Dell

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

Once our parents leave, and we unpack our stuff, Alex and I get to talking. She seems like a really cool girl, She's a bit proper, but it's refreshing to be able to have a conversation with someone who's also smart. In high school I always felt like i had to dumb down my vocabulary so that my peers would understand me. Alex tells me about growing up in Indiana and how she's excited to be in Chicago. I tell her about how it was growing up in Chicago and how its not as great as everyone assumes. She still seems excited which is sweet, I hope college is good to her. And me.

"So your mom's a little intense." I say.

"Yeah she became a lot meaner after my dad left us." she says with sad eyes.

"Oh god, i'm sorry, I didn't know." I say quickly. Way to go Della.

"It's okay. How could you? Really it's not a big deal. He was kind of a jerk anyways." she says with a small smile.

"What's your major?" I say in attempt to lighten the mood.

"Business, how about you?"

"Psychology." I answer proudly.

"Ooooh interesting." she praises.

The rest of our evening goes on like this, we talk all afternoon, and before I know it, it's time to sleep. After meeting Alex, I feel a billion times better because at least I made one friend. I fall asleep quickly.

The next morning, I wake up and take a quick shower and let my hair air dry into it's natural wavy state. I quickly put on a burgundy knit sweater, some jeans and some white converse. It takes me a little while but I finally find my first class and take a seat in the front right as the professor starts handing out the syllabus. About fifteen minutes into the class, the door opens and in walks a girl with short cropped hair and almost all black clothing.

"Nice of you to join us Ms.Stone." our professor says. God I can't imagine being late the first day of school.

"Nice of you to notice professor." the girl says and shoots him a wink.

"Take a seat Ms.Stone, and don't disrupt my class again."

She has clearly taken one of his classes before. To my surprise, she pulls out the chair right next to me and takes a seat. She doesn't say anything to me, but I can feel her eyes on me throughout the class. When class is over, i stand up and gather my things. I am almost out the door when she calls me.

"Hey!"

I turn around "Me?"

"Yeah you. Who else?" she says a bit rudely. "I'm Reese. What's your name?"

"Della. Della King." I say nervously. Something about the way she's talking to me seems almost flirtatious? Maybe i'm just being paranoid and full of myself.

"So Della, you have a boyfriend? Or a girlfriend?" she draws out the word girlfriend.

"No" I stutter out.

"Hmm weird, me neither. So are you looking?" she asks and raises a pierced eyebrow.

"I uhm, i'm not....lesbian" I almost whisper the word and feel my cheeks flush. I am not used to being flirted with and much less by someone from the same gender. Flattering as it is, she's a beautiful girl, i'm actually quite surprised she would take an interest in me.

"Ah okay cool, then how about we just be friends?" she asks with a warm smile that dissolves my embarrassment.

"Cool." I say and smile in return.

"So what's your next class?"

I check my schedule. "General psychology."

"Sweet, me too. Lets go." she says rather than asks and starts to walk. I quickly catch up and once we reach the class she gestures for me to sit next to her. She seems nice enough, so I take the seat next to her.

We are a bit early so I take out my notebook and start to plan my week.

"What are you doing?" Reese asks.

"Im planning out my week." I answer as if it was obvious.

"Dork." she says but quickly smiles to let me know she's just teasing.

"Well sorry I liked to be organized." I say and playfully roll my eyes.

Our banter is interrupted when a guy walks in. His hair is dark and wavy and he is dressed similarly to Reese in almost all black. I could see tattoos all up his forearms and I suspect they cover a large portion of his torso since I can see some peeking out of his collar. His appearance throws me off because he is so young. He must've started getting tattoos at a young age. I continue to oggle him and when I reach his eyes they are looking dead at me. They are a beautiful hazel color, but his eyebrows are creased into a frown. He looks as if this is the last place he wants to be. He's still looking at me, and I at him. Reese nudges me and I quickly break eye contact. My cheeks flush in embarrassment at being caught checking him out.

"Well you're definitely not lesbian." Reese says and throws her head back in laughter.

I scowl at her and push her shoulder lightly. "I was just looking." I defend.

"More like drooling." she continues to torment me.

The boy walks over to us and I begin to panic until I see him sit next to Reese.

"Whats up man." she says and slaps him on the shoulder. They must be friends. They start talking about random stuff and some party this weekend. After a couple of minutes Reese must remember i'm still here and turns to me.

"Oh shit, my bad. Della, this is James. James, Della." she gestures back and forth between us.

"Hi" I mumble, his appearance is intimidating, but my dad always taught me to be polite.

He shows no interest in speaking to me and gives me a curt nod right as class begins. I didn't expect much, but he could've been a little nicer. Class goes by quickly and so does the rest of the day. I say goodbye to Reese and James. Reese gives me a "see you later" and James once again, just nods. I suspect I won't get much out of him, so I head to my dorm.