As Cold As A River

Chapter One- Introduction

     That's everything, I'm all moved in. My clothes are all organized and set in my dresser, my fluffy blue carpet is laying in the center of the room, my duduk is standing beside my bed and all my belongings including my mini TV, music player, laptop, school supplies and perfumes are scattered across the room. The light aquamarine walls fill the room with a cool yet, inviting feeling. The sunlight is shining evenly into the room making the room feel mild and pleasant. I already feel like I'm going to enjoy it here. Walking out of my room and into the kitchen, I see Alice settling all her cutlery into the massive cupboards. Her mid-length, layered, straight hair has been recently dyed from an auburn colour to a more blonde auburn. She turns around.

     "River! Oh my god, is that eyeliner I see?!" She looks at me in shock. I've been recently experimenting with makeup. I never even thought I'd consider putting it on my face two months ago, but here I am.

     "Yep, did I apply it alright?" I ask shyly knowing that I most likely didn't. Alice tilts her head and squints her eyes.

     "Yeah, it's alright but you have to practice more on your wings. One is way longer than the other, and what brand did you use? It's smudging all over the top of your eyelid. That isn't supposed to happen as you should know." Alice states while rubbing her finger across the crease of my eyelid.

     "I don't know, I just went to a flee marker the other week and it was pretty cheap so I thought 'why not?'" I respond. Her smile fades and she looks at me in disappointment.

     "You get what you pay for, River." She frowns. "Let's go to your room and I'll apply some of my expensive liner on your eyes." We head to my room and I sit down in my rolly-chair while Alice begins doing my makeup. She starts with some foundation and applies a little bit of light blue eyeshadow to the outer corner of my eyelids. She finishes with her eyeliner and a tiny amount of mascara. Looking into the mirror, I'm kind of discontent.

     "I look ridiculous. The eyeshadow is too much, I can't pull it off like you would." I stare at the makeup Alice is wearing. It's not too much but not too little. She has a purple eyeliner that accents her green eyes. She examines my face again.

     "Nope, it isn't too much. You're just not used to it and the blue makes your sky-blue eyes pop. You seriously look like a model, girl. You can take it off if you want but I can tell you now, you look gorgeous. Not that you didn't already! And remember not to make the eyeliner too thick." Alice tells me while fixing her hair in the mirror even though it's already perfect.

     "How was your trip by the way?" I ask trying to change the subject.

     "Like all the other ones, exotic and entertaining. Nothing else to say, really." She sighs. Her dad is rich and likes to take her on plenty of trips. She doesn't really like travelling because she'd rather stay at home and write. I've been a close friend of Alice for two years. I guess you can call us best friends. This is my first time ever having a best friend. Or even a close one come to think about it. Alice shuffles around my bedroom while inspecting the area. "Isn't this place beautiful? My dad did a great job renovating it." She smiles as I nod my head. Alice's dad is the owner of the university we are at. He owns all of the residences across campus and made sure we lived in the most luxurious one. Obviously it wasn't luxurious enough because he re-did the whole place and made it two times bigger. Although Alice and I wanted a place to ourselves, there was a girl willing to pay four times the rent when there was no available spots left so Alice's dad had to accept.

     After we left my room, we began to make our lunch and while Alice and I are just finishing up, we can hear a jiggle of a key in our door's lock. A tall girl with long, tousled black hair and hazel eyes walks in. She doesn't bother to look at us and struts towards the bedrooms. She's wearing a red sheer blouse and a short skirt that's white with black polka-dots and high heel black platform pumps. Alice looks at me and gives an eye-roll. As we sit down at the kitchen table to eat, the girl angrily stomps across the room and crossed her arms.