Ice queen

Chapter Eight

Aaron opens the door to badger cabin and steps to the side, allowing me to walk through before him.

"Ladies first." He deadpans.

I step inside and set my bags down on the sofa to the right of me. I look around and take in the cabin. It's by no means massive but it's also not small. To my right there is two couches facing opposite each other with a small TV next to them, I would assume this is the living room area. On my left is the kitchen area, it consists of brown counters layed out in an L shape with some cabinets of the same shade directly above them. The walls are a nice cream colour. An island is in the middle of the 'kitchen' with four seats arranged around it. Two on the long side closest to the living room and one on each of the shorter sides, leaving the side close to the oven bare. In the corner of the kitchen there is a laundry machine with a dryer above it, and next to that, a fridge.

It's a nice area, my only issue with it is my roommate.

"So..." Aaron says, stepping inside and looking around himself. His eyes land on the two doors leading to the other rooms. "Which room do you want?"

I decide to go check out the room on the left hand side and open the door.

"Uh, Aaron." I call.

Aarons head comes into view. "What?"

"This is a bathroom..." Slowly we both turn our heads to the other door. The only other door.

"Sh*t."

Looking on the brightside, I have to admit, the bathroom is a good size. There is a shower, some cabinets for toiletries, a sink and a toilet. But on the bad side, there is only one bathroom between me and Aaron and I'm guessing, only one bedroom...

-- -- --

I stand in the middle of the bedroom and take in my surroundings. It's fairly big, a good size for one person, but for two people? For a girl and a boy? This is going to be a struggle.

Aaron stands to my left and runs a hand through his hair. He sighs and quietly curses as he also takes in the reality of this singular shared bedroom.

"Do you want me to take the sofa?" He offers up.

I look up at him and smile reassuringly. "No, that's really sweet and all but we'll manage." There was two of everything so at least we wouldn't be sharing a wardrobe.

Or a bed...

Actually on second thought...

I shake my head abruptly, God I need to get my head out of the gutter.

"Well um...which one do you want?" I wave my hand towards the beds.

Aaron falters "You're sure that you don't want me to sleep on the-"

"Don't be silly." I sigh, waving my hand in dismissal as I walk over to the bed closest to the window. "Well if you won't choose then I will. I want this one."

Aaron raises an eyebrow as he leans against the doorframe and smirks. "Your wish is my command."

Okay that was hot.

"I um-" I turn and look out of the window. "Could you um..." Heat floods my cheeks. "I need to...change." I turn to face Aaron and see him straighten up slightly.

"Yea of course." He looks into the hallway. "Do you want me to bring your bags in?"

I nod.

"Alright, give me a second." He turns and walks off, leaving me standing in the room alone.

I inspect 'my side' of the room. The bed is comfier than at home but the blankets are thinner, at least I brought my own. I walk over to my wardrobe and slowly open the doors. It's big enough for all the clothes I brought and more. There's enough space at the bottom for my shoes, normal and skates. There are drawers at the bottom of the wardrobe. I'm guessing that they're for pants  and underwear. I can use the hangers for my tops, dresses and leotards.

I turn around and stand up as Aaron returns with my bags and suitcase. He effortlessly sets them down on my bed and rubs his hand on his trousers.

"I'm just going to go for a short walk around the campus. Just to figure out where everything is." He finally looks at me. "You can come with me if you want, but I thought that it might be a good chance for you to get changed and set out your stuff. Even take a shower if you want." He pauses and looks around, he looks...nervous? "I just thought you might want some privacy..."

"Oh yea thanks. That would be great." I offer up a small smile.

He turns, as if to leave, before turning back around. "Oh I almost forgot. A leader stopped by to let us know that lunch is at 1:00. So that gives us..." He pulls out his phone to check the time. "About an hour?"

"Okay cool. Thanks for letting me know, let me know if you see anything of interest on your walk." I smile at him and then focus on unzipping my bulging suitcase. I hear his receding footsteps and then the cabin door opening and shutting.

I unpack all of my stuff and tidy it into my wardrobe. When that's done I pull out my books and mini jewellery box and set them on my nightstand. I then reach into my bag and pull out a singular photo. I stare at the picture as emotion starts to bubble up inside me. After wiping away a spec of dust I place it carefully on the nightstand. I can't go away without this photo, not yet anyway. It's small and in a brown wooden frame. The picture is of me and my mom. I kiss my finger and press it to the photo, before standing up and grabbing a towel and heading for the shower.

I take my time in the shower and cry. I don't cry very often, not anymore. Alice's mom was an exception, a one off. I used to cry every day, when the loss was still raw, but I've trained myself to put a wall around my emotions. Now, the only time I ever cry is in the shower. Carla used to say that it was unhealthy, and that one day all of my emotions would build up and hit me all at once. Carla was my old therapist, I don't see her anymore. There isn't any point, I never opened up to her, not really. The only person who I've ever really opened up to since mom died is Alice, and even that's rare. So why would Carla be any different?

I turn off the shower and reach past the curtains for my towel. I wrap it around my body and step out of the bathroom. I open the bedroom door and freeze. Aaron is lounging on his bed, his arm is stretched lazily behind his head and his knee is slightly propped up. I look closer and see that his eyes are closed. Asleep.

A salad lies on my bedside table along with a chocolate chip muffin. I check my phone. 2:00. I guess I missed lunch. I pick out some clothes and step into the bathroom to get changed, incase Aaron wakes up. I pull on a short white tank top and grey sweatpants. Leaving my hair down on my shoulders to air dry.

After hanging up my towel, I make my way back over to the bedroom.

"Morning." Mutters Aaron, as he sits up.

"I think you'll find its the afternoon." I retort. I feel his gaze lingering on my body as I sit on my bed and pick up my book. I remove the bookmark and begin reading.

"I left you some food, because you missed lunch."

I pull my gaze from my book. "I saw, thank you."

"I just thought you might be hungry." He offers up a small smile before focusing his attention back on his phone.