Nadine's Stuck.

TWO

Nadine's POV

    
I told my mom about the whole roommate thing. At first she was hesitant, but when she heard the school was giving out free breakfast, she practically jumped on board with idea and signed the sheet allowing it.
    
Today is the day I get to meet my roommate. I'm scared more than anything. I cried last night because I was scared. Maybe it was the fear of meeting someone new and older. I feel like I'll have to impress them even if they're only a few years older than me. They'll still be a senior. Or maybe it was fear that it might be him. Either way, I'm still scared and barley slept last night.
    
I walk down the hallway, clutching the small piece of paper with my dorm room number on it. Dorm 32. I take deep breaths and walk, each step installing a pinch of fear and dread as if I was walking to my death. Maybe I am. Maybe my roommate will be crazy.
    
My eyes fog up. Shit, Nadine, not right now. Anytime but now.
   
I see a few other students pass me, trying to get to their dorm. They probably think I'm weird. Mine is a few feet away. Come on, Nadine. Just a few feet. Stop being an embarrassing crybaby and walk. It's not hard.
    
My breathing gets a bit heavier and I take sometimes small, sometimes big steps to the dorm before I am standing outside of it. I take a huge, deep breath before my shakey hand reaches for the door knob.
    
I open the door and scan the room. I see a guy cursing to himself. He's wiping his shirt with a napkin, but I'm not sure why as his back is turned away from me. I let out a sigh of relief. Definitely not him. This guy is slightly taller and has darker hair. Thank fucking God.
He turns around. "Oh. Hi."
I wave to him.
    
"My name's Cade. Sorry about..." He gestures to the stain on his black shirt. He is wearing mostly black. How could this be more awkward? His eyes scan me up and down. I want to cover my face. "Are you okay?"
    
I wipe my eyes with the sleeve of my school uniform and nod.
    
"Uh huh," he says, skeptically. "What's your name?"
    
"Nadine...Nadine Rosewood, but I go by Nadia." I clutch the paper tighter.
   
"Pretty. Never heard the last name Rosewood before."
    
I nod. I can feel him judging me. My stance, my eyes, my hair...maybe I shouldn't have worn pigtails today. Maybe I should have kept it down since it's a special accession or something? Shit. I really want to make a good impression.
    
"Lossen up a little, Rosewood."
    
I blush, embarrassed. "Sorry..." the words come out in more of a whisper if anything.
    
"Don't apologize."
    
I just stand there awkwardly. What do I say to that? I bite my inner cheek and I hear Caden chuckle. I want to curl up with my favorite stuffed animal, Zara. A stuffed bunny my mom got me when I was five.
    
"What...happened?" I gesture to his shirt.
    
"Stupid coffee. Tasted like shit too. I swear, I'll go behind that counter and make it myself next time. The employees don't even know how to make coffee right, and that's their whole damn job."

I nod. I can't help but feel slightly envious because his biggest frustration at the moment is coffee.
    
"You always this quiet, Rosewood?"
I stiffen and bite my inner cheek harder. I shrug. I hate that question. That, and 'cats got your tongue?' will never fail to internally piss me off. Yet they still make me anxious.
   
"I'll take that as a yes." He turns back around and grabs a few more tissues out of the tissue box.
   
I throw the small paper in the trash and sit on my bed. I had already gone to the dorm a few days before and unpacked my stuff, but I made sure to hide all my regression stuff under my bed. I'm not sure when it'll be a safe time to regress, though. I hid my blade under my mattress. I assume Cade arrived yesterday, judging by his unpacked, but slightly used stuff.
    
"I don't mind a quiet roommate," Cade breaks the awkward silence. "I prefer it honestly. Why'd you get paired?"
    
I look over at him furrowing my eyebrows, I speak since he can't see me. "What?"
   
"Mr. Lee said he was talking with the freshman homerooms' and they only got the 'troubled' kids to get paired up with seniors. You don't seem troubled."
    
"Um..." I'm stupid fucking crybaby, that's why. He's thinking troubled as in rebels like Xavier, not troubled like me.   "...social trouble, I guess..."
    
"Oh," He seems slightly disappointed.     "That's okay, Rosewood, I'll crack your shell in no time."

I doubt it.

. . .

Word count: 817!