The Unlikely Resident of Room 313

Chapter 1

College Move-In Day.

It was an infamous day: parents dreaded it, children craved it, and the rest of the world waited—breaths drawn and eyes wide—for the chaos that ensued because of it.

As the youngest person in the Rusiska extended family, the day couldn't come soon enough. Yesterday, a strict curfew bound me, with scheduled lessons and practice, a list of Can Do's and Can Don'ts, and a stuffy private school dress code. Today, all of that changed.

Today, it was just me, my rules, and a great big future of possibilities.

"Asteria!" my aunt's high-pitched voice jostled me from my daydream. "Look! You can see the clock tower!"

Shoved between bags, boxes, and books my aunt and I squeezed into the back of my uncle's SUV, I looked to where she pointed beyond the front windshield, and caught a glimpse of red and white stone behind thick forest branches. The exhaustion of the car ride evaporated into giddiness, and the squeal that erupted from my mouth was met with an equally excited squeal from my aunt.

"Finally!" I said, catching my breath, and a bend in the road shoved me back into place against the back window. The bag of toiletries digging into my side did little to deter my jubilant mood. This was the beginning of the rest of my life. This was just me and the great big world of higher education. This was my chance to do—well—anything I wanted.

Anything you want—except for this major and that major and that major...

I shook the rude, killjoy thought out of my head. I had plenty of time to stress about that particular part of my future tomorrow. Today, I just wanted to bask in the freedom of it all.

Running through the list of decorations she'd so painstakingly put together in her notebook, Maya hummed with delight. "If we want to set up your room on time, we're going to have to work as a group. A little assembly line of perfection, if you will."

"It's a dorm room, Maya," my uncle said. "Not one of your grand ballrooms. Besides, the setup and décor should be up to Asteria and her roommate."

"Noel and I agreed to let Maya help us," I assured him. "Don't worry. There's no one I'd want to help me more than the Space Saver Queen." A title dubbed to my wonderful aunt by her loyal Internet following. Not everyone could say an award-winning interior designer worked on their dorm room.

Uncle Damon smirked. "If I didn't know any better, Maya, I would've thought you were the one moving into college today."

Her chestnut curls bounced as she whipped her head around to face him with a glare. "Am I not allowed to be excited for my favorite niece?"

"I never said that."

"Well, you implied it. And you're being a jerk."

Damon grabbed his wife's hand and kissed her knuckles. "Please accept my apologies."

At his words, they exchanged a loving gaze; banter instantly forgiven. My heart squeezed at how absolutely warm-fuzzy-inducingly cute they were. It was the kind of love that Valentine's Day cards, 90s R&B, and Hallmark romance movies were made of. In my nineteen years of life no one had ever looked at me the way Damon looked at Maya. Not even a little. Maybe—just maybe—that might change at Oracle. The odds were in my favor. My parents met here. So did Maya and Damon. Maybe some of that luck would bless me, too.

Damon pivoted the conversation back to me. "How are you feeling?"

I sighed. "A lot of things: excited, kind of nervous. I think. I hope my roommate isn't a slob. But... I don't know. It's hard to explain."