Love Is Us

Chapter 4

Twenty minutes have passed and my mom, dad, and brother were helping me unpack.

"Looks like Mrs. Tillman got lost on the way back", my dad said jokingly.

My mom paused and stared at him.

"This is not funny. We've been waiting here for twenty minutes. School ended half an hour ago", she said getting agitated.

I went over to her and took her hand

"Mom, it's okay. I'm sure she'll be here any minute."

She smiled and gave me a hug.

A couple seconds later, we heard a knock at the door.

"That must be her", my dad said walking to open it.

"Give me one sec."

He opened the door and there stood a beautiful black girl, with braids and an orange sundress.

"Hello, my name is Alicia", she said.

"Oh, yes, please come in", my dad replied.

"This is my wife Linda and our son Jaden."

She smiled and shook their hands.

"And this is your roommate, our daughter Megan", my mom said proudly.

"Hi", I said.

"Hey."

We shook hands and she told me about the basic rules for living on the campus dorms. She also talked about how much she missed her family.

Hearing that made me a little sad, knowing that I won't be living with my parents anymore. I didn't want to face the fact of reality, but I would have to if I wanted to live here.

"Thanks for letting me know", I smiled.

"Sure thing, and I made sure to keep my things on my side, that way you would have your side to yourself", she said.

Hearing her say that made me like her even more. She didn't seem uptight or mean. She was the exact opposite and I think she is really excited to have me as a roommate.

"Dad, we have to go. My soccer game is at 6:00 and it's almost 4:30", Jaden mentioned.

"Yeah, that's right", my dad said tugging my mom.

"Well, we have to go sweetie, but we love you", she said giving me a big hug.

After I gave them all a hug, I asked Alicia some questions so I could get to know her.

"Do you participate in any sports?", I asked.

She giggled.

"I don't know if you would call it a sport, but it's definitely an activity."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I'm on the spirit team", she said.

My eyes grew big.

"Oh nice."

I instantly thought back to the conversation I had with my parents in the car about the spirit team and how I wanted to try out. And knowing my roommate made the team, of gave me a little more confidence about trying out.

"Yep, we have our first game next Friday, and coach is working us to death", she laughed.

"Are they still holding auditions", I asked.

"Coach White said that there are three more spots on the team, since everyone tried out at the beginning of the semester."

I thought to myself, "Three spots? That could be anyone's game. Especially if they've already been here."

"Really?", I asked trying to hide my disappointment.

"Yes, she's holding one more audition next Wednesday", she replied.

She looked over at me and tilted her head sideways.

"Are you okay", she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine"

"You seem a little down. Is it about the spirit team?"

"No."

"Mhmm. Girl you don't have to worry about the auditions. Nine times out of ten there are only about two to three girls who try out last minute anyways", she said.

I could tell I brought out the sassiness in her a little bit.

"So, I have a chance?"

"Megan, you have what it takes", she said smiling.

I gave her a hug.

I know it was weird because we just met, but Alicia was so positive. It was like she knew what to say to get me to open up. And I'm not going to lie. Not many people can do that. I didn't just like her. I respected her. Girls got game.

"Feel better?", she asked.

"Yes", I replied.

For the next thirty minutes, we talked about girly stuff and our lives at home and what we planned to do at Weston.

"Girl, I used to have a boyfriend. But we broke up after I found out that he was cheating on me with my best friend", she said.

"Oh my god, that's awful", I said patting her back.

"It's all good. I'm not sweating it. This is college and I know there are lots of guys just waiting to talk to me. I just haven't found the right one yet."

Hearing this made me think of my best friend Taylor. We haven't talked in a week. And as I much as I wanted to deny it, I couldn't. We were falling off. Ever since she started meeting up with James, she hasn't really had time to talk to me. Even though it's shallow, I couldn't stay mad at her. We have been best friends since middle school and I can't just throw away all those years. When we started high school, we made a promise to each other that we would never put anyone above our friendship. But I guess that was a lie because that's exactly what's she's doing to our friendship. I didn't want to think about it so I changed the topic.

"So, what are you studying?", I asked.

"Well, as of right now, I'm focusing on getting my degree in Nursing, but later on I might want to minor in The Fine Arts as well", she said.

"Wow, that's great!"

"What about you?", she asked.

"I want to major in Business."

"That's so cool!"

"I know."

"What made you want to invest in business", she asked intrigued.

"Well, a couple of days ago, my dad got a call from a local car dealership who wanted to buy his space to have another lot for his cars. And as much as we didn't want it to go, we had to shut it down. The cafe meant so much to my parents. And we knew that if my grandfather we here, he would be torn. And since all of this, I gave it some thought and decided that I want to run my own business one day just like my grandfather."

Alicia looked down.

"I'm sorry they shut down your grandfather's cafe."

"It's ok", I replied.

"But hey, at least you found a new passion for business so up top!", she said with her hand in the air.

I gave her a high five. She was too funny. It was so interesting how she could turn a sad moment into something good. With all that's going on in the world, we could all use someone like Alicia.