Everything He Told Me

t h r e e

THREE

"SO, WHERE ARE you from?" Aubrey asked me as she slotted her room key into a little white purse and grabbed an acid-wash jacket from where it was draped over her pillow.

"Chicago" I answered. "How about you?" I wondered as I watched her tug her arms into the sleeves of the fabric.

"Michigan" she smiled. "It's quite nice, actually. I know it's not a prime city like your's but I like it. I'll have to take you back home with me one day."

We both exited our room together, Aubrey locking it behind us. The room opposite us had their door open, showing the two girls inside (one of whom was Mary-Ann) who were in the process of unpacking. We said hi to the two of them and they introduced themselves. The other girl was called Nora and she wore a headband with a pink bow on it.

Other girls were rushing down the corridor as we muscled our way towards the staircase. They were clutching towels, already wanting a shower at the communal bathroom down the hall. I had yet to inspect it but something told me I probably wasn't going to be over the moon about the bathing arrangements.

As we walked past the common room, Holly waltzed past on her way upstairs. She craned her neck upwards to look at Aubrey and snorted slightly to herself, shoving on past us.

Aubrey turned a vibrant red as we left the Red Dorm, leaving the door open behind us for people to get through easier. "What's wrong?" I asked her in concern.

"Oh, it just gets me down" she waved a hand vaguely.

"What does?"

"My height" she responded, kicking a stone off the pathway we had started walking down.

I had noticed that she was very tall, probably 5, 10 maybe? I thought it would be rude to ask so instead I said "what does it matter how tall you are? You're beautiful."

Aubrey glanced at me sideways, quirking an eyebrow to see if I was joking with her or not. When she found out I wasn't, her face split into a grin. "Isla, I can tell we're gonna be really good friends" she said, patting my arm.

We passed a few empty buildings that I was guessing were classes and she told me about her dancing.

"I've been doing it since I was five. My mother put me into classes after school because she couldn't look after me due to work. Little did she know, I'd fallen head over heels in love with it. Back home, I do ballet, modern, tap and jazz. But here, I've only chosen to study ballet and tap because otherwise my schedule would be way too jam-packed and I'm also here to have fun. I'm finally away from my terrible mother and trust me, I'm gonna enjoy it immensely" she explained.

Personally, I agreed with Aubrey. Whenever Jenna and I spoke of college back home, we always associated our freshman year of it with partying and drinking and meeting new people – new boys especially. And when I'd come to North Carolina, I'd made a vow to myself to try all of these new experiences. I didn't usually put myself out of my comfort zone but this year was going to be the start of a new me.

"How about you, what are you majoring in?" Aubrey questioned. We passed a glass-fronted building that had the lights switched off inside. But through the windows, we could still see the unoccupied exercise bikes and treadmills, waiting to be used; the gym, obviously.

"Acting" I replied with a fond smile. "Ever since my Mom took me and my brother to see Les Mis on Broadway, it's all I've ever wanted to do. It's a crazy dream of mine, if you'd like. I know being an actress is a hard career and all but honestly, I'd be willing to put whatever work in that's necessary."