Spring Break: Part 1

DAY 1:
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It wasn’t exactly how I’d been dreaming I’d spend my spring break, but then again, it was better than anything else I had planned. Adjusting my nametag with “Lara Baines” spelled out in bold letters, I hurried after the group of students beginning the opening tour.

The college I’d chosen to attend, crazily enough, was having a three day “college days” event and they had invited the local high school seniors to attend. The purpose was to get them familiar with the college, the teachers, the courses, and the dorm life – hoping to encourage fewer dropouts. Luckily, my spring break coincided with the college’s event, and because of that, it hadn’t taken much convincing on my part to get my parents to agree to it. After all, it was an educational trip.

Well, sort of.

The thing was, my brother, Eric, attended this college, too. And where Eric went, trouble followed. Not only would I have the opportunity to scout my future college, but I was certain he’d get me into some of the cooler things on campus. What made it an even better choice of schools was that my brother would be moving off campus – so rather than pay to live in the dorms I would be rooming with him. At least, that was the plan.

After all, campus life wasn’t really my thing. People weren’t really my thing. I’m the scrawny, nerdy, quiet one who’s more than happy to just be invisible. I’m a gamer, I write fiction, I like musical theater and the color black, and I read all the time. So unless there’s someone out there that likes geeky gamer girls who know more about Thedas and Middle Earth history than World History, I’m pretty much screwed.

The first day had been spent touring the college, visiting each individual class with the entire group of attending “candidates,” which finished in the assembly hall where some of the teachers answered questions and described campus life and available courses in detail. One of the reasons I’d chosen this college was because they had available majors in both Journalism and Creative Writing for Fiction. If I could get into either of those classes, even as a Minor, I’d be a happy girl.

Next to me sat my brother, having skipped out on his regular classes to lend me some moral support. He nudged my shoulder when one of the teachers introduced the Creative Writing program, “You’re drooling, Lara.”

“Am not.”

“Just a little.”

“Shut up.”

He chuckled quietly, “Touchy, touchy.” And then he smiled at me, “I’m glad you’re excited about this.”

It was difficult to stay mad at Eric. Since our childhood, I’d always looked up to him as one of my heroes. He could do pretty much everything. And he was pretty darn handsome, so that helped. So when he nudged me again, I nudged him back, smiling happily to myself as the teacher on the platform finished her presentation.

By the time we were allowed to leave the auditorium, it was well past 9:00 PM, but instead of sending us to our assigned dorm rooms, they ushered us into the atrium at the front of the school were dozens upon dozens of boxes of pizza had been set out for us to devour.

I don’t know about you – but watching a hundred or more hungry teenagers scramble for food all at once is pretty terrifying. So much grasping, and shoving, and talking.

Ugh.

I broke away from the swarm of other teens and wandered towards my temporary dorm room that I shared with Eric. Typically, only the dorms were co-ed, and not the individual rooms; but, since Eric’s roommate was out of town on a family emergency and we were siblings, they let me take the extra bunk. It was a huge relief for me knowing I didn’t have to spend the whole spring break with a bunch of weird, giggly girls.

Eric wasn’t back from the pizza fest yet, so I took advantage of the silence. Finally alone – and bored – I pulled out a book from my duffle bag and hopped onto the bed. Just as I landed, an angry “Ouch!” resounded from beneath me.

I screamed and leapt off of the bunk, holding my book out in front of me as some sort of protection as some random guy crawled out from underneath the bedframe.

“What are you doing in here?” I asked – still holding out the book as though it were actually going to help me. “Why were you under the bed?”

For a second, he looked confused, and then he smiled, “You’re Lara, Eric’s kid sister, aren’t you?”

Wait. What?

“How do you know that?”

Sitting down on the bed, he smiled, “I’m his roommate.”

My eyes narrowed in suspicion, “Aren’t you supposed to be gone on -”

“On a family emergency,” he sighed. “Yeah. I am. But it wasn’t an emergency, so I came back.”

“But I thought your grandma died.”

He snorted, “Well imagine my surprise at finding Grandma safe and sound at home and packing for a cruise.” Then he smiled, “I’m Finn, by the way. Thanks for not replacing my bedsheets with something pink.”

I stubbornly crossed my arms, “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would someone tell you that your grandma died if it isn’t true?”

Finn’s lips quirked into a wry grin, “Have you ever broken up with someone who refuses to acknowledge that it happened?”

“But why were you under the bed?”

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck almost sheepishly, “I was hiding.”

“Why?”

“You use that word a lot,” he muttered, but not unkindly. “The dorm staff just did room checks to make sure everybody had a place and wasn’t doubled up, and they don’t know I’m back. So… I panicked.”

The look on his face made me chuckle to myself and I lowered my book. As I did, the cover caught his eye and he laughed.

“Holy crap – ‘The Stolen Throne!’ That’s such a good book.”

My jaw dropped. “You’ve read it?”

“Hell, yes.” Finn leaned over the side of the bed and pulled out a cardboard box from underneath. When he sat back up, he was holding the entire Dragon Age novel series. “I’ve read them all at least a hundred times. Still can’t figure out that Blight nonsense.”

At that, I smiled, “Right? Have you read some of the theories?”

He scooted over on the bed, giving me room to sit. “What – you mean the ones saying Maric had some god-like sperm?” He rolled his eyes, “Yeah… so much nope.” Nodding towards his collection, he asked, “You can borrow them, if you want.”

I shrugged, suddenly feeling shy, “That’s okay…”

Pretending like he hadn’t heard me, he picked up the books and handed them to me, “I see your brother every day. It’s not like I won’t know where they are.”

I gingerly placed them on top of my duffle bag, making sure that nothing could bend or dog-ear the pages. But I found I couldn’t quite look him in the eyes afterwards, so I murmured a quiet, “Thanks…”

Finn wasn’t at all what I was expecting. Eric had talked about him a hundred times or more, but I hadn’t actually pictured him to look so… normal. My brother always said Finn didn’t go out much. That he usually stayed in the dorm studying or reading. He didn’t stay out past midnight, he didn’t go out on the crazy frat parties; he got good grades, studied hard, and kept to himself. I honestly imagined some tall lanky guy with coke bottle bottom glasses and only button up shirts in his wardrobe. He was nothing like that.

Like I said, he was normal. He obviously worked out, but he didn’t have bulging pecs or biceps like the football players had. His hair wasn’t perfectly styled – more like he woke up and just ran his hands through it to get it out of the way. He didn’t have chiseled features like a movie star but he was undoubtedly handsome. For just a moment, I met his gaze and gave him a small smile.

Blue… His eyes are blue.

At that moment, the door to the room burst open again and in strode Eric.

“There you are,” he huffed. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“It’s my fault,” Finn shrugged. “I saw her reading Dragon Age stuff and she couldn’t shut me up.”

Eric rolled his eyes, “Oh, that’s right, I’m surrounded by… “ then he paused, realization striking him all at once. “What are you doing here?”

“Long story.”

“Ah.” Setting his books down, Eric nodded towards his roommate. “So what are we going to do about the bed sitch?”

My eyes snapped up. I hadn’t thought of that. With Finn back, he’d probably be wanting his bed, which meant that I needed to find a different room. Which meant that I’d need to socialize.

Shit.

“I’ll camp out in Nate’s room. He’s actually on vacation.”

“What?” both Eric and I stared at the other man in confusion.

“But,” I stammered, “your bed – your stuff.”

He merely shrugged, smiling at me as he stood and shuffled to the door, “I’m right across the hall. I can get my stuff when I need it. It’s not like you’re moving in forever.” And with a casual wave to Eric, he left.

A few moments of silence passed before Eric turned to me and smirked, “You made some first impression. He’s not normally so accommodating.”

“He seems nice enough,” I shrugged, lowering my gaze to hide the blush I knew was on my cheeks.

“Well, I live with him, and he’s never so nice to me.”

“You’re not easy to be nice to.”

“Watch it. I know where you sleep,” he winked teasingly at me. Checking the clock, he asked, “You hungry?”

I had been, but for some strange reason I wasn’t anymore. I shook my head and then Eric sighed in relief. “Thank God. That mess in the atrium is ridiculous. I’d forgotten how vicious teenage guys are when you get between them and their pizza.” He reached for his shirt and began pulling it over his head.

I panicked.

“Eric! What are you doing?!”

He paused halfway and gave me another smirk, “Seriously, Lar. Chill. This is college. And these are co-ed dorms. You’ll be seeing a lot of this. Trust me.” And he pulled his shirt off the rest of the way. Then he kicked off his jeans so that he was standing there in the middle of the room with nothing but his boxers on. “There’s no such thing as privacy here.”

He’d been working out. I mean, as a football player, he’d always looked good. But now… he was straight up ripped. Eric had always been handsome and charming – sort of in a White Collar Neal Caffrey way. In high school, he’d easily been one of the most popular guys.