AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I toss my pen down and stretch, my cramped muscles crying out in relief. I’ve been sitting in the same crouched position for longer than I realized.
“Come in,” I call out.
“Hey!” Chloe waltzes in like she’s visited my room a thousand times before instead of just twice, taking a seat on the edge of my bed and bouncing on the mattress.
In the week I’ve known her, I’ve learned that’s just Chloe.
I’m not sure she’s encountered a situation she’s uncomfortable in. Everything gets taken in stride, and it’s an attitude I’m striving toward as well.
Hot guy I hooked up with over winter break happens to be the same hockey player I’m stuck tutoring?
No biggie, it happens.
Chloe glances at the notebook open on my desk and makes a face. “You’re doing homework?”
I’m assuming the judgment is because it’s Friday night. My roommates all seem to care about school, which is a nice change. I’ve lived with multiple people who have made a point to mention how much time I spent bent over a textbook. To ask what exactly I’ll do with a math degree. To wonder if I know how to have fun. In five years, I know who will be laughing. But it still stung every time.
“I was just planning out what I need to get done this weekend,” I tell her.
And as pathetic as it sounds, I don’t have anything better to do with my time.
I got back from dinner with a couple of girls in my Number Theory class an hour ago.
Showered, changed into sweatpants, and now I’m making a list of assignments due in the next few days so I can prioritize what to tackle first.
This first week went better than I was expecting.
I’ve yet to feel like I’m drowning in a pool of unfamiliarity, the way I did starting school in Boston and at Oxford.
I like all of my courses and my professors. But school has never been a challenge for me.
Holt isn’t huge, the classes much smaller than I’m used to, which has helped getting adjusted and recognizing faces.
But socially, that makes it harder to adjust, not easier. Everyone else on campus already seems to know each other, has formed established cliques. Even the freshmen had a full semester on campus to get settled already.
Theo sat next to me during our Wednesday and Friday algebra class. I’ve exchanged small talk with at least a couple of people in all my classes this week. I was pleasantly surprised by the dinner invitation after my last class ended earlier. Not everyone feels like strangers the way they were on my first day.
But I’m still the new girl.
Chloe is busy studying the bulletin board above my dresser, which is covered with Polaroids from last fall.
My study abroad program offered a few weekend trips throughout the semester, and my favorites by far are the photos of Scotland. Green fields decorated by dots of white wool. Castle-topped crags. Cobblestone streets.
“You should take a photography class,” she tells me. “These are really good.”
“Scotland is just pretty enough to make an amateur look talented,” I reply, shifting in my chair and tucking a foot beneath me.
Chloe hums, still peering at the photos. “If you say so.”
“So, uh, you doing anything fun tonight?” I ask.
I’m not great at small talk. Either I can’t think of anything to say or I blurt out something stupid.
Chloe spins around. “That’s why I’m here. Get dressed, we’re going out!”
I open my mouth.
“Unless you’re about to say ‘Okay,’ save it,” Chloe says, holding up a hand like she’ll physically prevent the word from coming out. “My older sister transferred after her freshman year, and she had a hard time adjusting to a new campus. You have all weekend to do homework, if you want. Tonight, we’re going to a party.”
