Chapter 1
Rosalie Winters had always been that mousy girl in high school, with bushy brown hair, the long skirts, blouses that covered everything, and soft spoken enough that no one ever heard her. She’d graduated two weeks ago, and was getting ready to go to college. Her parents were driving her up to the campus, and she was excited, but nervous at the same time. She’d never been away from her parents before. Part of her was nervous about having to depend on herself for the first time, but she was also determined to prove to everyone that she could do it. Ha! Everyone. That was a good one. All she had were her parents. Rosalie wasn’t the type of girl to have a lot of friends. Hopefully that would change in college. It was a place where people wanted to be, so that meant they had to study. It made her feel a little more like she would fit in.
“Ok, here we are!” The car pulled up in front of a dormitory, and Rosalie jerked herself out of her reverie. An old brick building loomed in front of them, and Rosalie instantly fell in love with it.
“Yeah, I guess we are.” She had her room assignment, so she led the way. It was on the third floor, and as far as she knew, there was no elevator. Luckily, she didn’t have much to take with her. Two suitcases, some bedding, and an extra trunk of her favorite books was really all she had with her. She had some money to get anything else she needed, but that was the furthest thing from her mind. She really just wanted to get behind her door, close it, then lose herself with setting up her room. She found the right door, opened it, and was happy to see that she was the first one there. That gave her room to breathe and settle in. Her mom put the package of bedding on the bed frame, then folded her arms over her chest, looking around appreciatively.
“It looks like a nice little place. You can make it cozy in no time.” Rosalie gave her mom a smile. It was a transition for her, and the way she’d always handled things was by being alone. So, even though it would hurt her later, she needed to get rid of her parents so she could break down on her own.
“Whew! That’s a heavy trunk!” Her dad had the case of books, and he put them at the foot of the bed. “Well, we won’t keep you. I know you want to get unpacked.” She hugged him gratefully. Then she disappeared under both her parents’ arms. Rosalie thought she was getting squeezed to death, but she reveled in the moment for the few seconds that it lasted. Her mom was already tearing up, and that meant Rosalie’s waterworks wouldn’t be that far behind. She swallowed hard, hitched a smile to her face, and watched as they walked out the door, waving. She closed the door behind them, then went over to the bed and sank down on it. It really was a nice looking dorm room. The living room area had a small kitchenette in it, and there was a comfortable chair that she could already see herself curling up in with a book. Her bedroom area was small, but that was fine. All she was going to do in it was study and sleep. She didn’t entertain any vivid daydreams about finding a boyfriend while she was here. She wanted to be pre-med, and that was going to take up all of her time anyway.
Maybe about an hour into her unpacking, the door opened. Rosalie tensed, looking over her shoulder. The girl who had just walked in with a couple of bags looked like she’d just come from a biker gang. Her nose and eyebrow were pierced, she was covered from head to toe in leather, and her combat boots looked like they could stomp anything in their path. Rosalie smiled at her and half raised a hand in a friendly wave. The girl didn’t even look her way, just went straight to the other room and slammed the door behind her. Rosalie’s heart sank. She’d been hoping for someone that she could make friends with as a roommate, but it struck her that she probably wasn’t going to get that with this girl. Sighing heavily, she went back to dusting off her books and putting them on the shelf that stood across the from the bed. About fifteen minutes later, the door opened again, and a male version of the girl came in. He looked at the open door, to Rosalie, dismissed her and headed straight for the other door. It was locked, apparently, and he started pounding on the door with his fist.
“Vanessa! Open this damn door right now! If I have to break it down, we’re going to have problems.” Vanessa screamed something else at him, through the door, which remained firmly locked, but Rosalie couldn’t make it out. She turned her attention back to her own room. She tried to drown out the conversation that was going on behind her, but it was hard. She jumped when the door opened again. Another guy in leather came in, saw the first man at the door and grabbed him by the arm. He said something that Rosalie couldn’t hear, and the two left. As they did, the newcomer sent a glance her way. Something happened in Rosalie. Her breath quickened, and her heart raced. Something in those bright blue eyes of his had kick started a part of her that she’d never knew existed. She blushed, turning away quickly to go back to her task. When the door closed, she looked behind her again to see an empty living room. Maybe this wasn’t the best place to be after all. That guy though…
A shiver ran down her spine as she thought about those piercing blue eyes. That was something that could distract her from her studies. Maybe she’d see him again. Rosalie shook her head to clear it. No. She didn’t need any distractions, and she wasn’t going to moon over some guy that she didn’t even know. As if to accentuate that point, she got up and closed the door to the living room with a definitive click. Looking around her, now she had a room. A real room to relax in. It was the Friday before term started, and she had the next two days with nothing to do. Part of her wanted to try to make friends with her roommate, but if Rosalie was honest with herself, it was only because she was hoping to see that guy again. So that idea was turned down right away. She was already familiar with the campus because she’d studied every inch of the map on the school’s website. She’d been ecstatic to be put into this particular dorm, because the college’s coffee shop was a short walk away. Since everything had been so close on the campus that she could possibly need, she’d sold her car to help with tuition. Her parents had offered to help her as much as they could, and she was eligible for student loans. That wouldn’t be completely detrimental, as she’d wanted to try to do it on her own. Hence selling the car.
Thinking about the coffee shop made her wonder if it would be a good way to waste the rest of the afternoon. Grabbing her purse and one of her books that she’d just painstakingly polished and re-homed on her shelf, she took the new key to her bedroom, locked the door behind her, and set off to the coffee shop. She dodged a football being thrown down the hallway as she went, then a girl in a towel running away from a guy in boxers, both of them laughing like hyenas. She blushed, trying to look anywhere but at that couple. She found the stairs and made her way down slowly. Checking each landing to make sure it didn’t have flying objects and streakers before she went down.
The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky when she got outside, and she was glad that she’d come. It was such a beautiful day, and such a wonderful school, that Rosalie really was content. The coffee shop had an outdoor patio, and she decided that she was going to get her coffee and sit outside. Gaining the darkness of the shop, she had to stop for a moment to let her eyes adjust. It was a quaint little spot, decorated with warm, chocolate brown walls and brightly colored paintings and pictures dotting the chocolate river. The front was like any coffee shop. The counter with the bakery items, the little tables for students who came to work on their laptops, and the fridge that held little non-coffee drinks. The back, however, was the reason she’d been so excited about this place. It had almost a living room feel to it. Plush couches and overstuffed armchairs for people to sit and read, or just to hang out and have a good time talking. It almost reminded her of the Common Room of Gryffindor in the Harry Potter series. Granted, she would never tell anyone that, because they would probably see her as a geek, but it warmed her heart to feel like she might be able to sink into one of her favorite fantasy worlds…if only for a little while. There was no line at the counter, and she moved towards it.
“Hello, welcome to The Gathering. What can I get for you today?” The perky blonde behind the counter looked like she just came from a photo shoot. She was tall and slender, with sparkling green eyes and a chiseled face. It made Rosalie blush a little because she was too beautiful to look at. She said a silent prayer that this wasn’t going to be like high school all over again. The beautiful people had ignored or tormented her, her entire academic life.
“Um, can I get a raspberry hot chocolate please?” The girl raised her eyebrow, looking at Rosalie like she was crazy. It was a hot summer day. Why would she want something hot? Shaking her head as if to say, “you’re the customer” she went to work making the drink. Rosalie exhaled as she paid and took her cup outside with her. There was a small table near the back of the patio that had only one chair with it. Perfect. She made a beeline for the table, opened her book to page one, and settled herself in for a wonderful afternoon. How much time passed, before she looked up, she had no idea. She was about ten chapters into her book, though, and her hot chocolate was almost gone, so it had to be a couple of hours at least. The angry voice from her room grated against her ears. Looking up, she saw the young man who had been pounding on her roommate’s door earlier. He was sitting a couple of tables away with the blue eyed god that she’d seen earlier and some other girl with similar taste in fashion that Vanessa had. This one’s hair was blue, though, so it wasn’t Vanessa. She wanted to get out of there, because she didn’t want them to recognize her, but the only way out of the courtyard was right past them, since it was ringed with hip high bushes that were too close together to slip between. She angled her book so she could hide behind it, completely unable to focus on her story now. She took a quick peek, and saw that the boy with the blue eyes was looking at her. Rosalie’s face grew beet red and she dove behind her book so quickly that she almost overbalanced in her chair. Luckily, she kept her balance at the last second.