Call of The Syren

Chapter 4—New Roommates

Taking a deep breath, Nadia turned the knob, pushing the door open. She stepped inside to find a cozy, spacious living room with a huge, cracking fireplace in the center. A few overstuffed chairs surrounded the fireplace, with a worn bookshelf overflowing with antique looking books on the opposite wall. Next to the door was a set of hooks, which were empty except for a black jacket hanging on one end. Nadia assumed that meant only one of her roommates had arrived so far.

Instantly curious, Nadia started examining the room for clues on who her mysterious roommate could be. Most of the furniture seemed to come with the room—it was all antique, and clearly had been around since the castle itself was built. The only modern thing in the room was the slim TV Nadia had just noticed, mounted across from the huge overstuffed couch. The living room led into a short corridor, with four doors branching off it. Nadia peered through one of the open doorways, noticing a simple, mostly empty bedroom consisting of a desk, dresser, and wardrobe sitting across from an unmade bed.

Glancing across the hall, Nadia saw an identical room to the one she’d just been examining. A third bedroom stood just down the hall, and the last room had its door shut.

“This must be my roommate who’s already here,” Nadia thought to herself. “Should I go and introduce myself? Or wait for her to come out?” She didn’t want to make a bad first impression, especially if her roommate was changing or something.

Her hand hovered awkwardly above the door, about to knock, when a voice startled her so badly she let out a yelp.

“Nadia, should I-“ Alastair started, clearly trying to help, only to immediately start apologizing when he realized he’d scared her.

“My apologizes! I was simply-“ he started, but before he could finish, Nadia had already started saying,

“Oh, you just startled me! No it’s fine I-“

As they talked over one another, each trying to smooth things over, the door suddenly flew open, startling them both this time.

“Eek!” Nadia shrieked, jerking backward and smacking the back of her head into Alastair’s forehead. They both let out a groan of pain as their skulls collided, and Nadia staggered a step before sinking to the floor, rubbing her head.

Alastair was rubbing his face, clearly in pain, but trying to be more gracious than she was.

“Oops, sorry! Didn’t hear you guys out here!” Chirped a sweet, high-pitched voice. Nadia looked up to see her new roommate looking down at her.

A slender, short girl who looked barely out of high school stood above her. She had blonde hair in a short bob, and sparkling blue eyes that twinkled with joy. She was standing nearly on tiptoe, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet like she was about to leap into the air.

“I’m Gigi! Nice to meet you!” The girl exclaimed, sticking out her hand—Nadia wasn’t sure if it was to shake, or to help her up. Still, she took the girl’s hand, surprised by the way she easily pulled Nadia to her feet, bouncing even more as she spoke.

“I’m so excited you’re here! I was the first one, so I’ve just been waiting for everyone else. You’re new too, right? You look my age, at least. I know I look young, but that’s just part of being Fae, you know!” She gushed, her words moving at a mile a minute. “What’s your name, roomie?” Gigi finally asked.

“Nadia,” Nadia was able to sputter out, before Gigi continued,

“It’s so nice to meet you! I can’t wait until we become friends, I always wanted sisters! Just brothers, that’s all I have—I love them, of course, but what I really wanted was a sister! And now we all get to spend the whole summer together, like a sleepover every night!” Gigi continued, babbling like a brook after a rainstorm.

As she rambled on, Nadia peered behind her into her bedroom, catching a glimpse of all kinds of flowers, mushrooms, and herbs lining Gigi’s window. On the bed was a huge pile of cozy blankets and pillows, clearly where Gigi had been sitting a moment before she flung open the door. One wall had a huge poster on it that looked like Gigi doing some sort of modeling shoot.

“Oh! Have you brought in your stuff yet? I can help! I brought all my stuff up myself, well my brothers helped, but they left now, you know…” Gigi continued rambling and Nadia smiled. Despite the fact she’d been barely able to get a word in, she liked Gigi—a lot. If fact, she kind of reminded Nadia of Carly. At that thought, Nadia suddenly became sad again. She wouldn’t see Carly for months, at least, and for the first time, Nadia had a secret that she couldn’t tell. How would she explain to Carly that she hadn’t just ghosted her? That she was secretly a magical creature and had left to go to a supernatural boarding school?

Nadia was interrupted from her thoughts by a “C’mon!” From Gigi, who she followed along with Alastair down the stairs to the truck. Nadia had packed a few suitcases, a bin with her bedding, and the “vision board” collage she and Carly had spent their senior year making, filled with visions of the perfect college experience—people playing frisbee on a quad, students in lecture, girls out partying, and of course, the ridiculously good looking boyfriends they would have.

Between the three of them, they easily scooped up all of Nadia’s things, and started trudging up the stairs. Well, except Gigi, who was still bouncing. When they reached their dorm, Gigi begged Nadia to pick the room next door to hers.

“Go right here, please! Then we can make a secret code and communicate through the walls!” Gigi squealed, and Nadia allowed herself to be dragged along into the giggling whirlwind of unpacking that Gigi had started.

After only half an hour, all of Nadia’s stuff was put away, her bed was made, and her suitcases were stashed under the bed. Alastair had stayed to help, assisting like a perfect gentlemen with moving all the heavy furniture to where Gigi pointed.

Now, all three of them had collapsed on the couch, exhausted from unpacking.

“That was fun!” Gigi giggled, unable to get tired, apparently. Alastair just nodded, eyes flicking to the door. A few seconds later, it flew open, and their third roommate strutted in, making Nadia’s jaw drop.