her disappearance

7

ANOUSHKA

It had been a bit over a week since Creighton moved in with me and it hasn't been terrible. We have dinner every night together and he helps me clean around the dorm.

"The new girl's coming today." I tell Creighton when he walks in with Kai and Luca. "New girl?" Kai and Luca ask at the same time.

Apparently adopting Creighton into my dorm also meant adopting Kai and Luca. When I come home from my classes, they're already sitting on my couch watching TV. "Yes." I reply. "She should be here soon."

When we heard a few knocks on the door and I hurry over to the door, opening it instantly.

"Hi." I hear a cheery voice say. My eyes widen slightly, she was not who I was expecting. She had big blue eyes, and long blonde hair. Her smile was infectious. I glance down at her pink suitcase.

"You must be Wren," I say.

"Anoushka?" she asks and I nod smiling at her.

"It's so nice to finally meet you." she says, walking inside the apartment.

"And you. Our other roommate is here too. I'll introduce you."

She nods and she follows me as I walk her to the living room where the others are.

"Guys," I call out and they glance over at us. "This is Wren." I introduce.

Her eyes fall on Luca's and Luca's lips part when he sees her. "Wren," he whispers.

"Luca." she blurts.

My brows crease. "You two already know each other?" I ask.

Luca opens his mouth to speak but she cuts him off. "I've seen him around."

Luca's brows furrowed in disgust as if he didn't agree with what she said.

"This is Creighton and Kai." I say, changing the subject because Wren looked pretty uncomfortable.

"Hi." she smiles brightly at them.

Creighton properly introduces himself and after a few minutes of all of us getting to know Wren she turns to me with a smile. "You're a purple girl." she says, looking around the apartment. " she grins. "I love it."

And I guess she was a pink girl. I look over at Creighton, remembering his dislike for pink. He was watching me unamused.

"And you're a pink girl."  I say, shooting her my best grin. "They go well together."

"I'll show you your room now." I tell her.

She follows me. "Do whatever you want with it. Infect it with pink. It needs some colour."

"Gladly." she grins.

"I'll leave you to it then."

I walk towards the door, ready to leave. "Anoushka." she says, making me pause.

I look over my shoulder. "I think we're going to be really good friends."

My stomach flutters and my pulse races. For the first time in a while, I finally felt some sort of contentment.

"We will." I confirm before leaving.

I catch Creighton and the others on the couch, watching TV. "All settled?" he asks. I look at Luca, who moved up the couch, making room for me. I grab my dark chocolate out of his hand. "Don't eat my chocolate." I tell him.

He shoots me a look and Creighton laughs. "Anoushka is possessive of her chocolate." Creighton tells him.

"Rightfully so." I say. "I love dark chocolate."

Kai fake gags and I roll my eyes. "Anyways. Wren seems very nice."

"She is." Luca says.

"Prepare yourself for the pink overload."  I tell Creighton, a small laugh leaving my chest.

"Oh God." Creighton mutters.

I grin. "Purple and pink." I say. "They do go amazing together, don't they?"

He rolls his eyes. "I might aswell contaminate our dorm with blue." he says.

I frown. "Blue wouldn't really match."

"Of course it wouldn't." he snaps, making me laugh.

"I'm making dinner in a bit." he says.

"I'm also making brownies later on." I say.

"You making brownies? That's like an accident waiting to happen." he laughs. Kai and Luca snort and I glare at him.

"Actually you assholes. I'm amazing at baking."

Creighton snorts. The audacity. "Sure you are."

I scramble to my feet and point my finger at him. "You'll see. I'm going to make my brownies now."

I storm towards the kitchen and gathered the ingredients. I can't wait to prove him wrong.

•••

Wren, Luca, Kai and Creighton sat at the table and I brought over my brownies.

"They look appetizing," Wren says, evoking a smile out of me.

"I guess they look edible." Creighton murmurs, reaching out to pick one. I slap his hand away.

"Go on Wren. Take one first." I smile sweetly.

Wren grins as she looks over at Creighton, who was scowling.

She bites into the brownie and her face contorts into pure satisfaction. "God, that is the best brownie I have ever tried," she says, between mouthfuls.

I push the tray of brownies closer to the others and they pick one out and Creighton looks at it for a second before consuming it.

I couldn't tell what he was thinking. He had a blank expression on his face. Once he swallows the food he opens his mouth to speak.

"That is delicious." he says.

"I know." Wren agrees.

"So you're good at maths and you can bake?" Luca grumbles. "What the fuck aren't you good at?"

"English." Creighton says, shrugging. I roll my eyes.

"You are our personal baker," Wren interjects, with a smile.

I shrug. "Thank you for the title."

She laughs.

Maybe this arrangement will work out better than I expected.