The Beginning

"When does your roommate get here?" Hannah asked. Her face was glistening with sweat from a long day of helping her daughter, Sage, set up her dorm. They had gone to most of the events, and now the day was coming to a close with nothing left to do but meet the roommate. Said roommate, however, was nowhere in sight.

"I'm not sure." Sage sat down on her bed.

"You don't even know?" Her dad countered, and Sage shrugged.

"I wish Kale could've come," she sighed. Although her and her twin brother fought a lot, he was still a source of comfort for her. Unfortunately, Sage was in Arizona and Kale was going to a university in Colorado that had started a week prior. This meant that she couldn't see him everyday like she used to. She couldn't imagine life without him, but she was going to have to.

"He's doing great, though." Her mom assured her. "He's adjusting so well!"

Sage pursed her lips and nodded, bored of the conversation now.

"Okay, well, we should head out so we can make it to the hotel by midnight." This was coming from her dad. He had done most of the heavy lifting and would likely be doing all of the driving.

Sage stood up at this cue. "I love you guys."

"Call me when you wake up tomorrow morning. I wanna hear what your roommate is like." her Mom said, engulfing her in a hug.

Her Dad took his turn next. "Yes, I hope she's nice." Sage knew that what he really meant was religious, but she refrained from rolling her eyes.

"Okay, bye guys." She waved, and they began to head out.

"I love you," her mom said one last time when she got to the door. Sage gave them a sweet smile and then they were gone.

She sat back down on the bed and called her brother. Unsurprisingly, he didn't answer. He was likely already besties with his roommate, and Sage guessed that they were out messing around. She settled on reading, but she couldn't seem to find which box she put her current book in. Too lazy to dig anything out, she collapsed on her bed with her laptop and binge watched Netflix.

A few hours later she heard a knock on the door, which she assumed was coming from her roommate. When she looked out the window she saw that it was dark now, but she opened the door with a pep in her step.

"Hey!" The girl greeted.She had glowing ebony skin and an even brighter smile. Her eyes were dark with intensity, but her demeanor was casual. Contrasting her features was a white basketball top. On it was the soft orange print 'Black Rivers High.' "Sage, right?"

"Yeah!" She stepped back as an invitation for the girl to come in and a woman followed her.

"I'm Wiley." she said, gesturing to herself. "This is my mom Tara."

"Hi." Sage gave Wiley's mom a small wave. "I'm gonna go check out the food options while you guys unpack."

The food options sucked. She had walked around the mall for 10 minutes looking for anything interesting to be open before finally settling on what seemed to be her only option, Pizza Hut. It always made her stomach hurt, and yet she was sat down at a booth twenty minutes later with a personal pan, phone in her hand. Her app of choice was always Instagram, although she only followed one hundred and something people so her feed didn't have more than a handful of pictures. One that popped up tonight was of her brother, and he seemed to be laughing with some girl. This surprised her. He wasn't a loser in highschool, but he didn't find girlfriends in a week, either. Should she be finding a boyfriend? She frowned at the thought. It was unlikely that she would.

Sage was kind of plain, with traditional morals. She didn't like cursing, she didn't like most pop music, and above all, she believed in chivalry. And not the kind that involved making out after a week of knowing each other. She didn't catch much attention because of this, as no one really wanted to put up with her boundaries.

So when she opened her locker and came across a love poem her 7th grade year she was ecstatic. She neatly placed it in the pad section of her backpack and immediately moved it under her bed for safekeeping when she got home.

You are summer.

Swirling wind and bright sunshine,

laughing daisies and playful grass,

that is all you.

It said, and Sage whispered the lines to herself every night before bed, visions of her crush reciting them to her replaying.

It had to have been him who dropped the note off for her to see, she had decided a few days after receiving it. The day before he had waved to her in the hallway, something you only do to people you like a lot. The week prior to that he had picked up her pencil that dropped on the floor, too, his tan fingers touching hers when he handed it back. They didn't talk a lot in the one class they had together, but she had started to believe that maybe he could like her.

One day when she was at school she got an idea. She had decided that enough was enough. She thought it was silly for them to dance around their feelings for each other, and that someone needed to make a first move.

She practically bolted out of her mom's car and up the stairs that evening. On the floor of her room she laid the back of her old poster for a previous project down, and she got to work with marker and glue. She thought about how good it felt for someone to like her, and how happy she was about to be now that she could finally have a boyfriend. Not just any boyfriend, either, but one that was the type to ignore her. A popular one.

"It was from me." Kale said. Sage jumped a bit but then settled. She hadn't even heard him open the door.

"What was?" She was already lost in her thoughts again, hand coloring automatically.

"The poem," he continued, and Sage froze. She thought that she had hid it well.

"Have you been in my room?" she complained, her nostrils flaring as she did so. Last time he had meddled around in there he found her diary and read it to all of his friends.

"No." When she looked up she saw that he had a far away look, and for a second she thought that he might be sleep walking. He locked eyes with her and Sage could only see truth in them.

"Kale, why would you do that?" That poem had given her so much hope. He might've been used to being accepted, but she wasn't. Because of that poem, for a month she had thought that she was normal. She thought that guys could like her. It was a feeling that she had never had before, and yet without it now she felt like nothing.

"Saw it on the internet. I thought it would be funny to prank you with." He shrugged and Sage stood up, ready to shut the door on his face.

Kale frowned, though, a confused expression emerging. "You shouldn't ask him to be your boyfriend tonight."

Tonight he had his final basketball game of the year, and so Sage thought the celebratory energy would go well with her proposal.

Sage doubted that she shouldn't present it that night. Even if her crush hadn't written the poem, she couldn't deny the chemistry. Kale's foggy look cleared and he crossed his arms.

"Trust me, he doesn't want you."

Coming back to her setting at the restaurant, Sage closed her pizza box.. She packed up her napkins and food and walked back to the dorms, the cool wind carrying her hair. It was pitch black and empty, but Sage didn't mind. She liked the solitude the setting was giving her, and the crisp air comforted her. She figured taking an extra amount of time to get back to the dorm couldn't hurt, as Wiley was likely still unpacking her stuff.

When Sage got back she discovered that her roommate was indeed still unpacking her things, but also that Tara had been replaced with a boy. His back was turned to her, but Sage saw that he had long dirty blonde hair. He was tall, too, and was helping Wiley put LED lights up in the crevices of the ceiling.

"Oh, Sage!" She said after realizing the girl had returned. "This is my friend Luke."

Luke turned around and smiled at her, and he was gorgeous when he did it.

"Hi." She waved and Luke laughed and went back to the decor.

"I hope you don't mind that I brought my lights." Wiley said, and with Luke in the room she definitely didn't. She would hate to seem like a party pooper, anyways. She put her food in the mini fridge she had brought and sat down on the bed.

"How did you make friends already?" Sage wondered.

Luke plugged the lights in. "She's just that charismatic."

"We went to highschool together." Wiley laughed. "He promised to help me with some of the decorations because of how short I am." It was true that Wiley was shorter than the both of them, but Sage didn't think that she was that short.

"We're probably gonna go smoke now, wanna come?" Luke dug a joint out of his pocket and put it behind his ear like a pencil.

"No thanks." Sage wrapped her arms around her stomach. She had gone to school with a lot of stoners, but smoking weed had never interested her. She preferred to be fully present and able to sort through her thoughts and urges. Besides, who knows what her mother would do if she found out.

"Don't you smoke?" Luke countered.

"Nope," she replied, and Wiley smiled. Sage began to regret her answer. "I'm boring."

"That's kind of cute." Luke said thoughtfully, and they walked out of the dorm.

Thats cute? Sage's heart gushed with excitement. Was he hitting on her? If so, maybe she could have hope for an active dating life after all. Maybe someone in college could find her alluring. Maybe she could finally allow herself to have a crush. Maybe, just maybe, she wasn't a loser.

She knew that her friends from back home were going to freak when they found out this information. She opened up her snapchat ready to spill all of the juicy details when a realization struck her; she didn't have any proof. What person that knew her would believe that a hot dude had hit on her?

She opened up her instagram and set on some detective work. If she could take a screenshot of Luke's profile, she could have evidence to back up her claims that she knew of hot dudes. She didn't have any information that would allow her to find his page, but she did have Wiley's last name. The anxious freshman typed in Wiley Tyler and several profiles came up. It took some scrolling, but finally she came across her roommate's. The profile picture was of Wiley and a girl standing in front of a dock. Wiley's tight curls were tied up in a pineapple by a scarf, and her expression was cheerful. She had 2,182 followers, and Sage could see why. Her account was private, though, causing Sage to sigh in defeat. That was her only hope of finding the boy's page so she could stalk it. Not feeling overly upset, she plugged in her phone and opened up one of her boxes, figuring that she should use the free time to put up decorations.

Her roommate came back twenty minutes later. Sage was expecting stereotypical blood red eyes, but hers seemed glazed at most. Instead of having a goofy smile, Wiley's expression was neutral. Sage realized that she was staring and turned back to her decorations as Wiley sat down on the bed and turned on her phone.

"Sorry about my friend," she laughed.

Sage shrugged and sat down on her own bed.

"He seems flirty."

"Don't worry about him."

Ouch. Sage was a little hurt by this, but she grinned and raised her eyebrows in mock shock. "Are you sure?" She asked, gesturing to herself. "I mean, look at me."

Wiley laughed at this, but after a moment silence fell between them as she leaned against the wall.

"Alright, well, I'm getting ready for bed," Sage said.

WIley opened up her phone again, already far away. "Okay."

Sage grabbed her toothpaste and toothbrush and headed to the bathrooms, signifying the closure of the day.

The weekend sped by for Sage. She got there on a Friday, and by Saturday afternoon she was done setting up. They left their door open, and so by Sunday several girls had introduced themselves to Sage and Wiley. Some of them were like Sage, but more of them were like Wiley. She figured that she better step her game up. She wasn't about to start her adult life off as a loser.

It was weird not having to get up at 6 a.m for school to Sage, but it was also a good kind of weird. She woke up well rested at 9 a.m on Monday, and she was completely ready for her 10 o'clock class half an hour later, minus a breakfast. Neither her or Wiley had gone grocery shopping though, and so she figured that she would just have to skip it.

Sage biked to her class, enjoying the lack of rain she didn't always get in Washington. She was starting to get damp with sweat, but she thought that riding her bike was worth it, considering that she didn't have to get up extra early to catch the bus or pay for an uber.

She got there ten minutes before class, but the room was already half filled. She took a seat towards the back and gaped at how big the lecture hall was. How would the professor ever even learn her name? How would he ever even hear her from the front of the room if she had a question?

"Big classroom." A girl said as she sat down a seat away from her.

"Right? He'll never memorize all of our names." Sage replied.

"Right?" The girl grabbed her red hair and started to put it in a ponytail. "I'm so nervous for this class."

"Don't be." Sage reached into her backpack to get her materials out. "I heard our longest essay is 3 pages."

"Uuughh." The girl groaned dramatically and slouched in her seat, causing Sage to laugh.

"Do you live in the Whipple dorms?"

The girl shook her head. "I live in Satch."

On the conversation went until the professor walked in, and the room quieted down. Everyone looked to the front, but even after the professor set his stuff up he just sat at his computer, typing away casually. Finally, when it reached the exact hour he walked to the front and started to speak.

"Hello class," he said. "I'm going to start by walking you through the syllabus, which I'll hand out soon. Be sure to be paying attention as there will be a quiz on Wednesday." Sage knew that this was going to be a long class. At least he was cute.

Her next class was public speaking, one that she wasn't too excited for. On the plus side, the room was about half the size of her english one, with circle tables instead of auditorium style rows. She began her automatic routine of pulling out her stuff when she saw a familiar blonde head. It was Luke, and he was walking in with a guy at his side. She lowered her head as he let out a laugh in hopes that he wouldn't notice her looking at him. He must've seen her, though, because a few moments later he was sitting next to her.

"Hello there," he smiled, grabbing his stuff out as well. The boy next to him nodded at her.

"Hello hello." she replied. It was playful banter, but she shifted uncomfortably from how nervous she was. She could not mess this up. Not only did she know a hot dude who would likely be visiting her dorm room again soon, but he had chosen to sit by her in front of his friend. This was a big deal.

"Hey, isn't your roommate Wiley?" The guy next to Luke asked.

Sage shrugged. "Yeah, why?"

"Yooo," he said, putting a fist to his mouth. "She's hot as fuck."

Sage smiled and rolled her eyes. What a nice introduction. Luke laughed and shook him, and the boy ruffled Luke's hair.

Just then the professor walked in, thankfully saving her from Luke's potential input. Sage thought that she probably would've turned fifty shades of red.

That was the only other time someone that was not her roommate talked to her, and so the rest of the day was boring. Apparently there was a party that night, but Sage shyly dodged WIley's invitation. "Suit yourself." she had shrugged, turning to her drawer to dig out an outfit. After a few changes, she finally settled on a matte black bralette, a glittery and see through black top, and high waisted black jeans that accented her curves. Her hair was in a high pony, and so her side profile was on show as she looked in the mirror. Sage noticed how accented her cheekbones were for the first time.

"How do I look?" she asked, twirling around playfully. Sage remembered the boy's comment from earlier.

"So good!" she clapped. "You should take pictures."

"You could be taking them for me if you come," she prodded. Sage shook her head. She could already hear her dad's voice in her head telling her how disappointed he was that she even considered it.

Wiley shrugged again. "Okay then, guess there's no convincing you." She wrapped Sage in a hug and then headed out the door. "Bye!" she shouted, and even after she left the smell of her strawberry perfume lingered.

This same routine continued on for the rest of the week. Sage would spend all morning excited to see Luke in class, they would laugh together before Public Speaking, and then Wiley would try to get her to go do something social with her in the evening. It was definitely a routine she could get used to, but she still missed her parents in the midst of the independence.

Kale called Sage via facetime on a Friday afternoon. He had texted her throughout the week, but he was always apparently too busy to hop on the phone. Because of this, Sage answered the phone excitedly. Talking to her parents was nice, but she couldn't tell them what was really going on.

"Hey," he greeted. He seemed to be in his dorm room. He was sitting against the white wall, and in the upper hand corner of the screen was a picture Sage hadn't even seen him set up when she went with him on move-in day. It was him and a group of guys. It was probably taken at college, as she didn't recognize anyone in the picture.

"Long time no see."

Wiley entered the room. Her first class started an hour earlier than Sage's, but she often went out with friends for lunch and returned around this time. She sat down next to Sage and squinted at the screen.

"Who's this?" she asked, making eyebrows and elbowing Sage. She almost gagged in response.

"My brother?"

Wiley stood up, looking an equal mix of horrified and embarrassed.

"Convince her to come to this party tonight, brother." she said before returning to her side of the room. Sage was just about to tell her that Kale wasn't like that when he spoke.

"You should go." Kale bit into an apple Sage wasn't even aware he had in his hand.

"I should?" Sage was shocked. Kale was usually the model brother. She was not sure when this had changed about him. The worst thing he would do is sneak out in highschool, but he would just hangout with his friends from bible camp. He would encourage her to come along sometimes, but she always declined. If caught, she wouldn't get let off the hook as easily as Kale would.

"Yeah, didn't you say you wanted to loosen up a bit this year?"

Sage blushed. She couldn't believe he had said that when Wiley was right in the room. She didn't want her to think that she was boring, although she had probably already started to get that impression. It was true, though, that she wanted to loosen up, and she wasn't going to do that by staying in the dorm room. "Whatever, I'll go."

Wiley jumped and then came over and put her hands on Sage's shoulder. "You're gonna have so much fun Sage, promise."

"Peer pressure her a bit, okay? And make sure she stays away from whatever boy is gonna be chasing her this weekend."

Wiley laughed and Sage rolled her eyes.

There was laughter and a crash in Kale's background. "Gotta go," he said, and before they could respond he hung up.

Sage didn't even have time to wonder what was going on before Wiley spoke. "Oh my god, what are you gonna wear?"

"This I guess." she didn't even feel like going to this party, so she definitely didn't care for spending time on her outfit. Wiley continued to harass her about how a flowery t-shirt and jeans weren't gonna cut it for her first party, though, and so she finally settled on one of Wiley's graphic t-shirts and a different pair of jeans. Under her top she wore a white long sleeve. Wiley tried to push her to finish the look with a beanie, but Sage already felt edgy enough.

A couple hours later after Wiley had showered, done her makeup, and changed 6 times they finally ordered an uber. Wiley chatted with the driver the whole way there, but Sage couldn't help but to sit silently and nervously in her seat. What could she expect? To get roofied? For a guy to whip his dick out? None of the ideas that came to her head sounded particularly pleasant. She just wanted to go home and reward herself with a nice book after a long first week. Nonetheless, ten minutes later she still found herself standing on the lawn of the party.

Wiley opened the door, and the overwhelming smell of watermelon vape juice hit Sage's face. She was suddenly glad that her brother hadn't been into vaping, as she didn't know if she would be able to handle the drafting artificial scent coming from his room all day. The first area they came across was the living room, and a group of boys played beer pong on the table. On the couch was a band of giggling girls with red solo cups in hand, and scattered around them were a few empty beer bottles. To the side was a dancing group.

"This party is a lot smaller than I thought it would be." Sage noted. The house was a medium sized one story, and Sage thought that there were maybe 30 people huddled in the living room.

"You wouldn't want me to take you to a total rager for your first party, would you?"

"I don't know, Wiley." Sage shook her head in a fake solemn. "I was at least expecting to see some cocaine."

Wiley started walking and Sage followed. "Bet you're real mad at me."

"Not mad, just disappointed." They both laughed at this as they passed a trio of girls scavenging the fridge. They finally came to the hot spot, a counter stocked with alcohol. Beer lined the left half, and on the right were bottles of dark liquids. In front of them was a halfway emptied two litre sodas, and in front of that was the red solo cups. Wiley took two.

"Just a coke for me." Sage said. She still wasn't into the idea of drinking. She heard that it was easier for forces that weren't aligned with God to reach you while under the influence. Wiley didn't seem to mind.

"One coke coming right up." Wiley grabbed a bottle, and Sage could see that it had a black Jack Daniels logo. She poured some in her cup, and then coke in both of theirs. "Want a sip?" She asked, and Sage shook her head.

"Come on, what happened to loosening up?" She pressed. Sage considered this. She did want to have more fun and be like everyone else, and she wasn't going to achieve this by staying in her comfort zone. She let Wiley guide the cup to her mouth to give her a sip and her throat stung in response. She pulled a face and pushed the cup away from her, causing Wiley to laugh.

"Are you more of a beer person?" Luke had ended up beside them at some point, and the sudden announcement of his presence startled Sage.

"She doesn't drink at all." Wiley interjected. Sage's face reddened at this.

Luke grinned cheekily at this. "I'm sure lots of people say that their freshman year." Sage frowned.

"Aren't you a freshman?" Someone shoved past the space behind her in pursuit of the drinks. She stepped to the side and crossed her arms, feeling small.

"Nope, sophomore." How was she supposed to get with a guy that was likely not interested in people her age? He probably wanted some brunette junior girl, she thought, who drank liquor and did acid. He probably wanted someone already settled into the flow of college and who wasn't young and naive. At the least, he probably wanted a cool and mature girl. These were things that she wasn't.

Another person approached them, eyeing Wiley up and down as they did so. Wiley didn't seem to notice. He was wearing a backwards hat and a white tank top with beat up airforce sneakers. To Sage he was the epitome of cringe. He was handsome, though, with dark and structureless features.

"Hey, I recognize you from my criminal justice class." he pointed his finger at Wiley as he said this.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, you're the chick with the story about the shooting."

Sage's eyes widened and darted to Wiley. She nodded at this, but she was now fidgeting with her cup. There were a few beats of silence before he spoke again.

"You dance?"

Wiley raised her eyebrows dramatically at Sage. "He wants to know if I dance," she smiled and then turned to the boy. "Of course," she said, and then they were off to the living room. Just like that. Sage couldn't believe that it was so easy.

She turned to Luke and pursed her lips.

"You should get out there and mingle!" he encouraged.

"I'm not good at that."

He laughed at this and finished off his drink. "Are you good at dancing?"

"I don't do that either."

"Wanna try?" he held out his hand and Sage's heart skipped a beat. A hot guy was asking her to dance. Middle school her would pass out. At the monthly events, she was often reduced to standing in the corner and talking to her single friends, hoping the whole time that someone would invite her to the floor.

Sage let Luke lead her to the living room, the stressors of college fading away with every single step. This is what she had studied for. Every tear shed over applications and scholarships felt worth it in that moment. She was definitely telling her highschool friends about this when she got back to the dorm. She could loosen up, she'd say. In fact, she had with a cute sophomore guy.

They stood to the side of the couch in the living room, crowded together with all of the other guests. Luke began to move to the beat of the music, but Sage couldn't keep up. Her feet could match pace, but the rest of her body felt stiff. Luke pulled her into him, and she could smell a piney scent under the alcohol. She wanted to put her head against his shoulder and enjoy it, but instead she leaned it back.

"This is fun!" she shouted over the music, and Luke's eyes twinkled at her in amusement. He moved his hands from her waist to her hips to guide them in tune, and the combined heat of their bodies began to feel suffocating. She felt like she was basically dry humping in public. She quickly started to pull away. "I'm gonna go get some fresh air."

"I'll come."

"No, stay here," she said, but when a confused look crossed his face she couldn't think of an excuse. Instead she left.

Sage looked at the night time sky through the sliding glass door, and when she opened it she savored the feeling of the cool air hitting her face. Sitting on the porch and looking at the stars, she was reminded of the times when she'd stargaze with her friends. They'd all meet up at the nearby park with their blankets and their jackets and witness the sky turn dark, which happened at like 5 p.m during the winter. Slowly people would get up and go home, but she was often the last one left. One night she had stayed out until 11 p.m without even realizing. She tiptoed into the house, but her mom had been awake and in the living room.

"You know nothing good happens after 8 p.m, right?" she had said. She checked Sage's breath and then sent her off to do the dishes with no dinner. This wasn't necesarilly the choice of Sage's mom, but instead because of the fact that Kale had eaten her portion, as per usual when she was out late. She was just thankful that her dad hadn't been awake.

Looking up at the moon, she finally sorted through her thoughts and decided to step back inside, the party seemingly twice as big as it was when she had stepped out. She just wanted to go home, and so she looked for Wiley to tell her. She checked every single room, but she was nowhere in sight. Finally, she resorted on calling her.

"Where are you?" Sage asked when she answered.

"With my hookup." Wiley slurred in response. She sounded very intoxicated, and Sage had to hold back a laugh.

"Okay, I'm heading back to the dorm."

"Don't." she said quickly. Sage raised an eyebrow despite the fact that Wiley couldn't see her.

"Well, I am."

"Well, I'm using it. To hook up." Before Sage could answer Wiley hung up the phone. She looked down at it in shock. She didn't know where else she was supposed to go for the night, but hanging out with her drunk roommate while she made out with a stranger didn't seem like a viable option. She told herself that she was never following Wiley to a party again as she began to look for Luke.