Something Beautiful

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Song of the chapter: ♪
Dumb by Nirvana

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"What are you doing in my room?" I exclaimed. I could not believe that this guy was standing in my soon-to-be art studio.

"Uhh...last I checked it's my room." He said in some kind of accent and chuckled, showing his teeth. They were pearly white and perfectly straight. Probably had braces when he was younger.

"What? Who are you? I paid to have this basement suite. You're not supposed to be down here!" I threw my hands up in frustratation.

"I told you, I'm Ashton Irwin. I'm your roommate so I--"

"Wait, what? Roommate?" I didn't remember Ashley saying anything to me about having a roommate.

"It was kind of last minute." He shrugged and ran a hand through his messy hair. "I moved in yesterday."

"How did you unpack so fast?" I glanced around again. It looked as if he'd been here for ages.

"I don't like to keep things sitting in boxes, I guess."

"Ashley didn't say anything about you moving in here."

"Well, I was supposed to live in an apartment a few blocks over, but my mate kinda bailed on me."

"Well, I'm going to call Ashley about this whole thing." I gestured around the room and then pulled out my phone. I had to call Ashley since I had no idea where she was.

"Tell her I said 'hey'." He smirked.

How did he know her? Old boyfriend?

I walked out of the room with my iPhone to my ear, and went into my room where I plopped down on my bed.

Corona meowed loudly from under the bed. I must have startled him when I jumped on it.

"Hello?" A girl's voice said on the other end of the phone.

"Hey, Ashley." I said.

"Oh, Hazel! Are you all moved in yet?" She asked excitedly.

"Uhh, yeah I am, and I sort of have this little...issue." I said, not knowing what to call Ashton. A pest, maybe?

"Oh?" She sounded confused.

"Yeah. See, there's this guy--"

"Ashton?" She immediately knew what I was talking about.

"Yes."

"Oh, well, he's my cousin." Ashley said.

"Cousin?" Since when?

"Yeah, he just moved here from Australia like a week ago. He's an aspiring writer."

So that's where the accent is from.

"Okay...why is he here, though?"

"He'll only be there until he can find a different place to stay. He's actually not that bad. He's like my favorite cousin, to be honest. That's why I thought you wouldn't mind if he moved into that room for a couple weeks. Since you're not starting school yet." She laughed. Typical Ashley, just assuming I'm okay with something.

"Okay, as long as he won't be annoying." I was still upset about the whole thing. "And where are you?"

"I'm camping for the long weekend with a couple of friends. I'll only be gone for a couple of days. Okay?"

"Fine, whatever. I have to unpack." I said, not really wanting to talk to her anymore.

"Okay. See you later."

"Bye." I pressed END and tossed my phone onto my pillow.

Part of the reason why I moved to Vancouver was to get away from all the problems, most of them having to do with guys. Another reason was that people called me 'anorexic'. Because guys thought I was 'beautiful' -which, trust me, I am not- they were all over me, always trying to get dates with me just so they could use me.

At first I was all for it and loved the attention, until a few girls ambushed me in a deserted parking lot one night, and called me names and kicked me and punched me because I dated so many guys. Most of the girls at the high school I went to said I was 'too skinny' and that's why I got so many guys.

I was a mess after they were done with me, and because I was so scared that they'd go after me again, I stopped going out with guys and kept to myself most of the time.

I was really only happy at home. Now I had a guy living with me, which I did not want. It just brought back too many memories.

The best way to forget about him was just to ignore him and pretend he wasn't there. After all, like Ashley said, he wouldn't be there long.

Farcus meowed again and I let him out. He rubbed his body against my ankles, and purred, wanting to be picked up.

I picked him up and pressed my face up against his fur.

"This sucks, Farcus. Now I have to cram all of my things into one room for God only knows how long." I sighed. "Why couldn't it be a girl? That wouldn't be so bad. But no, I'm stuck with this jerk."

"Hazel?" A male's voice called from right outside my door.

Speak of the devil.

"What?" I did not want to talk to him.

"Did you call Ashley?"

"Yes." Now go away.

"What did she say?"

I groaned inwardly. "She said that you'll only be here temporarily."

"That's it?" He asked.

"That's it." Farcus tried to get out of my grasp so I let him go.

"She didn't tell you anything else?"

"No." Why did he care so much?

"Okay." I don't know if it was just me, but he sounded relieved.

I waited to see if he was going to say anything else, but he didn't. I heard footsteps, a door closing, and then silence.

I laid down on my bed, on top of my comforter and closed my eyes...