Chapter 1: Roommates

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by Gemzeee

by Gemzeee

My first lesson didn't go down too well, I hadn't listened to a word Ashton had said. Instead I had focused on the way his lips moved when he spoke and how he would smirk to himself when he dropped a pun into his sentence. I enjoyed the way he would tap on the desk with those long fingers of his and run his fingers through his hair every couple of minutes. Obsessing over my tutor had also meant I hadn't conversed with a single other human being and missed a golden opportunity to make any friends so when class was dismissed I found myself walking down the steps alone.

"Alexa?" Ashton called after me at the door and I spun around so quickly my books flew out of my arms and dropped to the ground, revealing a mass of blank pages. Ashton glared down at them for a moment and then picked them up, his eyes fixed on me.

"You know, I was a little bit hurt that I gave you the opportunity to pick out a prime seat and you chose to sit right at the back" he sighed and then flicked the back of my notebook. "But now I see why"

"Ashton, it's not like that-"

"It's sir" he snapped, a stern look spreading across his face.

"I just got a bit overwhelmed with it being the first class. I'm sorry, sir" it felt strange calling him that, he looked like the kind of guy you'd go on a pub crawl with and sing at the top of your lungs all the way home with your arms wrapped around each other in a drunken mess.

"Well not writing any notes isn't going to help you is it? I understand it gets overwhelming. I've been there but I don't want you to fall behind already. Start as you mean to go on" he took a step closer to me and gestured towards the door. "Now off you go"

I made my way back to the dorms; nobody had moved in to my flat yet which I was secretly enjoying. I loved peace and quiet and being able to lounge about without answering to anyone, but the best part was lying in the bath for hours without anyone interrupting me. I was looking forward to that after the day I'd had. I unlocked the front door and shuffled through to the front room, dropping my bag on the sofa and throwing myself onto it. I flicked my shoes onto the floor and stared up at the ceiling, going over the days events.

"Hey"

I jumped up and came face to face with a tall, skinny looking boy. He had bright blue eyes and blonde hair which had been styled up into a quiff. He had a gentle looking face, a delicate little nose and pale pink lips but his lip ring and ripped skinny jeans told me there was more to this boy than meets the eye.

"Oh hey. Sorry, I didn't realise anyone else was here" I apologised, picking up my shoes and tossing them into the corner.

"It's okay. I only moved in today, kinda messed up the place. Hope you don't mind... I'll clean it up at some point, I promise" the boy smiled down at me. "I'm Luke by the way. You want a drink or something?"

"Alexa. And yeah, sure. What have you got?" I asked, half expecting him to pull out a suitcase full of alcohol.

"Tea. Coffee. Coke. Oh and I bought some Cherry Tango! You ever tried it?" He beamed, walking across to the kitchen and pulling the bottle out of the cupboard. I couldn't help but smile at him, here we were, our first night in our uni flat and we were going to drink cherry tango and coke. Rebels.

"What are you studying?" Luke asked, slumping down onto the sofa next to me.

"Law, what about you?"

"Music production. Mum and dad weren't happy about it, said I need to study a real degree but fuck it, I'm 18 now and I can make my own decisions"

"Ooh if they could see you now, up past 11, drunk on coke. They'd be so disappointed" I teased, finding that I was extremely comfortable around him. Luke shot me a look and slapped my leg playfully, "So I'm not a party animal. Sue me"

"It's not a bad thing! It's nice to see there are still people out there that don't need to drink to have a good time" I assured him, not wanting to offend my new friend. One thing my mum had told me before I left was to try my best to get on with my roommates because it will make life a lot easier. As I sat beside Luke, laughing and joking about my awful first lesson I was relieved that my roommate just so happened to be one of the coolest people I had ever met. Maybe things wouldn't be that bad after all.