Falling

Chapter One

*six months later*

"Bye Mom, Matt, Olivia! I'll miss you!" I yell from the window of my car.

After saying my goodbyes I drive off, ready to take my long journey.

***

Six hours into the drive, I stop for gas then coffee at a small cafe. I walk in and order then sit down at a small table after getting my drink.

I pulled out my iPad to find a few more options for apartments. I was planning to stay in a hotel while apartment shopping, but when the website loaded a cute little listing popped up which gave details about a room for rent in a two-bedroom apartment. I continued looking through the listing pictures while I picked up my phone and began to dial the number attached to the listing.

I raised the phone to my ear and waited for an answer. It rang twice before a deep voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi, I'm calling about the room to rent. Is it still available?" I asked hopeful.

"Yes, it is. Do you think you could meet up to discuss it?" The voice asked.

"Yes definitely! I'll be on the road for a while, but I will be in town tomorrow afternoon, do you think we could meet up then?" I ask.

I look at my watch seeing as the time is 2:00.

"Yes, that'd be good. Does Starbucks on 4th street at 3:30 sound good?" The voice says.

"That sounds great! I'll see you then..."

"Theo," The voice says, "and you are?"

"Camille."

"Well, Camille, I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, the line goes dead. I then wrap up my stuff and walk back to my car.

***

As the sky got darker I knew I would need to keep my eye open for hotels. I have been driving for nearly 10 hours today and a shower was calling my name. I looked on the map and noticed a fairly large city was about two hours away so I decided I would stop there and find a hotel for the night.

As I approached the hotel parking lot, I sighed in relief. I pulled into a spot and unloaded my small bag with hotel necessities. When I reached the front desk, I was greeted by a young lady and booked a single room. After paying and hearing all the necessary information, I made it up to my room and dropped my bag in exhaustion. I unzipped the bag and pulled out some pj's as well as my toiletries and headed to the bathroom.

After my shower, I dressed and opened my phone to tell my mom that I had made it to the hotel. She sent me a text shortly after, where we shared goodnights and I set my phone down to charge. I plopped down on the fluffy white bed and closed my eyes as sleep engulfed me.

***

I woke the next morning from my own excitement. Today I was arriving in North Carolina where I would get to take a look at Theo's room for rent! I was excited to meet someone from the city and potentially find my new home.

I got out of bed and dressed into some leggings and a t-shirt. I gathered my belongings from the hotel and slipped on my tennis shoes before heading down to the lobby. I grabbed an apple and a granola bar from the breakfast lobby before dropping off my hotel key and checking out at the front desk. I threw my bag in the back of my car and plugged in the address to the Starbucks. The arrival time stated 2:30, and after grabbing gas and lunch on the trip I pulled into the parking lot shortly after 3:15.

I walked into the Starbucks, looking around for the guy that might be Theo. There are three people here; a couple sitting in a corner booth, and a guy about my age sitting at a table for two.

He's got brown hair with tan skin. He's well built, with muscles you can see clearly through his gray shirt. He's definitely handsome, with dull blue eyes.

I walk over to him, and he stands up holding out a hand for me to shake.

"Hi, Theo?" I question.

He nods. "You must be Camille. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," I say quickly before we sit down.

"So the apartment is $1400 per month, and we split the rent evenly. Oh, and the rooms are already furnished," he says.

"Wow, that's very affordable!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's a really nice apartment for the money. You get a lot of bang for your buck here." He states.

We continued asking questions and getting to know each other. I learned that he was a freshman, like me, at UNC and he was planning to study Accounting. He was a little older, he had taken a gap year before coming to college so he was twenty, nearly twenty-one, whereas I was nearly nineteen. Our conversation, getting to know each other went on for nearly an hour before he brought up the apartment again.

"You seem like a good roommate to have. You can have the room if you want, we would just need to grab the paperwork from the main office. Do you want to come see the place? I can help you bring in your belongings if you want." He offered.

"That would be great!" I answer.

He gave me the address while also swapping phone numbers with me in case I get lost, or need help finding the place.

We leave and head to our cars before I drive off, following him to my new home.