

"Thea" I said, my eyebrow raised.

This has to be a mistake, right? I know this was a Co-ed dorm, but with the opposite gender?

The boy took my box from me and set it on the open bed. The other bed already had a ton of clothes and boxes on it.

I suddenly got pulled out of my thoughts by him speaking again.

"Don't you have more stuff?" He asked, tousling his short brown hair, his eyebrow raised in an inquisitive way. "And are you hungry? Once we're done grabbing our stuff and unpacking, we're heading to Monet's. Have you had their burgers yet? They're the size of your fist, make a fist" He took my hand.

I swallowed hard, a bit surprised that we had just met and he was already touching me.

But yet, I did as he said.

"Bigger than your fist" He closed his hand around mine, I held my breath for a moment.

He has so much energy.

"Do you have more boxes? You have to have more boxes, I'll help you unpack the rest of them- Dawn!" He spoke fast, his short fluffy brown hair started to get in his eyes, he flicked it out of them a bit.

I swallowed hard again and looked over my shoulder to see a girl, she looked about 20-21, with short red hair down to her broad, wide shoulders

"Look! Your roommate's here!" Dawn stood in the doorway, holding a pack of cigarettes with a lighter, she pulled one out of the pack

The tall boy took it from her and propped it up in his mouth, crossing his arms a bit.

"Theodora, Dawn, Dawn, Theodora" He said with a crooked smile.

"Thea. Just Thea" She sighed

Dawn nodded her head. She dug through her purse, shoving her cigarettes in it.

"Hey" She nodded her head to me. "I took this side, but feel free to move my shit if you don't like the feng shui or some shit" she said with a shrug

I shook my head

"Nope, no feng shui issues here" I awkwardly announced.

She shrugged again.

"Alright, well we're off to Monet's, you coming?" Her eyebrow raised as she asked.

I shook my head

"No, I'm good. I'm getting food with my dad."

She nodded, and walked out the door. The tall boy turned and spoke to me for the last time that night.

"See you later Theodora" He nodded his head to me politely.

I nodded back, and then paused for a moment. "Thea, Just Thea" I was biting my lip.

"Matthew!" Dawn yelled from halfway down the hall

He smiled back at me and walked off to follow Dawn.

After he left, I sighed and started to unpack all of my stuff that I had in the huge box I was carrying.

Dad walked in carrying many other boxes, along with Andromeda close behind him.

"Hey!" Drew yelled, with a large smile across her face.

I shushed her, my eyes wide with how loud she was.

"Drew, you need to lower your voice a bit" I sighed out in exasperation.

Andromeda (Or Drew) is my hotter, more awesome twin sister. She looks exactly like me, except I have a birthmark on my neck, long hair and glasses, and she has a pixie cut and uses contacts.

Dad chuckled at my reaction and how loud Drew was. Drew blushed, the tips of her nose, ears, eyebrows, and her cheeks glowed bright fire hydrant red. She flicked her short bangs in front of her forehead back a bit out of her face, She looks awesome in that haircut. Which means I probably would as well, but I don't have the guts to actually do it. She came home with that haircut two weeks after graduation, she looked awesome and so confident in herself-, everything I'm not.

"You should get some new clothes, Thea! Get out of your comfort zone" Drew exclaimed one day after she got her haircut.

I just shrugged when she said that "I don't see why I have to, I like my current clothes"

Dad spoke again "Hey what about after we're done getting you girl's stuff in your rooms, we go get some pizza?" He asked with a smile

Drew shook her head. "Can't, going to the Freshmen Barbecue with Paige"

Paige is Drew's roommate, they met a couple times last summer and brought me with. They bought a ton of stuff for their dorm like matching desk lamps, and matching Georgia State University sweatshirts. The Freshman Barbecue is this meet and greet type thing, a way for the upperclassmen to meet the freshmen and for us freshmen to make friends.

"Why don't you go along with Thea?" I look up at Dad at the mention of my name and shake my head

"I don't want to, and besides, I'm going to go get dinner with you before you leave for home." I said with a smile

He clicked his tongue a bit. "You really should meet new people, you need more friends"

I shook my head again. "I have you, Drew, and Beck. That's all I need"

Beck is my high school boyfriend, we've been dating since sophomore year of high school. He's going to school at NYU. I applied there as well, but I didn't get in.

My dad sighed.

Drew shook her head. "I'm not gonna be there every step of the way Thea, you need to learn how to do stuff on your own for once."

My shoulders hung forward a bit, I didn't realize I had them held up high and that I was sitting up straight until now. I didn't think about that till now.

"Now that we aren't roommates anymore, you need to get out of your comfort zone and make some friends" She said again.

Get out of my comfort zone. That's all she's been saying since we started thinking about college in Junior year, when's it ever gonna stop?

"Yeah yeah yeah, I know. I have to get out of my comfort zone to..." I paused for a second, not wanting to say the mantra that she made for me. This is one of the only reasons why I hate Drew sometimes, she does stuff like this.

"Tooooo?" She said with a smile, encouraging me to continue talking.

"Make new friends, yeah yeah yeah I know I know I know" I grumbled.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it." I mumbled

She smirked "Good, now, I'm off to go get ready with Paige, see you later" She hugged dad one last time. "I'll see you next time I come to visit" She left.

Now, onto dinner with Dad