Young & Dumb «ZM» ✔️

Part 1

I won't lie. Last night I was happy and nervous to come to the campus. However, right now I am very much... terrified to step out of my brother's car. My leg is shaking as I look around the campus, so enormous. I notice my new schoolmates walking around, happy and friendly with each other. They all have friends, they all know each other. And me? I am new, it's going to be hard to include me.

"Kayleen, get your shit together. They won't bite off your head. We need to move your things to your room and I have work right after." my brother scolds me for having second thoughts. I look in his eyes and nod. Then I unbuckle and open the car doors. We both step out of his car. He takes my two suitcases out of the back and hands me one, the smallest one. He takes the box and closes the car. I don't have much things because I want to buy things here while time goes on. Last week I got my keys to the room I'll be living in along with the room number and in which house it is in, because there are more than one. Once we've made our way to my new room, I sigh. It's locked which means no one's here. I unlock it and my eyes widen a bit. One corner of the room is occupied already. We get inside the room. There are three beds, on each of them are written names. I find my bed and place my suitcase on the bed. My brother puts my suitcase against the bed on the ground and puts the box on the bed.

"Right, this is it. I'll see you on holidays then, yeah?" I ask my brother. He nods. It's all he has to do for me to realise that there's a catch. Or not a catch, more like some bad news.

"I may not be home for thanksgiving." he admits. That is sad, but it was kind of predictable, now that he's actually married and with a kid, second on the way... I sigh and shake my head at him slowly.

"Dave, really? I was hoping that you and Jade could come together with Sofia." I pout at him. He chuckles and shakes his head. "Okay. See you on Christmas then. You have to come home for Christmas!" I insist. He nods and opens his arms for a hug which I accept. For a while we just stand like this, but then I pull away. "Go. Don't be late for work." I wave my hand at him. I don't want him to leave yet, but I can't let him stay any longer because of his work. He nods.

"Bye!" he says and leaves the room, closing the door behind. I sigh and turn to my bed. My eyes flicker to the side which is already occupied by... someone called Rosalie. Her vibe seems... very aesthetic. The fake leaves around her bed and small fairy-light downfall from the shelf that's above the bed. I like that. Maybe we'll get along just great.

When I'm halfway through putting my clothes in the closet, the door opens and two girls come in cheerfully chatting. They don't notice me at first.

"Did you forget to lock the doors?" first one asks, but then her eyes fall on me, "Oh. Hello. You must be Kayleen, yes?" she asks me now, then checks the name on my bed. I nod and smile.

"And you?" For my own surprise, I sound very normal, but my insides are exploding from fear. I'm scared, because I've never had any experience with living in dorms.

"I'm Cora. It's written here that Haylee is the third roommate, but we switched last minute and I'm the third roomie here." she seems cool. I nod and look at the second girl who is now sitting in the aesthetic corner. Her brown eyes are focused on me.

"I'm Rosalie. You look like you're one of the cherries so yeah, fine, you can have my lunch money." she doesn't sound too happy to have me here. I shake my head. Who are cherries?

"I have no idea what cherries are and I surely don't need your lunch money. I want to be friends if that's possible." I tell her, only now realising that they probably can hear my voice being shaky. Rosalie's eyes immediately sparkle and she jumps out of the bed.

"Cora, we finally found the perfect roommate!" she squeals and runs to me. I freak out that she's going to fight me, but I relax when she hugs me. I hug her back even if I don't really know her. After the hug I smile at her and look at Cora. She has a huge smile on her lips.

"Wait until she sees Ryle, Zayn, Liam and Tom." she says to Rosalie, "I mean, they're hot and all, yes... But they fucked you up, Ros." she sighs. I look at Rosalie who is smiling foolishly.

"It's Tom who broke my heart and I don't mind if she likes any of them." she shrugs now and looks at me. I look at Cora and a plan occurs in my mind.

"Why don't we just sit down and talk through what we all agree on and what not. Maybe then we could start from there and see if we click." I suggest. Cora looks pleased, so I look at Rosalie to see her nod. "But not now. I want to unpack first." I say as I point at my suitcase. They both agree. Cora has to unpack too, I didn't notice her suitcases in her corner.

We turned up some music and all vibed together. Turns out we have the same taste in music and similar humour based on our jokes. Right now, we're in the cafeteria and sitting at one of the tables, eating lunch. It's not a school day yet, but they offer breakfast, lunch and dinner for those who came earlier to the dorms.

"Oh! Look! They're here early!" Cora whispers and points at someone behind me. Rosalie immediately looks up from her tray and her eyes find them, whoever they may be. I turn and look at who they are. Okay, she wasn't lying, they're smoking hot. I don't know who is who, but my eyes are glued to the guy in the middle.

"Who is in the middle?" I turn around and ask both of them. Both of them smile and look at each other like they expected this to happen.

"You're choosing the worst option, sweetie." Rosalie comments on my choice, "It's Ryle. He's the most desired guy here. But who's surprised that you chose him? No one." she giggles. I look back at them. They're much closer now and I can hear their voices.

"And who's the guy with black hair and lots of ta-"

"Zayn. Trust me, you don't want to go there. He has a girlfriend." Cora stops me before I finish my question. I nod. "The third one is Liam. Tom isn't here yet." she adds. Liam looks straight at me, but I forget that he literally can see me looking at them. That is until one of the girls kicks my leg. I look at them with wide eyes.

"I forgot that he can see me looking." I whisper to them. They both look scared. "Please tell me he's not looking anymore!" I whisper, hoping that I haven't made chaos. Rosalie shakes her head.

"Oh, honey, they're all looking." she whispers and looks at me, "They're coming." she says and then clears her throat. I think she's joking for a moment, but when I take a bite of my sandwich, two guys sit on both my sides, third one next to Rosalie.

"Hello, girls. Rosie, you've had real big glow up. Is it to spite Tom?" Ryle speaks up and then looks at Cora, "You too. You look prettier than I remember." he frowns. They both look uncomfortable which makes me feel really guilty. I silently chew my sandwich, but I fear that they might be bullies and...

"You're new." the guy with black hair and lots of tattoos says to me. What was his name? I look at him. He's sitting next to me and, dear god, his voice is angelic. I nod and swallow. "What's your name?" he asks now. I look at Rosalie and Cora. Rosalie barely nods. She's afraid, I can see it in her eyes. Ryle's arm wraps around her waist.

"Does your friend talk or is she mute?" Ryle sounds pissed for some reason. And that's when I pull my shit together. I frown. I'm not going to let him treat her like that.

"I do talk." I tell him and then look at the guy who's name I forgot, "My name's Kayleen." I smile now. Immediately his serious face lights up and he smiles.

"Oh come on, man." Ryle whines. That's what makes his smile disappear, "Zayn, get your shit together. I know she's a blondie, but you just broke up with Perrie." he comments. Oh, his name was Zayn, right! Zayn rolls his eyes.

"So that means I can't smile anymore?" he asks, "Besides, I broke up with Perrie two months ago, that's not just broke up." he leans on the table. I take a small cherry tomato and look at Ryle.

"Why would you care why he smiles after he broke up with her? Was it you behind their breakup? Are you jealous?" I decide to spark up some drama. After I'm done speaking I eat the tomato. Ryle slaps both his arms on the table and he gets up. He doesn't even answer, he just walks away in a fast pace.

"Okay, that is weird of him. What do you know of my relationship with Perrie?" Zayn asks me. I shrug. "That motherfucker." he whispers and chuckles, "Anyway, nice to meet you, Kayleen." he says and gets up, "Bye, Rose. Bye, Coral." he says and both he and his friend leave. Only now I realise my heart is almost jumping out my mouth. I look at both Rosalie and Cora. That is something I don't ever want to repeat. I am terrified of those guys.