Alive For The First Time

Chapter 2

It was 6:15 and I was standing outside of my dorm waiting for Tyler to pick me up. I wasn't at all surprised he was running late. He was physically incapable of being on time. So I just scrolled through Instagram waiting for whenever he decided to show up. Hopefully it was soon. I was starving.

I only had to wait a few more minutes before his black Ford Explorer pulled up. To my surprise, he wasn't alone. I walked over and pulled the back door open and jumped in. Tyler turned back towards me and said, "Lils, this is one of my roommates Justin. Justin, this is my little sister, Lily. She's off-limits. So don't even think about it."

Ugh! Why does he have to be the way he is? He couldn't just introduce me. After letting out an annoyed sigh, I turned to Justin and finally got a look at him. He had turned around and was giving me a smirk. I had a feeling my brother just gave him the perfect opportunity to mess with him.

"So nice to meet you Lily! Your brother failed to mention he had a hot sister," he said while winking at me so I knew what he was up to.

Tyler punched his arm and pointed his finger at him while staring daggers. "Don't Dude! It's not funny."

Justin turned back around chuckling to himself. I had to admit I wouldn't mind if his flirting was for real. He was really good-looking. Dark brown hair that was maybe a little too long but fell over his forehead in just the right way. From where I was sitting, I had a perfect view of his chiseled features. His skin was tanned like he had spent the summer lifeguarding or cutting grass. He was wearing a white T-shirt that was too tight on his arms because of his muscles. I was definitely enjoying the view.

I was pulled out of my staring session by my annoying brother's voice. "Lils, is Chick Fil A ok for dinner?"

"Yeah that's fine Ty. Can we go there first? I'm starving!"

He nodded at me through the rear view mirror.
Justin glanced back at me before asking, "So Lily, are you excited to start your freshman year?"

Justin and I spent the rest of the car ride just chit-chatting. He seemed like a pretty easy-going guy. I found out he was a business major like my brother and had a girlfriend who went to a school 2 hours away. I couldn't imagine how incredibly hard long-distance would be, especially in college where everyone was partying and hooking up all the time.

The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. After the Target run, my brother dropped me back off at my dorm. It was still kind of early but I was exhausted from all the packing and unpacking. When I got to my room, Sophia was laying in bed talking to someone on the phone. It felt kind of awkward to walk in on a private conversation but it's not like I had anywhere else to go.

I started to unpack my shopping bags and I heard Sophia end her phone call. When I glanced over at her, she was wiping tears from her eyes. Now I felt even more uncomfortable. Do I say something? Do I try to console her? We barely knew each other.

"Hey, everything okay?" I asked casually. Her head snapped in my direction. She rubbed her hands over her face in an attempt to hide the fact that she had been crying.

"Not really. Just some drama with my ex-boyfriend. We broke up a few days ago because we didn't really want to do long distance but we are both having trouble letting go. I didn't think it would be this hard."

I didn't know what to say. I had zero experience with relationships. Not to mention I've known this girl for maybe 4 hours.

"Oh, sorry to hear that," I mumbled. I reached into one of my bags and pulled out the bag of chocolate chip cookies I had treated myself to and offered them to Sophia. Chocolate always helps.

Sophia chuckled and took the bag from my hands.

"Thanks," she said before putting a cookie in her mouth and handed the bag back to me. I finished putting my purchases away and plopped down on my bed.

"So Lily, how about you? Do you have a boyfriend? Or a girlfriend? What's your relationship status?" Sophia asked.

"Neither. I'm single. My brother takes overprotective to a whole other level and made sure no guys at my school came near me. I'm hoping to change that here, though. I figure he can't really keep an eye on me at such a big school," I answer her question.

"I know you probably don't want to hear this but your brother is so freaking hot!"

I rolled my eyes. It's not the first time a friend has said that to me and I am sure it won't be the last.

"Anyway....," I attempt to get her to change the subject.

We talk a little while longer about what classes we are taking. Unfortunately, we don't have any together which means I will be navigating campus by myself tomorrow. Tyler offered to skip his classes to show me around but I told him I wanted to figure it out on my own.

After getting everything ready for my classes tomorrow, I got ready for bed. Both Sophia and I were nervous about our first day of college so we decided to watch some Netflix to take our minds off of it. I was ready for tomorrow and ready to start my new life.