Emma sighed as she carried the last of her boxes into her dorm room. The 18 year old had just arrived at her new college dorm and was trying to get settled in. She had just got off her flight from Scotland where she was from a few hours ago. Emma had managed to get a full scholarship at an American school and took the opportunity right away even though she was scared as she knew it would save her money.

Emma came from a rather poor family so getting a scholarship which included spending money in it that she wouldn't have to pay back was a huge help. Emma was born and raised in Glasgow and had a strong Scottish accent. She was coming here to study Sociology, Philosophy and History, though Sociology was the one she loved the most. She was a bit of a nerd for it loving to learn about the effects society can have on people and the effects people can have on society and also learning about the nature, nurture debate which she was definitely on the side of nurture for the most part at least.

Emma was a nerd in many other ways as well. She loved movies, books and video games, in fact most of her spending money will probably be spent on them. She spends most of her time reading or drawing in her sketch book. She has always loved drawing ever since she was a little kid, in fact until she was about 14 or 15 she was dead set on going to art school, however she soon found out how competitive it is and not having a completive bone in her body she dropped that idea.

As she carried the last box to her room she was dressed in black skinny jeans, a grey guys t shirt, a burgundy guy's hoodie, a pair of guys cookie monster boxers and a pair of old school vans. She always dressed kinda butchly. She acted butch as well. It was all in an attempt to hide how scared sand sensitive she could be at times. She always joked and laughed about her feelings never opening up to anyone. Her skin was pale, eyes blue with bags under them as she never sleeps well. Her hair was blown and in a short pixie cut. She was a rather short girl but quite curvy with a size D chest and big hips.

As she started to unpack her boxes she looked over at the bed across from the one she picked. I hope my roommate isn't an ass hole...or at least just laves me alone she thought. Emma was friendly and rather nice to folk but she also didn't bother fussing over folk who didn't like her she didn't see the point in it.

Andria sat on the bench as sweat rolled down her forehead. 'Hell Week', as her coach called it, had just begun, and she was feeling it. Having accepted a full ride for tennis, the brunette's days had been filled with the monotony of morning, afternoon, and the evening practices. Her friends back home, though proud, wondered why she would put herself through this, but they just didn't understand. You had to love the sport to truly appreciate the reason why athletes do what they do.

The bench jostled. Andria looked to her right as her friend, Samantha, took a draft of cool water from a blue under armor bottle. "And here I thought coach was going to take it easy on us," she said. Samantha smoothed out her blue tennis top and white tennis skirt. "You looked good out there, like always. You big show off."

Andria grinned. As with most athletes, Andria had a fit, toned body. Though her build was slender, strong tempered muscles flexed as she clenched her tennis racket. She had faint olive skin, which gave her a California beach girl kind of look. Her dark brownish black hair, normally straight was tied in a ponytail. Her legs were beautifully long while her chest was full and her body beautifully proportioned. She could have gone into fashion, if she had wanted. Her mother tried to convince her multiple times, but she wasn't interested in that. She was right where she wanted to be. Athletics.

Her violet eyes locked onto Samantha's green. "I gotta thing for style. Can’t blame me for that?” The distant sound of cars began to slowly roll in. “I’m going to miss the silence.”

“Isn’t your roommate coming today? You know, if you asked, I’d totally be your roommie. Way better than a stranger.”

Andria rose an eyebrow. “It was Amy, right? Yeah, I don’t think she'd like that. Plus, I don’t mind. Just hope she isn’t a total--”

“Bitch?”

The first year shrugged. “Not exactly the words I’d choose, but yeah. If pre-seasons already this difficult, I don’t wanna deal with somebody difficult.”

Samantha sighed as she got to her feet. The other matches were slowly wrapping up. “Which is why I extended the offer,” she said. “Lets go. You down for a girls night out? Scarlet and Tera told me about a party later. We’re definitely invited.”

Scooping up her things, Andria winked at her teammate as she made her way towards the tennis facility’s gatehouse. “We’ll see.”

---

Changed into a pair of black leggings, neon green laced, grey sneakers, and a baggy sweatshirt in the school’s royal blue and white colors with tennis stenciled under the school’s mascot, a husky, Andria made way to her dorm. She dodged a few move ins on her way exchanging hi’s here and there. Hiking her bag of rackets higher on her shoulder, she swiped her card over the building’s ID reader and walked in.

It was a relatively short climb to her room. She slid in the key, unlocked the door and walked in. Her gaze was drawn to the new girl. She had a pixie cut - a fashion that Andria wasn’t brave enough to try herself. A number of thoughts creeped into her mind, but she dismissed them. No reason to judge before getting to know she thought.

“You must be my roommate!” Walking over to her side of the room, she dropped her racket bag at the end of her bed. “I’m Andria. If the university gave me your contact info, I’d definitely give you a ring to figure out room arrangements. Need any help? I’ve got some time to kill.”

Emma jumped as her door opened and she turned around to see her room-mate for the first time.All she could think was wow. The girl in front of her was like some kinda model even in her casual cloths Emma could tell she was really fit.Hay hay stop thinking like that no crushes on your room-mate allowed she thought. She had enough things to worry about.

Emma was really scared about being so far from home. She had never lived away from her parents before and to be honest was quite dependant on them. hell she could barley work the washing machine.

There was also the fact that even though Emma acted like she was strong and didn't care what others thought she was still a shy girl and really did want to get a friend or tow... or maybe a girlfriend she thought to herself but quickly shock that thought off. There is no way anyone will want to date me anyway never mind this girl she is probably straight Emma thought to herself but still wanted to impress her new room-mate and was rather glad she had already hid her teddy bear under her pillow. No one wants to date a 18 year old who still sleeps with a stupid old bear she thought .

Emma was given her bear when she was just a baby, she has always been very attached to it though told everyone she flung the old thing out when she was 9 and thought she was too old for such things. There was allot of stuff Emma thought she was too old for but still loved: video games, comic books, cartoons,lego, stuff toys in general, Disny movies, sweets and most of all the affection she craves. Emma's family were very loving and caring but from a young age Emma pushed away all physical contact from them thinking that as the eldest child she shouldn't need that stuff...however she did. One of the reason Emma still slept with her bear was her need for a hug. She may not want to admit it but she wasn't the big butch girl she made out to be she needed other people.

Emma had almost unpacked everything by now all that was left was her laptop and some stuff she probably shouldn't have bothered to bring like her Harry Potter book collection. "Oh um hi I'm Emma and no I'm ok thanks"She said shyly not really wanting her to get too good a look at some of the dumb stuff she brought which included some dvds, her drawing stuff and some legos. I mean what 18 year old still love lego!?!?! she thought annoyed at herself.

After a while she had everything a way and sat down on her own bed biting her lip nervously but wanted to seem strong she made herself stopped and looked at her "So um what do you study?" She asked.

Andria flopped down on her bed. It felt so good to sit down after this morning. Crossing her legs, she reached over and grabbed her large blue couch pillow and wrapped her arms around it. Ever since she was a kid, she just loved soft things. Her big blue pillow was one of them. It was fluffy and had a pattern of a Blue Jay outlined in black stenciled onto it.

"Well it's very nice to meet you Emma. I can be pretty talkative, so let me know if I start annoying you," she said in her high but slightly low voice - almost alto-like if she compared it with choral. " Still pretty undecided about what I want to study, but I'm thinking medicine. My dad works at a pretty big hospital back in Tennessee. Had a chance to volunteer there, so I'm leaning towards that. Of course, things can change. What about you?”

So far everything was going pretty well. Andria couldn’t help notice the subtle shy nature of the girl. Maybe she came off a little too forward. She had always been pretty direct but mindful of her words. Too many she seemed like one of the most sociable people folks would ever meet. Little did they know, she enjoyed tranquility. Where her friends saw fun in late night partying, recharging with a book or simply relaxing in the evening was her go to. Tennis took a lot out of her, so the lack of energy played a role as well. Mornings never treated a hungover individual well.

“Are you an exchange student?” Andria asked. “You have an accent -- well, I suppose I shouldn’t be talking being from the South. British?”

Hopefully not too forward she thought to herself. In all honesty, Andria didn’t want to make the girl uncomfortable. Far from it. She believed in breaking the ice quickly. It’d be easier going forward. “Have you walked campus? We can check it out later. It’s pretty big. Who knows? Depending on what you’re taking, we may have classes together. We could totally be study buddies!”

"Nice to meet you to...that's impressive I am definitely not bright enough to study medicine. I'm doing social science, Sociology, Philosophy and History to be exact." She said with a smile.

Emma was honestly impressed by medical students, she had never been good with real sciences. Emma rathered ideas that could be debated not cold hard facts. She hated remembering weird names for stuff but she was good with the kind of ideas you worked with in Philosophy and Sociology and hell even History came down to just remembering a story.

She nodded when she asked if she was an exchange student. Ah thought that was a southern accent. Emma thought to herself. "Yeah I'm from Scotland." She said then smiled happily as she did seem to be quite friendly. "I'm planing to have a look around tomorrow I'm kinda tiered just now after the flight and all that. Ha it would be good to have a study buddy but I won't be taking any medical classes." She said

Andria smacked her head. She forgot that pre-med wasn’t actually a degree but a track. All that someone needed to do was finish the prerequisites for the MCAT. The degree itself was open. “I made a mistake,” she said quickly. “I’m aiming for medicine, but I’m planning on majoring in Communication Arts. Maybe Sociology. Going to try an intro class before deciding.”

It was a very unorthodox way of going about preparing for medschool, but from what her dad told her, non-science degrees were sought after. It showed initiative he said. She already knew she could memorize even if it was rather dry at times. What she wanted to work on was refining the way she communicated with humans. Surely a doctor not only had to be good within the sciences but also how he or she acts within social circumstances as well.

Forgetting her brief moment of embarrassment, she listened to Emma on how she said she was from Scotland. “You’re super far from home,” she said. “I’d be surprised if you weren’t tired from the flight. You did just arrived, right? Tomorrow then! I’ve had plenty of time to walk the campus. We can go together, if you’d like. I’m sure we’ll see each other - in sociology and gen eds.”

Crawling over to the end of her bed, Andria snaked her hand in her bag and pulled out a water bottle and took a sip. “So, Emma. What are you into?”

"Oh that's cool...it's good you have a gaol I'm just studying whatever I enjoy at the moment I have no job in mind." She said with a shrug like it was nothing but really it did make Emma feel rather lost.

Emma shrugged once again at her comment about being far from home , acting like she didn't care, however in reality if it wasn't for Andria being here she would probably be curled up in a ball right now crying into her teddy. She wasn't so much scared about being in a new place. Emma loved new places it was exciting. However she was scared of not being able to go home whenever she wanted. One of the best parts of being away from home is soon coming home to show everyone what you had seen but Emma wouldn't be home till Christmas...and even that wasn't definite.

"Yeah I would love to have a look around with you. Sociology isn't until 11.30 am...if you wanted we could have breakfast together and then look around. "She suggested partly because Andria was nice and partly because Emma didn't want to get lost looking for the cafeteria by herself and she didn't like eating alone.

"Oh um lots I guess. I love a good movie or a good book and I'm into music...listening to it not playing, I don't have a musical bone in my body. I also like drawing, video games and um comics"She said getting quieter for the last few a bit shy about how much she loved that stuff. "What about you?"

Andria pursed her lips. “Morning, hm? Well, I wouldn’t mind, but I get up pretty early,” she said. She nodded to her bag. “We’ve got morning practice for tennis at 6 AM. I’ll try to be as quiet as possible. Don’t want to wake you up and all. But yeah. My first class is at 10 AM. We could sneak a bite before that, if you’re up by then?”

Not wanting to presume, Andria left a specific time out. She still didn’t know Emma’s habits. She was naturally an early riser and quick to sleep. That was partially why she always ‘missed’ the parties her teammates went to. On occasion, she’d go to one, but that was once in a blue moon. Last time she went to one, she wished she hadn’t. She got bored before it even started.

“You’re into books and movies? Well shoot!” Andria pointed towards her shelf near her desk. “I’ve brought a lot of them from home. Feel free to pick one out and read it. A little warning though. If you’re not a fantasy, sci fi, or realism fiction, you’d probably hate all of them. I was in choir a while back, but it never clicked with me.”

She laughed as she thought about her answer of her hobbies. “Well, reading for one. I bet that was obvious from the get go though,” she said. “Love my music, enjoy a good movie on the weekends, and tennis as well. Never really had time for video games, but I enjoy watching.”

Getting off her bed, Andria bent down as she looked at her book shelf. She thumbed through a few titles before she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a comic. She turned around and grinned mischievously. “You wouldn’t happen to be a ‘The Walking Dead’ fan, right?” It was rare for Andria to show people one of her guilty pleasures. Not knowing why she liked it, the struggle to survive in a dying world is what kept her reading the series. “This is our secret, ‘kay? Trusting you to keep this one on the down low, darlin’.”

"Yeah that would be fine we could just head for something to eat whenever your done practice."Emma said. Emma doesn't sleep well most nights but is normally up early because she is woken by nightmares so being up early wasn't an issue for her...functioning that early however was.

Emma grinned looking over at her books "Oh I like a bit of fantasy and sci fi at times. As you can probably tell when it comes to fantasy I'm a huge Potter fan." She said and blushed a bit. Next to Emma's bed she had put up a pin board with a white board on it. On the pin board was her time table and some stuff from Harry Potter, Above the pin board was a Slytherin scarf Emma had bought on line.

Emma smiled more when she saw her walking dead comic. She didn't really get why she felt like she had to hide this but she guessed for folk who hadn't just accepted themselves as a nerd this could be a bit embarrassing. "I love The Walking Dead. I have still to read the comics though I have read the first one and the show is great. Don't worry I won't tell anyone...don't really have anyone to tell to be honest." She said as Andria was the first person she talked to at college.

"So you play tennis how long have you done that?" She asked her curiously.

“Oh, you should totally read it when you have the time,” Andria said as she put the comic back on her shelf. “You watch the show then? It’s pretty good, but the story in the comics? Much stronger if you ask me. I don’t usually have time to watch nowadays anyways. I’m so far behind. Reading quickly is my forte, and I can do it on the go! I appreciate it. I don't like advertising it around. Since you like it, I don't see the harm in telling you. It'd be fun to talk about it with someone!"

She laughed nervously as she eyed the slytherin scarf. “They’re so underrated, but I’ve got a thing for Ravenclaw.” Andria crossed her arms, playful look entering her eyes. “Purebloods, cunning, and dominating. Looks like I’ve gotta be careful around you, a little snake of slytherin, eh?”

The next question took some thought. Unlike the previous, this one really meant more to her than a great many other things. Where should she start? When she first played when she was a kid or when she began to show promise at junior nationals and went from tournament to tournament from there.

“Ever since I was young,” Andria finally said. “Dad showed me how to play. I guessed I liked it, and it carried me here. Have you ever played?”

"Yeah I watch the show and I think it's like that with most shows and movies the book or comic is always better. Really don't worry I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to...could I maybe ask why you don't want anyone knowing you like it?" Emma asked clearly confused.

"Ha I love Ravenclaw as well I think being bright has more good qualities than just being brave for the shake of it that is how you become a pointless martyr." She said. "Ha I'm not really dominating or cunning and definitely not pureblood...I think the test on Pottermore put me in that house cause I'm realistic about what people will really do. Like being really brave or loyal seems nice but is it really going to help anyone if you don't do it for the right reasons."She said showing the philosophical side of her.

"Oh that's cool and nah I have never really been very sporty.I did karate for 8 years but I never liked it much though it was helpful and kept me in shape I guess. It's cool you have liked it that long." Emma said smiling.

Andria nodded. "Totally agree. In fact, sometimes the movies ruin the series for me. Has that ever happened to you? I've asked some of the girls, and they disagree. Like seriously disagree," she said. "Like why keep it a secret? Girls like to gossip. I even do. I guess I don't want to deal with all that stuff. Not sure what else's there to say about it."

The house test. When Andria first came across it, she tried her hardest to get into Gryffindor. It seemed like the thing to be at the time. No matter how hard she tried or how many times she took the test, however, Ravenclaw always showed up at the bottom. Her first thought was that the quiz was tampered, every outcome only sorting to Ravenclaw. When she told her friends, each of them told her how they got a different house. Her hypothesis seriously went through the window then. Eventually, after learning more about Ravenclaw, the more it stuck with her.

"I suppose there are more factors to each. Totally a generalization for Syltherin," she said. "As for what's right and what's wrong. I'm not sure I'll win a philosophical conversation with a philosophy major, but deciding what's right depends on the perspective. For example, Draco. When he let the DEs into Hogwarts, people died. That didn't stop him from thinking it was the right thing to do - even if Voldemort did threaten his parents - I think?

"On the other hand, we could also talk about Harry. His actions may have been right to the majority, but people still did disagree with them. What I'm trying to say is that whichever side you're on, the definition of right or wrong changes."

Andria glanced at her watch. She blinked. "Oh shoot! Lost track of the time. I've got to run for a tennis thing." She went and picked up her bag. It seemed the two had been talking for longer than she'd thought. "Why don't you catch some sleep? We'll definitely have more time to talk tonight - if I haven't bored or scared you off that is."

"Oh yeah I never watch the film before reading the book. I can watch a film after reading the book but the other way round no way I just can't get into it."Emma said. "Oh ok fare enough...I guess if I hid every nerdy thing I liked though I would just have to lie about everything." She said not really getting why she cared about what other people thought like that. Emma was shy and a worrier but if someone didn't like her for her she never made a big deal about it.

"Ha ha yeah I guess...you know there is a whole debate about it. Also please don't group us all together with Draco, I much rather thinking about Snape or Regulus Black. They both made mistakes but in the end did what had to be done." She said.

"Oh ok yeah we can catch up latter and don't worry you seem great. It will be great being roommates. See you latter and good luck with your tennis thing." She said with a smile and lay back a bit on her bed.

It was well into the evening when Andria finally made her way across the cement sidewalk. Having survived the barrage of pawing from her teammates to go to tonight's frat party, she wanted nothing more than to sleep. She could imagine it now. Snuggling her big blue pillow while melting into her soft mattress she brought from home. the very thought was enough to make her quicken her pace. She'd showered already at the locker room. Just a long, clean brushing of the teeth and other things, and she'd be ready to slip off to dreamland.

Finally reaching her room after ascending the steps, she slid in her key and quietly unlocked it. The room was already dark, which meant Emma was fast asleep. As quietly as she could, Andria tiptoed and put her stuff at the end of her bed before grabbing her things and heading off towards the bathroom. Her bed called to her, but she wasn't prepared yet.

Opening the door to the bathroom, she slipped inside and turned on the sink faucet. She began to brush her teeth while she sat her phone on the sink shelf. Country filled the empty room. After brushing, she took out her lotions and began to apply them. It was a nightly ritual; it helped her sleep after doing so, which she wasn't really sure why.

When that was done, she changed into a pair of square legs and an oversized grey sweatshirt with blue stripes, which stretched down mid-hamstring. Quickly grabbing her stuff, she made her way back to her room and tiptoed in. Locking the door behind her and putting her stuff away, Andria crawled into her bed.

Her fatigue slowly ebbed away as she laid there in tranquil silence.

Yeah, this is way better than reeking of booze and fighting off sex-crazed frat brothers.

When Andria got into bed she now had a good look at Emma who was fast asleep. Being asleep Emma couldn't hold up all her barriers and make herself look stronger like she normally did so right now Andria was getting a gimps of the real Emma and it was down right adorable.

Emma was curled up in a little ball her short brown hair already in a messy bed head form. She was dressed in the t shirt she had had on earlier and a pair of pj bottoms which were purple with little white owls on them. She had the covers up to her shoulders but her roommate could still make out two things Emma had hopped to keep hidden from her.

As Emma sleeps her thumb rested in her mouth and she sucked softly on it. This was a habit she never grew out of but hid from everyone. She didn't do it every night only nights when she was really tiered or had a stressful day, it was comforting to her. Another comfort for Emma was also on show. In the 18 year old's arms was an old brown teddy bear with a cute little pink heart in the centre of it's chest. It wasn't a care bear it was clearly very old and looked like a more traditional bear. It seemed well loved.

As she slept Emma also made little noises. It was nothing loud enough to keep anyone up just cute little incoherent mumbles. As she mumbled away she would also sometimes wriggle about. Emma was a very active sleeper.