Faking It

Chapter 3: Dorms, Decor, and Dinner Plans

Still wrestling with the box of my new uniforms, I followed the signs up to the third floor of the girls' dorm—the juniors' floor. Halfway down the hall, I balanced the box against the wall and knocked on 312.

"Just a second!" came a voice from inside.

I blew a stray piece of auburn hair out of my face and adjusted my grip on the box, ready to be rid of the damned thing.

The door flew open, tugged by a girl with straight, dark hair, pale skin, and pink wire-rimmed glasses. She looked me over quickly, blinked, and her face burst into an easy smile.

"Oh, thank goodness. You're the new girl. I was dreading they'd assigned me one of Emma's high heel crew. Come in, let me help you with that." She seized the other half of the box and helped me settle it onto the empty desk on the right side of the room. The floor was littered with more boxes, some of them open, and some of them I recognized as mine, shipped out a week ago, before I'd left home.

"I'm Ellie," I said, extending my hand. "And I'm definitely team flats, not heels."

She laughed. "I'm Gyeong-Ja. Or, well, Georgia, if that's easier for you. That's what most of the other girls call me. Apparently Gyeong-Ja's kinda hard to pronounce. I really don't mind, though. You can call me whatever you want. Just not Georgie. I hate Georgie." She gave a nervous laugh. "I'm rambling, aren't I? Sorry. I, uh, don't do so well with strangers. But we're not strangers, we're roommates, so yeah. Uh, I hope you don't mind that I picked a side?"

I tried not to smile at her frantic energy as she buzzed around the room, moving her boxes out of the way. She'd already plastered a BTS poster beside her bed and hung a string of fairy lights across the wall above her desk. Beneath it, she'd mounted a framed academic award with her name spelled out as Sun Gyeong-Ja.

"I don't mind at all. And I hope you'll correct me if I butcher my pronunciation, Gyeong-Ja." I shoved one of my boxes out of the way—the one filled with mom-approved clothes from home. I'd managed to sneak in a few hoodies and leggings, but I'd been firmly assured that Kingsbridge Prep students dressed nicely, even on the weekends. If today had been any proof, I'd grudgingly have to admit that she'd been right. Even Gyeong-Ja looked like she'd stepped out of a socialite influencer's fashion blog, in her perfectly pressed skirt and sleeveless top. I hoped she wouldn't care that I usually lived in faded old pyjamas on weekends.

"Oh..." She blinked at me, before a tentative smile crept onto her face. "That was actually pretty good. But it sounds more like a K than a G—like Kyung-Ja." When I tried again, her smile grew. "Perfect." She climbed onto her pale, floral-patterned duvet to put up another poster. "I'm sure they gave you the orientation schedule, but there's not much else today besides dinner. Unless you want me to show you around a bit?"

I sat down on my bare mattress, already overwhelmed by the prospect of unloading everything. Instead, I dug out the stack of papers and flipped through them. "I think I'm good for now, I just have to find out when soccer tryouts are. You're okay with me following you around like a lost puppy until I figure things out, though, right?"

Gyeong-Ja laughed. "Of course! That's what roomies are for. I'd never let you get stuck eating alone."

I hadn't even considered that when William had shown me the dining hall, and I was suddenly very thankful for Gyeong-Ja. I studied the rest of the orientation schedule while she finished unloading an entire bookshelf of graphic novels. Varsity soccer tryouts were exactly when William had guessed—tomorrow at 7:30 am, before the mandatory assembly. The early hour had me groaning, especially since I'd technically already made the team. But I still had to make the starting roster and I'd have to get used to such a rigorous practice schedule at some point. After all, this was my life now. I was a student at an elite prep school. No more lounging in bed all weekend, endlessly scrolling my phone. Early morning practices and late night scrimmages were my entire reason for being here.

With a sigh, I threw myself into unpacking my boxes. Thankfully, my uniforms weren't too wrinkled from all my clumsy handling, and everything else was easy to locate thanks to my extremely type-A mother who'd labelled everything.

"So when's dinner?" I asked Gyeong-Ja when the majority of my stuff had made it out of the boxes and into my assigned closet space.

She paused the video she'd been watching on her laptop and checked her watch. "Now, actually. We should go before the line gets long."

"Excellent," I said, then linked arms with her. "Lead the way, roomie."

**A/N: Happy Thanksgiving, readers! I know this one was short, but there's some good news: as a little gift because I'm thankful for every one of you, chapter 4 will be up TOMORROW!

Happy reading, and if you enjoyed this one, please take a moment to vote and comment!**