1 - first day

Amina

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I slammed my forehead against the window hoping that the accident in front of us would clear up soon. This was not apart of the plan! If I had factored in an accident on the freeway then we would have left the apartment earlier. And then I wouldn't be waiting here, in traffic, and missing my first day of school.

I had just transferred from community college to ULA. This was my first time in Southern California. I've lived in the Bay Area all my life and always wanted to move to Southern California. It seemed like the perfect getaway for me to start fresh. Away from home without having to cross the state line.

"Your phones ringing." My roommate Bianca announces, snapping me out of my inner thoughts as she grumpily sits behind the wheel of her 2012 Honda Civic. I rummage through my bag to find my phone buzzing at the bottom. "Hello?"

"Dude where are you? They've started taking attendance!"

I groan, praying I don't lose my spot in the class on the first day. "There was an accident. I don't know if I'll make it."

My cousin sighs at me over the phone, "Aw man, I'll see you later then."

"I'll let you know when I arrive." We hang up and I groan.

"Was that Caleb?" Bianca asks excitedly, not at all hiding her obvious crush. I chuckle lightly, "No it was Isaiah. I have Financial management with him this morning."

One of the other reasons why I choose this school, was the fact that my cousins go here. My twin cousins Isaiah and Caleb were like big brothers to me, even though I am older by a whole 7 days. They have been attending school here since their freshman year and I felt safer knowing I had some type of family on campus.

So now the three of us were Juniors at ULA. That is, if I ever make it to campus.

After what seems like forever traffic begins moving again. We both sigh in relief as the car starts moving. Thirty minutes later we were finally parking onto campus. "I'll be done at 3pm, let me know if you're riding back with me!" Bianca says as she rushes toward the campus. I call out an okay and look down at my phone, 11 am. I missed my first lecture entirely and my next one isn't until 11:30.

I call the twins to let them know that I have finally arrived and ask when they want to meet. We decide to meet up at 1pm, which seems to be our mutual free period. I open up google maps and head to the hall of my 11:30 lecture and enter the building. Every thing was so big here, larger than my former campus at least.

I took a seat in the middle and begin writing in my planner to pass time, plotting out my plans for the weeks to come. My planner was my most prized possession and I would be completely lost without it. It was as important to me as a diary is important to other girls.

The professor finally arrived and begin discussing class policies and such. I wrote everything that was to be noted in my planner and began writing in due dates for future assignments. Class was fairly shorter than the expected time and I decided to do some work to pass the time.

When 1pm finally arrives my cousins simultaneously greet me with a bone crushing hug. "Finally!" Isaiah exclaims as he punches my arm after we separate.

"Ow!" I cry out, before punching him back.

"Hey why are you hitting her?" Caleb exclaims as he hits Isaiah.

Although they are twins, Caleb and Isaiah are polar opposites. Makes sense since they are fraternal twins so they also look nothing alike. Caleb had big curly hair and thicker eyebrows, and Isaiah had low cut waves and lighter skin. They're both overprotective but Isaiah is loud and outgoing while Caleb is more quiet and reserved. They've always been this way, their personalities have hardly changed.

I laugh, "I'm older than both of you."

Caleb rolls his eyes before hitting me as well, "Yeah but you're short so it doesn't count."

Isaiah pipes in, "Are you ready for your campus tour or what? Let's go guys!" He walks ahead of us and the twins begin showing me around campus. Introducing me to the different halls, best places to grab lunch, and where the library is. I had never toured the campus myself and made me decision to come here based on pictures.

We went through more than half the campus and the boys were able to name all of them and their purposes. From the gym to the bookstore, up until we made it to the hall of my last class of the day. We stop walking and come face to face with another huge hall building. Isaiah points at the building, "Here's our last stop, your 2pm class at Live Oak Hall. Have fun in math!"

"See you later, call us if you get lost or something. But not after 4pm because we won't be on campus."

I nod at them, "Thanks again, see you later!"

I enter the building and begin searching for my classroom number. I check my phone as I'm walking to verify the room number when I suddenly bump into something large. "Geez am I invisible or something?" I look up to see a very angry and handsome young man glaring down at me with pretty light brown eyes. His glare made it apparent that he was significantly taller than me as he looked down at me. Despite his glare his dimples could still be seen on his cheeks. He was wearing a fitted black T-shirt with dark jeans and you could see a tattoo on his arm peeking out from his shirt despite his dark skin.

"I'm sorry, I was just trying to find my class."

"Yeah whatever." He mutters before walking away. Gosh what's got his panties in a bunch? I barely touched him. Just because he's pretty doesn't mean he can be rude.

I continue looking for the classroom before finally finding it at the end of a hall. I take a seat toward the back next to a curly ginger haired girl and get my planner and syllabus out to follow along with the professor. She starts the class by taking attendance and I call out here once my name is called.

"That's a pretty name." The girl next to me spoke. I look over at her and smile, "Thank you what's yours?"

"Halle Monroe?" The teacher calls suddenly.

The girl next to me raises her hand, "Here!"

I smile, "Nice to meet you Halle, your name is pretty too."

"Thanks! What year are you?"

"I'm a transfer student, but this is my third year, you?"

She grins proudly, "This is my last year until I'm out of this hell hole they call college. I truly can't believe I made it this far."

I laugh lightly, "How old are you?"

"20, I'm getting out a bit early."

"Really? How'd you manage to do that?" I asked. We begin talking about college and semester planning the rest of the class period. The professor only discussed a few things regarding the syllabus and I managed to get it down.

When class ended I walked with Halle out to the courtyard. "You got another class?" She asks.

I shake my head, "I was actually thinking of heading to the bookstore to order some of my books."

She shakes her head, "If there's any tip I can give you it's to never rely on the bookstore alone to get your books. I always check online for better deals, or this app everyone uses to connect with each other on campus. If you post that you're looking for a certain book, someone will comment in minutes that they have it and will give it to you for half the price."

"What's the app?" I ask.

"May I see your phone?" I nod before unlocking and handing it to her. After pressing a few buttons she hands it back to me.

I smile as I look through the app and see several students commenting about looking for roommates, textbook swapping, and just ranting about things on campus. "Thank you! This should be really helpful."

"Anytime! Well I have to head for my next class but I'll see you on Wednesday!"

I nod, "See you then!" We part ways and I decide to text Bianca to see if she's still around to ride home with.

By the time we reached the apartment I was exhausted from the long school day. Bianca and I talked about our first day experiences in the car and immediately departed off to our bedrooms as soon as we got inside the apartment. There were actually 3 of us in this space, but our third roommate Kendra did not have class today. Kendra is a good friend of my cousin Isaiah, so when he heard she was looking for a new roommate he paired us up.

I stripped off my clothes and hopped into bed. There was nothing like getting into bed after a long day of classes. I opened up my phone to the app Halle had introduced to me and created a post about the textbook I was looking for. Within a few minutes someone messaged me saying they had one that they were willing to sell to me for $20. I looked up the price online to see that the book is originally $59. I agreed to the deal with the student and they agreed to give me the book at the library tomorrow morning.

I put my phone down and decided to take a nap before doing anything else for the day. I closed my curtains and immediately knocked out after a couple minutes.

An hour or so later I woke up to the sound of extremely loud music on the other side of my bedroom wall. I pounded on the wall aggressively hoping it signals to my rude neighbors to turn it down.

But instead the bitch decides to increase the volume.

One thing about me is that I love my sleep, so when you mess with my sleep? Oh I get angry.

I grab a T-shirt and enter the hallway of my building to knock on my obnoxious neighbors door. I give three aggressive knocks before crossing my arms in front of me. The lack of respect!

I give another couple of knocks before someone finally opens the door. A shirtless man opens the door with an angry look on his face. The same angry man from earlier! "What?" He asks rudely. I was taken aback for a moment because I was expecting a girl, not a shirtless Greek god looking man. His body was beautiful. The tattoos I noticed from before were on full display now, glistening in sweat. He had a tribal tattoo on his arm as well as some writing on his chest.

I quickly pulled myself together and remembered why I was here. "Can you turn your music down a bit? Some of us are trying to sleep and my room is right next to your wall."

He scoffs, "No."And he shuts the door in my face.

I gasp, completely shocked at just how rude a man could be. I begin pounding on his door again, awaiting a reply. He opens the door once more with an irritated expression, "What do you want now?"

"Turn down your music please, or I'm reporting you to the front office." He shrugs before attempting to shut the door in my face again. I push the door open and let myself enter his apartment, heading straight to the root of the problem. His smart speaker was blasting Drake at the highest volume. I unplug the device and turn to him, "I asked nicely." He didn't say anything as he watches me walk away back to my own apartment.

Thankfully the music did not start again but I couldn't go back to sleep. I pulled out my laptop and started with some of this weeks assignments that had already been assigned. After doing a couple I heard movement coming from the kitchen and peeked my head out to see who was there. My other roommate Kendra was stumbling around in her robe looking for something to eat. "Hey Ami." She greets tiredly when she notices me enter the kitchen.

"Hey Ken, what's up?"

"I just woke up."

"Since last night?" I ask.

"No silly, a nap. How was your first day?"

I grab a banana off the counter, "It was interesting. I missed my first class and angered our neighbor."

"Ooh I see you've met Dominic, isn't he the sweetest?"

I look at her in disbelief, "Are you being serious?"

She scoffs, "Of course not he's such an asshole. It's a shame he's good-looking."

I sigh, "Very. How long have you two been neighbors?"

She shakes her head, "Too long, he's been here since I moved in last year. He's never had any roommates either. I have no idea how he affords the place."

"I heard he sells drugs." Bianca says as she enters the kitchen.

"Oh hey girl!" Kendra cheers, "I've heard that too, he usually keeps to himself so no one knows much about him."

"Well regardless of what his story is there's no excuse for his extremely shitty attitude. I was trying to sleep and he didn't even acknowledge me when I politely asked him to turn it down! I had to go in there myself and unplug his speakers."

Both girls suddenly gasped, "You went into his apartment?" Kendra asks.

"For like a second yeah, why?"

"When I said he keeps to himself he really does keep to himself. I've never seen anyone go in there, besides like one friend."

"What was it like?" Bianca asks.

I shrug, "I didn't really notice. I was too blinded by my rage. I guess I didn't notice anything unusual."

Both girls shook their heads at me.

The night soon ended and we parted ways to our separate rooms after having dinner. I decided to get ready for bed early since I was deprived from my nap this afternoon.

As I brushed my teeth my phone began to buzz. A picture of mothers face appears on the screen.

"Hello?" I respond with a mouthful of toothpaste.

"Ami talking with your mouthful is not ladylike, and why didn't you call today?"

I spit out the toothpaste and sigh, "Sorry today was hectic and I'm just getting ready for bed."

"At 11 o'clock? Don't you have early classes? You need your beauty sleep sweetie, lack of sleep causes stress and stress causes a lot of negative changes for your body. Like weight gain, acne, and dry skin."

My mother was always like this, both my parents were. I was expected to be perfect all the time, flaws were basically not allowed in my house. Everything that could be fixed, would be fixed. The first time I got a pimple I was sent to a dermatologist for laser treatment. I was expected to do things a certain way and be presented a certain way. I'm not even allowed to date until after college and then I'm expected to be married before the age of 30.

I didn't follow a majority of these rules of though. I've been in a relationship before, in secret. Everything I've done has been in secret. You see why I needed to get away?

I roll my eyes, "Yes mom I know. That's why I'm trying to get ready for bed."

"Hmm alright don't let me hold you up. Your siblings say hi and so does your dad. Love you!"

"Thanks, tell them I said hi. Love you too."

We get off the phone and I let out a yawn. I actually am pretty tired. I finish up my nightly routine before getting into bed. I turn the tv on and let cartoons run until I drift off to sleep.

———

First chapter yay!

So as you can see, I wrote another book. Despite the fact that I have not completed my other stories.

Just bare with me I'll get them all done I promise.

Don't forget to vote and comment if you like this! Or if you don't.

But I hope you do!

- AuggiePooh_