The Quiet Voice | Complete

Chapter 8

The next few years in Chelsea's life were lonely. Filled only by going to school and doing homework. The new neighbours who moved in next door didn't have any children and she stayed true to her promise to keep to herself.

Nothing interested her anymore and she withdrew from all school sport and extra mural activities. Her new rule was 'show up, do your work, go home'.

Other children tried to befriend her, but she quickly shot them down, always lying about being too busy or having urgent things to do.

Over the years Chelsea matured into a beautiful, striking young woman. Long, thick, dark brown hair flowing down to the middle of her back. Big brown eyes emphasised by long eye lashes... every girl's dream look.

Her skin was a beautiful shade of caramel. She glowed a golden brown in Summer, spending many hours alone in the garden with Sir Mittens.

She was a natural beauty who wasn't fond of make-up at all. All she used was some black eyeliner and lip gloss and even that felt too much for her.

Her high school years were a very difficult and lonely time for her. Girls didn't want to speak to her because they thought she was stuck up and they felt threatened by the amount of attention boys paid her. Boys on the other hand didn't just want to be her friend or spend time hanging out with her, they all wanted to date her and she really wasn't interested.

Even though Chelsea pulled away from school and friends, her love for knowledge never died. She had always been fascinated by Anthropology and, after realising her passion, decided to further her studies accordingly.

She spent her final year of high school researching the best universities offering studies in Anthropology. She selected the top three and applied to all, secretly saying a little prayer with each online application she sent in.

Chelsea's grades were excellent, so it wasn't a surprise to her parents when she received acceptance letters from all three universities.

She was overjoyed and her excitement gave her parents hope that she might eventually be her old self again.

Chelsea had a feeling that her life would change while at university, however she didn't know if it was for better or worse.

****

The university buildings sat next to each other in the shape of a 'U'. The female and male dorm rooms closing off the 'U', with a huge grass patch in the middle. There was also a lake with tables and seating, used as a chill area for students between classes. The grounds had many old oak trees and rose bushes in bloom. Chelsea was happy to notice a beautiful jasmine bush at the entrance of the girl's dorm.

Chelsea walked through the noisy, manic dorm, first day jitters driving her crazy. She had just finished up at the registration office and wondered what her new roommate Mila would be like.

Would they get on, or drive each other crazy? Only time would tell. She never had to share a room with a sibling, let alone a home, so this was going to be a very interesting, and scary, experience for her.

Everyone was so animated and excited for the start of the new year. Friends who hadn't seen each other all through the holiday, greeted with such gusto that they nearly knocked each other off their feet. Girls screeched with delight at meeting up again, over eager to relay every tiny detail of every experience during their time apart.

Chelsea awkwardly ducked and dived all the excited bodies, counting the numbers above each door until she eventually reached her destination. Room 143.

She softly knocked on the closed door, and when she didn't get any reply, opened it and entered. She was greeted by an empty bedroom. It was sparsely decorated, a white desk, wardrobe and matching bedside table for each occupant. The walls were the colour of caramalized toffee. The overall colour scheme was neutral and natural, just her style.

She knew which side of the room was hers, by the complete lack of fluffy pillows on the bed and the empty bedside table and desk.

Chelsea was busy packing her clothes into the wardrobe when she heard the bedroom door open. There was an explosion of voices and laughter, followed by a welcoming voice.

"Hi there, I'm Mila. You must be Chelsea Taylor?" said the smiling blonde as she crossed the room to greet Chelsea.

''Hi there,'' greeted Chelsea, with a smile on her face, pleased to see that her new roommate seemed like a friendly person, and not the monster that she had envisioned far too many times the last few nights in her nightmares.

''Welcome to your new home for the next few years.'' Mila giggled as she spread her arms out and winked at Chelsea. ''Would you like some help getting settled in?''

"Oh, yes please,'' answered Chelsea with relief, "I'm feeling extremely lost right now and could really use a friendly face to show me what's what.''

"I can only imagine,'' agreed Mila, completely understanding how her new roommate was feeling as she herself was in the same position only a few short months ago. "Awesome! Let's begin by packing out your bags. It's always easier to settle in when you're happy with your home base." Mila walked over to Chelsea's bed and proceeded to unzip the second huge suitcase Chelsea had placed on the small three-quarter bed.

"Is there any specific way that you'd like your stuff hung up or packed out?" queried Mila, only too excited to have such a lovely new roommate. She'd been alone in her dorm room since arriving and was praying to have someone nice that she would get along with.

"I'm not too fazed," admitted Chelsea, looking around the neat room already feeling comfortable and happy with her new roommate. "I'm a little bit of a neat freak and am so relieved to see that you are too."

"I can't begin to tell you how relieved I am to hear you say that!" confessed Mila. "I'm a complete neat freak and had endless nightmares about being paired up with a super messy roommate."

The two of them had a good giggle at the fact that they had both been stressing about the same issues. These two were meant to be roommates. Time would show them just how close they would become.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi guys, sorry if you find this chapter a bit boring but it was needed to make the transition from school to university.  Please keep reading as Chelsea is about to many new adventures...not all good!

Thank you for all your support!   Please vote and comment xoxo