Music sounds better with you

She's fun, isn't she?

The following morning, Charlie meets Polly.
He's making himself a coffee in the kitchen when suddenly, he hears the front door slam against the far wall of the flat and he nearly jumps out of his skin and spills his Nescafé jar everywhere. He spins around, wondering if it might be Kate, but then a girl who is distinctly not Kate bursts into the kitchen.

They both freeze as their eyes meet, like two deers caught in the headlights.

Then suddenly, this girl is charging forwards and pulling Charlie into a tight embrace, and Charlie is too surprised to do anything other than awkwardly hug back.

"Hi!" The girl pulls back and beams at Charlie like they're long lost friends. "I'm Polly, it's so lovely to finally meet you!"

As Charlie gets a proper look at Polly, there's a couple of things he notices right off the bat. Number one, Polly's taller than him by a good few inches; hell, she might even be taller than Nick. She's probably at least six foot tall, and she's got an immaculately painted face, with perfectly blended eyeshadow and overdrawn lips, and she's also without a doubt one of the most beautiful people Charlie has ever seen in real life.

"Uh, hi," Charlie stammers out. "I'm Charlie."
"Charlie," she coos back. She's breathtaking to look at, so much so that Charlie can't quite think of what else to say for a few moments. "How long have you been living here, darling?"
"Since Saturday," Charlie tells her. "Then Kate moved in yesterday."
Her smile widens, if that's even possible. "Oh, there's another one of us?" She looks around. "There's four bedrooms in this flat, right?"

"Correct," Charlie says. "The fourth person hasn't moved in yet, but our student rep told me they were an international student so I don't know where they're travelling from."

Polly steps back and spins around. She's wearing high heeled boots and she looks genuinely delighted to be here. It makes Charlie smile. "I'm from Leicester," she says. "I drove myself up today and I've got a car here, so we can use it as we need to."
"Oh, that's awesome," Charlie says enthusiastically.

It's not easy to get a parking permit on campus, but it'll be really useful to have one in terms of grocery shopping and avoiding the bus with tons of bags. "Hold on, let me text Kate to see if she's awake."
"Sure," Polly says brightly. "Here, shit. I've left the door open, let me get my stuff in."

They head out into the hallway and Charlie's eyes go wide when he sees the sheer amount of stuff she's got with her. There's a full clothing rail, completely lined with outfits on hangers and covered in garment covers, as well as two trunks and four huge boxes.

"Wow," Charlie blurts out before he can help himself. "You have a lot of stuff."
"Uh, yeah," Polly laughs, seemingly unabashed. "I'm studying Theatre and I want to specialise in costume and set design, hence all the stuff."
"Wow," Charlie says again. "That's so cool!"

Just then, Kate opens the door to her room and pokes her head around it, then opens it all the way when she sees Polly and steps out. "Oh my god, hi."
"Hi," Polly parrots back, then pulls Kate into a similarly tight hug to the one she pulled Charlie into in the kitchen. "It's so wonderful to meet you too."
"I'm Kate."
"Polly." Polly steps back and widens her embrace, then pulls Charlie in so they're in a three way hold.

Charlie goes easily, if a little startled by how tactile Polly is already, and shares a bewildered smile with Kate somewhere under Polly's elbow.
He's known her for all of five minutes, but he already really likes her.

"Right, so," Polly says once she's released them both. "I've got a shit tonne of stuff to unpack, clearly, but after I've got my room semi-set up, do you wanna have lunch together?" Her eyes go wide. "You guys don't have plans I'm interrupting, do you?"
"No, no," Charlie promises her. "I... Well, I've got no plans until tonight anyway."
"Okay," Polly says happily, that gorgeous smile returning. She sounds relieved. "I'll be as quick as I can. Is this room mine?"