I'm Scared

I made my way down the crowded, cream-colored hallway, apologizing as I pushed past a few people. I let out a grunt as I hauled my suitcase behind me, attempting to pull my heavy duffel bag farther up on my shoulder as I reached my dorm room, but instead dropping it to the floor in front of the plain white door. I pulled out the key the headmaster had given to me and shoved it in the lock. It clicked and I turned the handle, pushing it open. I took in the room.

It had light pink walls - it was a girls' dorm - and there were two beds, one on the left side and one on the right. At the foot of the bed on the left was the bathroom, and to the right of the door was a desk. The carpet was soft, and a decent light cream color.

I tried to gain back some energy from the 5 hour drive so that I could lift my bags. I sighed and turned to grab them, yanking my suitcase in enough that I could close the door and throw the duffel bag on the bed.

I sat down on the empty mattress and looked around at the bare walls. This was my new life. The next year would be spent in this place.

I heard a key in the lock and looked at the door. When the figure appeared, a grin spread across my face and I jumped up, nearly attacking my best friend.

"Hi!"

Leslie giggled and dropped her suitcase, giving me a one-armed hug. "Hey, roomie!"

Leslie and I had grown up in *place* together, and we had become inseparable. When we found out we could both go to North Dakota for university, it was a dream come true. Leslie's dad had done some business with the man who ran North Dakota, and so he had managed to room Leslie and I together. We were thrilled.

"I see you claimed that bed," she teased.

I laughed. "It's yours if you want it."

"No, a bed's a bed." I nodded in agreement. We both plopped down onto the mattresses and Leslie grinned at me. "Did you just get here?"

I giggled. "Yep."

Leslie shook her head. "We are so weird," she declared. I nodded.

People back home always made fun of us for showing up places and doing things at the same time. We were labeled 'the Twins' for these reasons, but we couldn't be any different.

I had long, dark brown hair that grazed the middle of my back, and wore glasses. Leslie had shoulder-length blond hair, and had perfect vision. I always got my school work done before anything else. Leslie did everything else before focusing on school work. We were both good students, I guess, just with different strategies. Leslie was a bit boy-crazy, and I was more shy when it came to my love interests. She was loud and outgoing, and I was more reserved.

I guess that's why we fit together perfectly. Opposites attract. And I could honestly say that she was like my sister. I couldn't imagine life without her.

The only thing I hated was that people would see me as 'the quiet girl' compared to her, but if you asked her opinion, she would know that I am anything but quiet. Sure, I'm not the kind who speaks up all the time or has loud opinions, but once you get to know me, I'm as outgoing and fun as the next person.

"So, where are the 'rents?" Leslie asked, stretching out on the mattress. I did the same.

"They stopped to talk to someone. They're probably talking to your parents right now," I laughed.

Leslie giggled. "Probably."

We both sat up as we heard a knock on the door. Leslie jumped up to get it. She pulled the door open and, as expected, in walked both sets of parents. I looked at my friend and burst into laughter. She joined me, and our parents all raised eyebrows at us.

"Inside joke?" my dad questioned.

We nodded and continued to let out a series of giggles, before calming down.

"Okay, and that's our cue to leave," Leslie's dad spoke up. Leslie and I nodded, our mood instantly going down. After a tearful goodbye and lots of hugs, we watched our parents walk down the hall before turning back into our room and closing the door.

"So, what's the deal for tonight?" I asked, wiping my blurry eyes. I was going to miss my parents. Judging by the lone tear running down Leslie's cheek, she felt the same.

"We're going to unpack, and then we're headed down to check out the team of hot hockey boys trying out to make the team."

***

I would have rathered staying in the dorm room and continuing to make it feel like home, but when Leslie made her mind up about something, there was no going back. That's why I found myself walking down the path towards the hockey arena, my arms linked with Leslie's. She kept swiveling her head back and forth, enjoying the sight of university boys making their way to the arena alongside us. I kept my eyes focused ahead, laughing as Leslie smiled at a guy who passed by,

"You're so not subtle," I informed her.

"What?" she looked at me innocently.

I burst into laughter. "Oh, save it."

Leslie grinned and we made our way into the arena. We sat in the stands and watched the hockey tryouts. Leslie kept pointing to the ones she thought were cute, and I kept swatting her hand away, embarassed. She finally stopped pointing and resorted to leaning towards me and whispering the number of the player she deemed a possible target. I had to agree with her. These hockey boys were quite nice on the eyes.

After the practice, we chatted for a bit in the frigid arena air before exiting the arena. We had only taken a few steps when Leslie spotted three guys standing in a circle just outside the doors, and I didn't even have to guess what she was up to when her head perked up and she flashed the tallest one a smile.

"You guys hoping to make it?" she questioned. All three of them turned to face us, and I smiled at them politely.

The tall one nodded. "Yeah." His voice was deep, and I had to do a double take. I was not expecting that. He analyzed Leslie's face, before turning to me and doing the same. He seemed to think we were okay, and his lips turned up into a slight smile, although his eyes remained blank. "I'm Jonathan Toews. The short one is TJ and the other one is Zach."

"Leslie Davies," my friend smiled, holding out her hand. He shook it firmly, and turned to me.

"Emma-" I started.

"Emmaline," Leslie interrupted. I glared at her.

"Emma," I repeated. "Emma Ross," I finished. The boys looked between us, amused.

"Does she not like her full name or something?" the one named Zach spoke up.

I sighed, and Leslie rolled her eyes. "No, she doesn't. I think it's nice."

The one who I now knew as TJ took a step forward, extending his hand and giving me a dazzling smile. "Emmaline is a cool name."

I shook his hand, meeting his blue eyes and sighing. "Thanks."

"I'm TJ. TJ Oshie," he offered.

I smirked. "Yeah, your friend here just told us that."

He nodded, crossing his arms, and scrutinizing my face. I started to feel uncomfortable under his gaze, and turned to Leslie.

"It was nice to meet you guys, but we should head back to our dorm," I said, looking at Leslie pointedly. She met my eyes and knew I didn't want to stay here. She nodded.

"It was nice to meet you boys," she flashed a smile. "Hopefully we'll see you around?"

The three boys nodded. "Yeah, see you around," Jonathan spoke up for the other two. Leslie waved as we walked away and towards our dorm.

I listened to Leslie gush about how amazing it was that we had met three cute boys on our first day of university. I nodded and added the 'yeahs' and 'mhms' at the appropriate times, but my mind was on the dark haired boy I had just met. I frowned. I didn't like the way he was looking at me.

We had reached our room now, and as Leslie inserted the key, she turned to me. "You're so not listening."

I pushed the door open, and made my way into the room. "I am. We just met cute boys. They're really, really cute, especially Jonathan," I repeated automatically. My friend grew silent, and I turned to her. She had her hands on her hips, and was frowning at me. I raised an eyebrow.

"Why aren't you excited about cute boys?" She threw her hands up in the air as if this was some crazy mystery that she needed to solve because it would alter her life. Or at least alter her view on me as her best friend.

I sighed and pulled my hair out of the ponytail it was in, running my hands through it before putting it up again. "I don't know, Leslie. They seemed just like typical guys. You know, let's meet hot girls and screw them before screwing them over. I'm just not into those types."

Leslie sighed. "You don't know them."

"What I do know is that I didn't appreciate the way that TJ guy was looking at me."

"He thought you were hot!" Leslie cried, exasperated.

I frowned. "Exactly."

Leslie shook her head and fell back on her bed. It was silent for a moment as I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the wall. She let out a heavy sigh, and I knew she would speak again. "You're probably right about these guys. You always are," she laughed lightly, and a smile spread across my face. I picked up my pillow and threw it at her. She caught it and sat up, laughing.

"You seem to take a liking to jerks," I shrugged. "It's my job as bestest friend in the world to look out for you."

Leslie sighed. "I know I do. Thanks, bestie." We grinned at one another and we both lay down on our beds, staring at the ceiling in silence until Leslie spoke up.

"Welcome to the University of North Dakota, Twinnie."