Chapter 1

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Dorm orientation is about to start, and I can't find Alan. I know we applied for the same dorm building. Granted, I haven't really put much effort into looking. I've been more preoccupied with avoiding any and all human contact.

I looked around the auditorium. All these people in one place make me nervous; more nervous than usual, that is.

"Kellin!" Alan's voice immediately calms me a little.

I make my way carefully through the crowded room, and as soon as I reach him, he wraps me up in a hug.

"It's good to see you. man. How've you been?" I really don't want to step away from his embrace; Alan is safe. He's like a brother.

"Calm down Kellin. Almost everyone here is nervous and confused. It'll be okay, trust me." Nodding, I take a small step back.

"I've been alright. Happy to leave high school and home, but it's bittersweet. That all sucked, but at least I knew what to expect there. This is a whole new ball game. A whole new set of rules." When he chuckles I smack him lightly on the arm, "I'm serious, Alan. This-" I'm cut off by the speakers in the room, "May I have your attention? Please take a seat gentlemen."

Alan and I end up in two seats by the door, with an empty seat on either side of us.

"You should already know what your dorm number is; if you don't, please come see me at the end of this presentation. This gathering is to get you comfortable with one another, but it is also-"

Mid-sentence, the door swings open, hitting the wall sending a loud bang through the room, in comes the poster child for treatment centers. Everyone turns towards him, I couldnt stop himself from looking him over.

He's tall, maybe 6 feet, and thin. He's pale with circles under his eyes, and he's shaky. Somehow though, he looks intimidating. He's not particularly big, but there's something threatening about the way that he carries himself.

Instantly, I'm on edge.

The woman, apparently the dean of the school, continues talking as the boy slinks by Alan and I to take a seat in the row in front of us. After sitting, he pulls the hoodie off of his head and runs a hand through his messy chestnut colored hair.

"I think you're drooling, Kelly," Alan speaks into my ear. My face heats up, and I elbow him in the ribs, "Shut up. I'm trying to listen." He laughs and I elbow him again.

"Your bags should already be in your rooms. I hope that you all get along with your roommates. Any problems you have can be handed with your dorm leaders Ronnie and Chris." Two boys stood up at the front of the room and fist bumped.

One of them had green hair, "Call me Fronz,"

"Thank you; I hope you all have a great year here." As everyone begins to rush out, I lose Alan.

Outside is worse; I can't see anything but people. It's so loud, that I can't hear myself think. That's when I begin to panic. My breathing gets shallower, black dots begin to cloud my vision, and it feels like everyone is pressing against me. In an attempt to escape the crowd, my legs quickly carry me around the corner of the building and straight into a person.

"What the fuck!?" I cringe away from the guy; it's the same one as earlier. The one that came in late. If the circumstances were different, his heavy English accent might've had more of an effect on me.

He looks down at his dropped cigarette angrily.

"S-sorry," At this, his face softens slightly before hardening again, he picked up his cigarette off the pavement. "S'fine, just watch where you're going next time." He opens and closes his mouth like he's gonna say something else but thinks better of it.

It takes a few minutes of us awkwardly standing there for me to realize that I'm not panicking anymore. Usually an encounter like this would make my anxiety worse, but I feel oddly at peace standing here with his stranger.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" I'm pulled out of thought as he stubs cigarette out against the wall.

"Oh, um. Sorry. Yeah, I-I'll go. Sorry again about your um, your cigarette, I guess."

Shaking his head, he zips up his hoodie and brushes past me, "Whatever." For a second, all I can do is stand there shocked.

What just happened? I guess it doesn't really matter, I didn't even get his name. The taste of blood spreads through my mouth from the finger that I didn't realize I was biting. I quickly swipe it on my jeans as I re-enter the building.

If I can't find Alan, I'm at least going to find my room. With any luck, my roommate will be nowhere to be found, and I can calm myself down before having to see anyone.

411. That's my room number.

Four flights of stairs later, I'm in the same fucking situation I was in ten minutes ago. Lost, confused, and afraid of some english stranger.

We must be on the same floor or something because I, the newly crowned biggest fuck-up in existence, have just rammed into him again.

Only this time, he's not nearly as forgiving.

"Pretty fucking sure I just told you to watch where you're going," a beat passes of me staring at the ground trying to stammer something out before he speaks again,

"Fuck, are you bleeding?" He grabs my hand and I can feel the red rush up my chest and into my cheeks, "Did you bite through the skin 'round your nails?"

I yank my hand away from him and walk quickly down the hall.

I almost miss the silver numbers on my dorm room door because I'm so embarrassed.

Then, because God fucking hates me, as soon as I unlock the door and collapse on the other side, my new roommate clears his throat.

I look up to see a ginger guy, not much taller than me, staring down at me confused.

"Well, this is not how I imagined meeting my dorm buddy for the first time, but life rarely goes as planned. Are you ok? Should I get help?" All I can do is shake my head over and over.

The last thing I need, is to be carted off to a psychiatrist on my first day at college. My parents would kill me.

'Why can't you just be normal Kellin?'

No thank you, not today.

"Are you having a panic attack? Oh God, I should go get help?"

"No!" He looks at me, unsurely.

"Please, I'm fine. Just a bit overwhelmed. I'll get over it. I'm fine; I don't need any help. Just give me a second." He looks at me until I manage to get my breathing under control and stand up.

"I'm Kellin Quinn, and I am very sorry that you had to witness that."

The guy shrugs and holds out a hand like it's no big deal, "Happens to the best of us man. I'm Matty Mullins, nice to meet you."

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New fanfic! Me and my friend rainbow_cookie_ally have noticed theres not a lot of Koli/Ollin on here so were collabing on this fanfic!

We worked very hard on this so we both hope you like it.

Comments are appreciated, vote it if you liked it, and share it with friends!

Much love,

November and Ally xxx

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