Four letter word

6. Room 306.

AJ went back to her room, feeling her heart pounding. She sat down on the bed and tried to breathe slowly, but was unsuccessful for the next three minutes.

After finally managing to calm down, she took of her shirt which was now stained with coffee and went to grab a towel and a change of clothes from one of her suitcases.

She then went into the small shower which had dark green tiles all around and was now decorated with one of AJ's plants next to the sink. Two of the lights weren't working so it was pretty dark in the shower. AJ couldn't tell if this felt like a horror movie or if she was actually enjoying the new atmosphere that had been created in the bathroom.

She took off all of her clothes and got into the shower. The warm water felt nice on her skin and made her relax finally after the few stressful hours. But then the thoughts came rushing back.

She wished she could interact with people normally, without feeling her heart trying to jump out of her body every time she was forced to speak.

She lowered her head and clothes her eyes. The heavy feeling in her chest came back, this time much stronger and violent. She felt the first tear drop and finally broke down. Feeling safe enough in the shower to cry. Why? Just why couldn't she be normal like the others?

Once she got out, she stopped in front of the mirror and cleared the blur with her palm. Her face looked puffy, but at least the water her washed away her tears and she no longer felt the need to cry.

She dried herself and put on her clothes, pinning up her wet hair. AJ took a deep breath before leaving the bathroom and outside she found her new roommate, sitting on the couch, watching TV.

                                               ~•~

Lindsey was so stoked that the girl she had met at the supermarket was now her roommate. What a great coincidence, she thought. She quickly grabbed everything from the car and ran back to the dorms, walking in with excitement. Unfortunately the girl wasn't in there. Instead Lin heard the shower running.

Feeling a little disappointed, she put down her stuff on the floor and left the bedroom, walking into the side if the dorm that was considered a kitchen. It was empty of course, but Lindsey could hear her stomach begging for food.

She picked up her backpack which she had left in the common room and searched for leftover snacks. She found an open bag of cheese and sighed.

Before Lindsey could begin eating her snacks, she was interrupted by a sound of light whimpering coming from the shower.

It almost sounded like crying. Lindsey worriedly walked over to the bathroom door and lightly rested her head on it. She could hear better now and was able to tell that her roommate was really crying. Lindsey's heart sunk. What could be making her cry? Was she that bad of a roommate already that she had managed to make a girl cry? No. There was no way this had anything to do with Lindsey. Or at least she hoped.

The girl stepped away from the bathroom, feeling intrusive and contemplated wether to check on AJ or not. Would it be rude of her to knock and ask if she was okay?

In the end she decided to give the girl some privacy and turned on the TV so it would distract her.

~•~
A rush of embarrassment instantly hit AJ. Had her roommate heard her crying? Her heart started to beat faster again and her sight begun to blur, but she quickly calmed herself. Lindsey didn't look like she had heard anything. She was just busy watching the TV. Everything was okay...

"Hey, roomie. Enjoy the shower?" Lindsey asked casually. This made AJ relax a bit more again. She hadn't heard.

"Yeah... I'm gonna go unpack" AJ said and started her way to the bedroom.

"Cool. Need some help?" Lindsey said and grabbed the remote. Turning off the TV.

"No. Don't you have to unpack and organize as well?" She asked. The blonde girl was already behind her and they walked into the bedroom.

"Nah, not yet anyway. I'll start in a day or two. For now I'm trynna get used to living in a dorm" she said nonchalantly and hopped on her bed, resting her head on her arm.

"Oh, decorating could really help... I mean to make this place feel like home" AJ said and knelt down to open one of her suitcases.

"Hmm... yeah, you might be right" she answered, pointing her index finger at the girl and getting up.

Lindsey unzipped one of her bags and took out a few posters of some footballers, AJ assumed.

"You like sports?"

"I LOVE sports! I'm here on a scholarship" Lindsey said, getting excited.

"Cool. I don't know much about anything that involves playing with balls" AJ said and looked at the blonde. Lindsey was trying not to laugh and AJ frowned, not understanding her reaction.

Then it hit her, and they both cracked up, "okay, I didn't mean that!" AJ said, still giggling.

"Ahuh!" Lindsey nodded and turned around to pick up one of the posters, "hey, do you have any pins?"

"Yeah, I put them in the top drawer. Oh and I left the bottom two drawers empty for you" AJ said. She could tell she was already starting to feel comfortable around the stranger. Lindsey had a welcoming vibe and it made AJ's anxious thoughts quiet down a bit. She wondered if Riley, the girl Lindsey had mentioned, was the same.

"Damn, you've already filled the first two drawers? I'm starting to feel a little lazy" Lindsey said and found the pins. She looked around her side of the room to decide what the best spot for putting up posters was.

"Don't. We still have five days left until the classes start. You can start unpacking whenever you want" AJ said.

"So why'd you move in this early? Nothing going on back home?" Lindsey asked and got up on the bed. Deciding to pin the poster above her head.

"Something like that... plus I enjoy this place when it's practically empty. It's calm" AJ said and started pulling out her clothes from the suitcase.

"Ah. Can't relate. I hate the silence. But uhh I decided to come here early to adjust I guess. What about the other two roommates? Will they be here soon?"

"No, I don't think so. They usually come on the last day before classes" AJ answered.

"Oh, yeah, I don't think Riley will be arriving any time soon either" she shrugged.

"Are you friends with Riley?"

"Yeah, I am" Lindsey said, finishing with the first poster. She looked back at AJ and realized the girl seemed kinda nervous, "let me guess. You think she's trouble because she got into a fight with her last roommate"

"What? No- no! That's not-" AJ quickly got defensive. But she couldn't lie, the girl scared her. And there were already a bunch of other rumors going around about Riley. She sort of had a reputation.

"Hey, I'm not mad. I know most people either don't like her or are scared of her, but trust me, you have nothing to worry about. She's friendly once you get to know her" Lindsey explained and AJ nodded, trying to agree.

They didn't talk much after that.

~•~

A/N: heyyyy!!!! Here's a short update. Sorry for taking so long and I know the chapter's kinda small, but I've just been busy with uni and also my mental health has been shit lately. Anyways, though I'd put out a small chapter for New Year's🎄🎄🎉 it's also my birthday today and the winter holiday just started so I hope to write some more. Thank you for reading. Love ya!