Roommates Box Set #4-6

1. Kylie

1

KYLIE

After five hours, it was a relief to pull into the lot and shut off my car. I loved mountains but driving through them wasn’t the easiest thing ever.

I slumped in the seat as I stared at the building in front of me. Henderson Dormitory was named after a famous engineer who had attended the university. When I’d picked it as my first choice on my housing application, I hadn’t dreamed I’d get a spot there, especially not in my first year. I figured I’d be forced to stay with hard-partying undergraduates instead of getting into the only dorm that was just for graduate students. Not only that, but it was supposed to be the best one.

Wearily, I climbed out of my car, an ancient hatchback that had once belonged to my uncle. It was amazing it had made it through the mountains, especially loaded up the way it was.

Now it was my job to carry a semester’s worth of clothes and other necessities into the building in front of me.

Two students who were obviously a couple passed by as I stretched my stiff muscles. The woman carried a large laundry basket, and the man held two boxes with a crate full of women’s shoes on top. While I was envious that she had help carrying her things, finding a boyfriend wasn’t on the agenda for me. An MBA was my ticket out of my tiny hometown, and I didn’t need any distractions. I had a feeling my classes were going to keep me plenty busy this semester.

It took two tries to open the back of my car. It was old, slightly rusted, and very finicky. I picked up a duffel bag and a backpack and slung them over my shoulders. Then I grabbed my laptop bag and locked the car. That wasn’t something I usually did, but my hometown of Norris, Colorado, had less than 700 people in it. My new university was just outside Denver, and while the area wasn’t known to be a hotbed of crime, I knew to be more careful here. The last thing I wanted was to be the small-town girl who’d gotten robbed before she’d even started classes.

As I approached the massive building, a guy held the door for me, and I smiled at him before entering the gleaming lobby. The sofas and TVs in the lounge looked brand-new, and there was a delicious smell of grilled meat coming from somewhere nearby. Henderson was also known for having the best cafeteria on campus. Since my scholarship covered room and board in addition to part of my tuition, that was another reason that getting assigned here felt like winning the lottery.

A graduate degree would set me up for a career that would take me places. I wanted to thrive, not just survive. I had dreams, and I intended to work my ass off to make them come true. Somehow, getting a spot in the best dormitory felt like the first step along that path.

Many other students were moving in, so there was a crowd at the elevator. Since I didn’t know a soul here, I would’ve liked to strike up a conversation, but most people wore earbuds. It was different in my uncle’s bar where I worked every summer. Almost nobody wore earbuds there. Most of them liked talking the bartender’s ear off—and catching up with them was one of my favorite parts of the job.

Thinking of the bar made me groan. My uncle had thrown me a huge party last night. I’d been the first one in our family to go to college, let alone grad school. It felt like half the people in town had crammed into his modest establishment to wish me luck. And when I got roped into helping mix drinks due to the size of the crowd, they’d tipped generously. The money was appreciated since I still had a lot to pay for—the amount they charged for textbooks these days was outrageous—but I’d been up until the wee hours of the morning, and I was exhausted now.

My bags felt twice as heavy by the time I was finally able to squish into the elevator. But there was room to breathe as everyone got off before my floor, which was the sixth and top one. My duffel slid from my shoulder as I stopped to check my room number on my phone: 672.

I frowned as I looked around. The rooms on either side of the hall were in the low 600s. I’d specifically parked on the south side of the building because I’d thought that was where my room would be. One half of each floor was for females and the other for males. I must’ve gotten it backwards.

That meant a long walk down a long hallway. I vowed to move my car before I brought up the next load. As the room numbers climbed, I was surprised to see several guys hauling stuff into rooms along the way. Did every woman here have a boyfriend to help her carry her things? It sure seemed like it.

Finally, I reached 672. It was the last door on the left. I wanted to barge in and drop my heavy stuff, but at the last moment, I realized my new roommates might be in there. I knocked twice, but no one came to the door. Maybe they were at dinner? I knew absolutely nothing about them, but I hoped they were friendly. I didn’t share a lot of common interests with women my own age, or at least I hadn’t in college. Maybe graduate school would be different?

The keycard I’d gotten in the mail worked on the first try. I entered and flipped on a light. I called out a greeting, but it seemed clear no one else was here. To my left was a bathroom, straight ahead was a short hallway that opened into a larger space, and on the right, I found a room with two sets of bunk beds. I frowned when I stepped inside it. The paperwork had said my assigned dorm was a two-bedroom suite for four students, but this room had four beds and four dressers crammed in it.

Still, the sight of the bunk beds was very welcome. I’d driven for hours with very little sleep, so I staggered closer to check them out. A lower bunk was the only one without sheets on it, so I figured it was unoccupied. Dropping my things, I sat down on the edge of the mattress, testing it. It seemed firm enough. I dug into my duffel bag and pulled out my comforter. I didn’t know where the sheets were, but I spread the comforter out. It was for a full-size bed, so it easily covered the mattress with room to spare.

As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I looked around at the other bunks. One had blue sheets. Another had gray. That was a relief. I wasn’t the kind of woman who was into pastels and flowery crap, so it was good to know my new roommates weren’t either.

Fatigue hit me hard. Maybe I could rest my eyes a bit before the next trip to the car? Just a brief break to gather my strength. I found a sweatshirt in my backpack and folded it up to serve as a pillow. Then I stretched out on the bed and wrapped the rest of the comforter around me.

God, the bed felt good. Everything in this building seemed new and high-quality. It was a far cry from the tiny studio apartment I’d rented my last two years of undergrad. It felt so damn good that I was tempted to take a nap, but I had lots to do before it got dark.

Still… it wouldn’t hurt to close my eyes for a minute, would it?

Just for a minute—then I’d get up and resume hauling things from my car.