Making Fools Of Ourselves

Chris dropped his bags onto his mattress and promptly walked right back out of his bedroom. There had been a bit of a mixup with the landlord, and him and the other three people living in his student house just off campus had to move in a week and a half after school started, instead of a week prior like the plan had originally been. Chris didn't mind driving from the city over for the first week, except for the waking up early. He was glad to be in his home for the year, though. He jogged down the stairs, picked up his keys and his phone from the table in the front, and headed out the door. There was no food in the house, so he was going to grab some food from the grocery store around the corner for himself. He didn't have class for another three hours, so he had time.

---

Parker shook out her short hair as she changed positions in her seat in the student centre. She had found a comfortable chair in one of the sitting rooms and was curled up with a book for her British Colonialism class. It wasn't the most exciting chapter, but she had to get it done or she'd never be able to keep up with the next lecture in class. She knew she had to get used to boring chapters, as a lot of history wasn't as exciting as she'd like. She switched positions again, looking up from her book and glancing around the room at the other students. No one else was reading. Most people were either on their computers or talking to their friends. She made a mental note to drag one of her friends along with her next time, she wasn't a fan of looking like a huge loner.

Emma pulled up in front of the house, looking it over with a tired frown. There had been a plan to move in to the student housing a week before classes had started, but something had happened and had put everything to a halt. Which meant for the last week and a half she'd had to bunk with one of her friends, since she lived over five hours away. She slipped out of the car, watching as someone came out. "Hi, do you live here?" She called out, shutting the door behind her. She leaned her hip against the vehicle, her fingers toying with her keys. "I'm Emma. I was one of the people that was supposed to move in?" She phrased it as a question, hoping that she had the right place - and person. But God knows it'd be her luck to not only go to the wrong address, but to bother the wrong person as well.

---

Sebastian slipped into the student center, glancing around for a free seat. He had at least five pages of writing to finish up for his World Econ class, as well as at least three different pieces of projects to finish up for American Lit. They weren't even into two full weeks of school yet and he was already feeling the need for a beer. Or five. His gaze slipped over the room, pausing on a blonde that seemed into her school work. Or at least, it looked like her school work. Unless she just liked to read that sort of thing for fun. He headed over to her, letting a smile ease onto his features. "Hi," he said, wanting to make his presence known. "Is this seat taken?" He asked her, motioning towards the seat across from her. He carved his free hand through his hair, shifting the backpack that was slung off of his shoulder. "This was the only one that I could find that was free."

Chris stopped on the doorstep as a beautiful woman spoke to him. He gave a nod, putting his hands on his hips. "I do indeed. I'm Chris. I'm the only one here at the moment, so you get your choice of three bedrooms. D'you have a key to the place or are you one of the two that still needs one?" There were extra keys on the kitchen table, he wasn't exactly sure how the people who needed them were going to get in unless one of the other people were home, but he supposed that wasn't his issue. "Do you need help bringing stuff in? And, final question for the moment, I promise, do you want to come grocery shopping once you're settled? I was going to take a run over but it might be easier with the two of us." If they were going to be living together, he might as well offer, right? It'd be a good way to get to know each other - or at least each others food preferences.

---

Parker looked up when someone spoke to her, smiling as she did. She waved her hand at the seat, shaking her head. "No, go ahead. It's all yours." She kept her eyes on him for a few moments too long, then looked back down to her book. He was pretty attractive, probably one of the cuter guys she'd seen at the school that year so far. And now that he was taking the seat in front of her, she wouldn't look like a loner anymore. She knew she wasn't really sitting with him, but people around her would probably assume that she was with him. Parker knew she shouldn't care what people thought, it was silly but she really cared what people around her thought about her, even if it was just their assumptions that she'd never know.

Emma looked up at him, smiling faintly. She must have hit the lottery when it came to roommates, because this guy was downright attractive. "Oh cool. And I don't. They said that I could pick it up here?" She opened up her car door and pulled out of her bag, swinging it over her shoulder. "I probably will. It's all kind of shoved in there since I've essentially been living out of my car and my friend's dorm for like, a week," she said, smiling sheepishly at him. "And uh, yeah. Sure. I'd love to," she said. She wasn't necessarily looking forward to the act of grocery shopping, but getting to know him would be a good thing. Especially since they were going to be living with each other for the next year.

---

Sebastian grinned at her, dropping his backpack onto the ground before he took the seat. "Thanks," he said, allowing himself to just sit there for a couple of seconds before he reached into his backpack to pull out his laptop. "I'm Sebastian, by the way," he said, figuring that it would at least be the polite thing to do. It being his second year there made him feel a bit more relaxed when it came to introducing himself to complete strangers. It was a complete one-eighty compared to the year before, when he'd been absolutely terrified. And on the plus side of him being nice to her, she was cute. And talking to cute girls was always a plus for him.

"There's a key for you on the kitchen table," Chris said, turning and unlocking the front door again. He pushed it open, and shoved his keys and phone into his pocket. "If you go straight down the hall its at the end." He headed towards her car, opening the opposite door from where she opened it. There was a cardboard box sitting on the seat, so Chris reached in and grabbed it. It was a bit heavier than he'd expected, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. "Lead the way, Emma," Chris said with a smile, closing her car door with his hip. "There's a bedroom down here, and two more upstairs. It's up to you which one you pick, but honestly, I'd pick one of the ones upstairs. The one down here is kinda crapola."

---

Parker looked back up at him when he introduced himself, still smiling. She hadn't really expected him to do it, most people would take a chair and ignore the person they were sitting across from for the rest of the time either of them occupied said chair. "I'm Parker," she replied. She'd only ever randomly introduced herself to one person before, and it was a teacher. She was lost as fuck and she introduced herself and asked the teacher where to go. She hadn't introduced herself to other students outside of class or parties, which she didn't attend many of. "It's nice to meet you."

Emma nodded, figuring that she would grab it before she left. She headed inside the doorway, hesitating as she waited for him. It wasn't that big, so there wouldn't be that much to explore, but he had been there first, so she didn't really want to overstep whatever bounds he may have. She glanced back to him, smirking a little when she saw the box that he had. "You sure you can handle that one? It's kind of heavy." She nodded her head as he spoke, letting out a low laugh. "Thanks for the tip," she said. "I think I'll go with one upstairs," she said, heading towards the stairs. She glanced around, spotting the first vacant room. It was nice enough, and she figured that that would do. "This one's good," she said, dropping her duffel onto the mattress.

---

"Parker," Sebastian repeated, wanting to commit her name to memory. "It's nice to meet you too, Parker." The words came out slow despite himself. He smiled at her, trying not to be obvious about wanting to flirt with her. He had no idea who she was or what year she was or if she even liked guys. As cute as she was, he wasn't going to overstep anything and be a dick to her. "So are you a freshman this year?" He asked, glancing down to his laptop. He brought up a blank word document, looking back to her as he blindly reached into his backpack for a book. He looked down, making sure that it was the right one before he looked back to her. "This is my second year here."

"Mine's next door," Chris said once he'd made it up the stairs with the box. He put it down on top of the desk in the room, turning to look at Emma. "The bathroom is right across the hall from my room, then the other bedroom is beside the bathroom. "Laundry room is on the other side of your bedroom. There's another bathroom beside the kitchen, then the living room is on the other side of the kitchen, and the bedroom downstairs is beside the living room. There's a tv in the living room but there isn't a microwave in the fridge." Chris scrunched up his face, thinking through the rest of the house. "I think that's it. How much more stuff do you have in the car?" He probably sounded like an insane motormouth, but he was just a friendly, talkative guy.

---

'Well, looks like you're not going to get any more reading done, you got yourself a talkative guest.' Parker thought to herself. "Well technically, but it's my second year. I was here last semester, but that's when I started. So really, I'm still taking first year classes, but it's my second school year being here." She'd taken a little bit of time off between highschool and college and worked part time at a home decoration store, but decided she didn't want to wait an entire year before going back to school. "I'm an inbetweener."

Emma nodded her head, turning to look at him. She watched him as he talked, her eyes widening slightly. She was polite, but wasn't necessarily that talkative. Then again, no one was talkative when compared to him, it seemed. "You uh, you have this place mapped out already, don't you?" She let out a low laugh, glancing over to her desk as she thought over what she had in her car. "Two more small boxes and a bag. That should be it, though. I uh, I think I can grab it, though, if you don't want to," she said. The last thing that she wanted to do was act like she expected him to help her out. Besides, they weren't really that big anyways.

---

Sebastian nodded as she spoke, surprised that she was in between years, so to speak. It was a little odd, but he knew a couple of people that did that as well. "That's pretty cool. Do you like it here so far?" He asked. He looked over to her book and frowned. "Shit, sorry. I should probably let you get back to reading whatever it was that you were reading," he said, a sheepish look on his face. He really didn't mean to bother her, he just liked talking to people. He especially liked talking to people when it mean that he could procrastinate on his home work.

"It's not too hard to map it out," Chris said truthfully. "It's not that big. And no, I can help. I don't mind. Might as well put my muscles to good use, right?" He gave her a smile and headed back out of her room and down the stairs. He walked back out to her car, waiting there with his hands in his pockets. He didn't want to dig through her car to find the bags she meant, he knew it would be more polite if he waited for her. He couldn't see any more in the cab of the car, either. He didn't want a car alarm to go off if he tried to open the trunk and grab her bags. That would kind of set back his plan on him trying to be a nice guy, if he set off her car alarm on her.

---

Parker shook her head, giving Sebastian a reassuring smile. "No, don't worry about it. I'm... It's not that important." That was a flat out lie. It was an important chapter that she had to get read. But if a cute guy was showing interest in talking to her, Parker decided that was a wee bit more important than the important chapter. She knew she'd regret it later, but at the moment, she had someone to talk to and he was damn good looking. She'd just have to read in another class or something. "I do like it here. People are always giving out free stuff. What's not to like?" The dorms. That was the answer to her rhetorical question. The dorms were garbage and everyone in them was drunk more than they were sober. It drove her up the wall, but she wasn't going to start going off on the university in front of a cute guy she just met.

Emma nodded her head, trying to fight the blush that she was sure moving up her cheeks when he mentioned his muscles. He was just being nice. He was in no way referring to how he might've noticed Emma checking him out. Not that she was, of course. At least, not on purpose. Although to be fair it would be impossible to not notice his good looking muscles. She ran her fingers through her hair, letting out a loud sigh as she headed out of her room and down the stairs. She pressed the button on the key ring to pop the trunk, shooting him a quick grin as she rounded the car. "I can get the bag and this box if you wanted to grab the last one," she suggested, slinging the bag over her shoulder as she reached for the box.

---

"Are you sure?" Sebastian asked, frowning a little at her. It had seemed like a book for school, and he knew how much of a pain in the ass it was to try to get caught up on everything. He let out a laugh when she mentioned the free stuff, giving a nod of agreement. "The dorms?" He suggested, smirking faintly. "I love this school, but the dorms make me want to shoot myself in the foot to get out of them," he grinned. "My roommate's awesome, but I know we're going to get busted for his weed. I just know it. The dorm's not even properly ventilated, and we're fucked."

"I got it, I got it," Chris said, giving her hand a gentle push out of the way. He picked up the box she'd been going for, shifted a bit, then grabbed the second one. "You'll have to get the trunk, though. I got no hands left." He gave her a smile before heading up to the door, nearly walking right into the door frame for lack of being able to see past the boxes properly. He managed to get up the stairs and put her boxes down onto the floor at the foot of her new bed without breaking anything. He was actually surprised he made it the whole way. He'd dropped his first box all the way down the stairs and broken his dvd player only a few hours prior.

---

"Jesus Christ, I know," Parker said, probably sounding a little relieve at him mentioning the dorms. "My roommate and me smoked up the first night and I swear to god, it smells like we constantly have weed burning in the fucking place. It's awful. The dorms are god awful. I just didn't want to say it in case you were some weird advocate for how great they are to live in." She knew her brothers best friend growing up was in the dorms and that he loved them. He was a big party boy, thought having the constant flow of booze and drugs was amazing. Parker didn't think it was that impressive. It was nice to have, but not as much as everyone did it.

Emma rolled her eyes, opening her mouth to tell him that it was fine before she closed it. If he wanted to get it, who was she to stop him? She gave him a smile of her own as she turned to follow him back into the house, making sure to shut the trunk. She let out a quiet laugh as he almost hit the door frame, snickering into her hand. She trudged up the stairs behind him, dropping the bag onto the ground as she stepped into her room. "I'm pretty impressed. I was almost positive that you were going to run into something on the way here," she said lightly, laughing quietly.

---

Sebastian let out a laugh. "Holy shit, who would think that they're great? I mean, other than the litany of freshman that are getting drunk and high as we speak," he said, making a face at the thought. "I mean, I'm all for smoking one every once in awhile, but Jesus, the room smells like shit all the time. And the windows barely open, so we're practically suffocating. And someone threw up outside of my room last night, which meant we were stuck in there until someone could come clean it up. The dorms suck."

"I almost died walking up the stairs," Chris said with a goofy grin. He moved to stand in her door frame, crossing his arms over his chest. "So, do you want to unpack a bit or head to the grocery store? It's totally cool if you don't want to go, by the way. If I creep you out or you'd rather just stay away form my ugly mug, I won't take offence." He knew he could sometimes be a lot to handle, but he really always did just try his best to be friendly. "Don't feel pressured, is what I mean. I'm not like, forcing you to go."

---

"If I can get out of here, I will," Parker said honestly. "Next year I'm going to get an apartment or rent a student house or something. I don't really like my clothes smelling like weed and vodka twenty-four seven. But I guess some people enjoy that scent." She gave a little shrug and chuckled. Good looking, and hated the dorms. Good combo for a guy, she decided. "So what are you studying?" She asked, glancing at the book he had pulled from his bag a few minutes prior.

"Please, you barely tripped. You were fine," Emma said, laughing as she looked up at him. "I can go to the grocery store. I really don't feel like unpacking right now," she said, walking over to grab her small bag. She threw the strap over her shoulder as she glanced over to him. "It's fine, really. You don't creep me out. And I'd much rather go to the store than be stuck here unpacking and waiting for whoever else is supposed to show up," she said, smiling up at him. "Although they will be kind of screwed if they don't have a key to get in."

---

Sebastian nodded in his head in agreement. "I'm right there with you," he said, letting out a quiet laugh. "I don't even understand how people can like that smell. I mean, it's alright on the weekends and you're at a party or something, but all the time is just bad," he said, his nose scrunching up in distaste. "Right now? World Economics. But I'm double majoring in Business and Psychology. What about you?" He asked, glancing over to see the title of the book she'd been reading.

"I hope they don't show up, then," Chris said, straightening out. He turned again and headed downstairs. He jogged into the kitchen and grabbed a key off the table. He headed to the front door and waited for Emma to join him there. "Here you go, ma'am," he said, bowing a little and holding out the key for her. "So you no longer need me to get into the house." Once she'd taken the key, Chris walked outside and headed to his pickup truck. "D'you mind if we take my car? It's clean, I promise."

---

"History and English for me," Parker said, holding up her book. "This is for British Colonialism. Not very exciting, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right?" She was really excited about her World War I and World War II classes, but they weren't for another semester. For now she was stuck in the crap she didn't really care about, but she needed for her degrees. "I shouldn't really complain though. It's better than the Great Depression."

Emma made sure that she had her cell phone with her before she headed down the stairs, smiling a little when she noticed him waiting for her. "Thanks," she said, her smile turning into a grin as he bowed. She slipped the key into her bag, figuring that she'd put it with onto the key ring later. "It's fine. I really don't feel like driving anymore today anyway," she said, following him towards his truck. "So have you been here for awhile?" She asked, pausing as she waited to see if it was unlocked.

---

"Hey, that's more exciting than what you think," Sebastian said, grinning at her. "The Revolutionary War is one of the craziest things that's happened. In all reality, we shouldn't even be here. The crap that went down during that war is insane. And the Great Depression is kind of interesting too. I mean, at least the whole Prohibition deal and people making their illegal moonshine. That's kind of interesting when you think about it," he said, smiling sheepishly when he realized that he'd been practically rambling.

"A couple hours, max," Chris said, unlocking his truck and climbing in. He grabbed a binder off her seat and threw it into the back so she wouldn't have to deal with his shit on her own. "I've been staying at my parents house. It's like an hour away so I gotta wake up early to get here, but it was only for a week so I didn't mind. What about you? Also, this might sound creepy, but how old are you? Because you look like you could be around my age, I'm twenty four by the way, but you also look like you could be like seventeen and just look like you're in your twenties because a lot of girls theses days do."

---

"Wow, you're a nerd," Parker said with a smirk, raising her eyebrows at Sebastian. She was, of course, only teasing. She could go on and on about every singe detail of the World Wars, she wasn't about to judge him for knowing stuff about Prohibition and the Revolutionary War. "I'm kidding," she clarified, realizing after a few seconds pause she didn't really know him and he might not know she was just teasing. "You're not a nerd. Well, you might be, but I'm not gonna jump to that conclusion when we've just met. I'll wait a little bit for that."

Emma nodded her head, climbing up into his truck. She settled back into the seat, glancing around the interior before her eyes settled on him. He talked a lot. She kind of liked it. "I crashed between my friend's dorm and my car. It's been a really long week," she said, making a face. It hadn't been that fun, and it was more of a hassle than anything else. "I'm twenty-one. I'm just starting my third year here," she said, offering him a quick grin. "But do you really think a seventeen year old would be allowed to live off campus? That's really young."

---

Sebastian let out a playful gasp, his eyes widening as he grinned at her. "Excuse you, you're not allowed to call me a nerd until you see me quote Star Wars verbatim. Then you call me a nerd," he said, smirking at her. "Besides, I was pretty sure that was me trying to impress the history buff. I could do much better given the chance, though. Trust me on that." He smirked at her, not quite sure where he was going with this. Much better meant that he new like, two other things about the Revolutionary War, and those were off of Wikipedia, which meant that they probably weren't true.

"Last year I lived in an place with two seventeen year olds and a thirty two year old lady," Chris said, nodding. "It was a weird time." It was last minute room availability. He was pretty sure the seventeen year olds were getting it on ever night and that the thirty two year old was terrified of it. It was a situation he was glad he was out of. At least Emma was his age, better than a six and nine year age gap either way. Chris started the car and backed out of the drive way. "Are you like one of those all natural people? Do you want to go to a specific grocery store or is Metro okay with you?"

---

"Oh could you now?" Parker said, raising her eyebrows. "Well, if you're looking to prove you're a giant nerd, I know the film club or something is screening Lord of the Rings in the auditorium tomorrow night. "Or if you're looking to impress the history buff, there's a museum like twenty minutes off campus you could take me to." Parker's smile faltered slightly with how forward she was being. She swallowed hard, looking down at her book. "I mean, if you want."