Pinky Promise

Chapter 1

The cardboard boxes in the corner of the room were finally emptied.

"This is it, my new home", I whispered softly to myself as I gazed in admonishment at the dorm room.

The bed across from mine was still empty, as my roommate had not yet arrived for move-in day. I was early as usual; it was only nine in the morning. I threw myself onto the just-made bed, and looked at the white fairy lights I had strung across the ceiling and the wall behind my bed. Without the decorative lights and pictures of my dog, my dad, my sister, and high school friends that were tacked to the wall, the room was fairly bland. It was just white walls, an ugly grey carpet, two small closets with built in drawers, the two beds on opposite sides of the room, a desk between them, and a window.

My dad had insisted on coming to help, but I told him what he already knew-his job was way more important than coming to help me unpack a few stuff. "You'll come visit when I'm settled," I proposed to him. He seemed satisfied with that, but somewhere inside of me, I was hoping he would deny it. I wanted him to pick up his phone and call out of the station to come be with me. Hell, I wouldn't have minded if he drove me in the damn squad car. The thought of him flashing his siren to speed out of traffic made my lips lift into a small smile.

Jane, my older more likable sister, would have come if she hadn't been called last minute to go on a business trip with her boss. She was just an assistant, but it paid well for someone who didn't go to college. Every time she hung up the phone after a conversation with him, she'd roll her eyes and mutter "ass." I picked up my phone to see if she texted me about landing, but there was nothing but the wallpaper of my dog, Steve,  and the time "9:23." My body was finally beginning to process the four hour drive from home in New Jersey to Penn State . I let my eyelids flutter, and felt them close as I drifted into a deep sleep.

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Lavender? The smell was so strong I could taste it in my mouth. I opened my eyes and sat up to check my phone. 1 Missed call from Jane and a text from Dad.

"Oh, hey. You're up." I turned my head to meet the voice. "I'm Demi," she said standing over a pile of laundry dumped on her bed and spilling onto the floor. Her hair was blonde with streaks of brown-a dirty blonde, how ironic. The hair behind her ear revealed that she had three piercings, two in each lobe and one in her right cartilage. She was wearing a mini skirt and wedges. Her thin lips were shaded with a deep hue of pink, and she obviously took to a considerable amount of makeup, as the desk next to me was covered in brushes, palettes, and other fancy looking items I might see passing by Sephora or Ulta. My eyes moved to the puff of steamed oil released by the diffuser that was on the desk near my bed. The taste lingered on my tongue.

"Hi, I'm Alice," I said getting up groggily.

Demi nodded,  giving me a judgmental glance up and down.

"Do you need help folding that?" I nodded to the monster of clothing.

"Nah, I'll probably just shove it in the closet," she said dismissively without taking a moment to look at me.

"Cool." After a few minutes of awkward silence, I decided to get up and ring Jane as I walked into the hallway.

"Sis! How's college life? Planning on going to any wild parties yet?" I didn't have to see her to know she had a dopey grin. I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but return an equally stupid smile.

"I just got my room together, and took a nap. Ya know it's only the first week right?"

"Ugh, whatever. You know you're lucky, right? I'd kill to be you! I'd be looking at all those cute college boys up, down, and sideways..."

I shook my head and laughed as I reprimanded her. "Jane! Jeez, you could have went to college too. You would have fit in much more than me. How was your flight?" I said trying to change the subject.

It wasn't hard to divert her attention. "Yeah. I'm in a suite connected to Mr. Asshole. He's really stressed about this business meeting, which means he's even more bitchy than usual."

"Well at least there's cute boys in Cali. Who knows, you might even bring someone back," I joked.

"I wish! The only male specimen I'm gonna be looking at is my boss, and Lord knows the only look he's getting from me is a side-eye-Yes, Mr. Sawyer! Just Rianne from reception inquiring about the flight!-Gotta go, Ally. Good luck. Keep me posted about the party situation." With that she was gone and I was brought back to the hallway I had been walking up and down for the past fifteen minutes. I sent my dad a quick text to let him know I was alive and that my packing had come to a cessation.

I stopped in front of my room door. Here we go. I took a deep breath opened it.

"Hey, how's the packing going?" I asked as my eyes darted to the pile of clothes still wildly strewn about her side of the room.

"It's fine, I guess. I'm basically done," Demi said. She sat at the desk staring in a magnified mirror with her mouth agape in a "o" as she applied more mascara.

"I was thinking maybe you wanted to get some dinner or something..." I trailed off trying my best not sound too desperate for a friend.

"Uhh... I'm actually going to a frat party. It's this pre-semester thing for everyone on campus."

"Oh," I replied looking down at my thumbs.

"Yeah, I should probably get going anyway, so I'll see you later," and with that she got up before taking one more look in the mirror to approve of what she saw and went out the door.

Now what? The tension in the room dissipated without her in it. I did my best to ignore the portal of hell that was her mess, and dialed a Chinese restaurant.

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I went down to the lounge area that was completely lifeless and empty. I wondered if the apocalypse had occurred while I was holed up in my room. But there was the Chinese takeout guy standing right by the glass door. I walked past the burgundy couches and coffee tables that were set up to make my way over to him, tripping on the way of course. After paying the guy, I strode back to my room taking the stairs because the elevators always seem to take longer.

Three flights of stairs and thirty minutes later, I sat on my bed surrounded by half eaten boxes of food. Eating by myself, what a great start to the semester. I got up and looked into the mirror. I saw a girl with dark brown hair slovenly pushed back into a bun, hairs sticking out erratically from the sides. I touched my baby face, examining the freckled dots that danced around my nose and cheeks. I wasn't chunky or skinny, just average. Completely and utterly average in every sense of the word. I was the one who went undetected in high school, making it by without bringing too much attention to myself. Looks like college wasn't going to be any different. I sighed heavily and decided to go for a walk to clear my mind. I grabbed a hoodie to pull over my plain white tee that was paired with ripped blue jeans.

As I walked along on campus I came to a big house that blared music from the inside and reverberated the concrete I was standing on. This must be the party Demi was talking about. Just when I was about to turn and keep walking on the path, I remembered Jane's voice telling me "have fun and live your life for God-sake!" I shook my head. With my hands shoved in the sweatshirt pocket, I walked into the house apprehensively.