Under The Stars

Chapter 3

**

I was still asleep when I heard a loud consistent knock at the door. I was still weary from the previous day and I struggled to get up and dragged myself to open the door.

“Good morning sleepy” Lisa, my roommate greeted as she rushed in.

“Good morning” I said in a raspy voice as I rubbed my eyes.

After I had walked in on her and the guy whose name Lisa had later told me was Jay, he left and Lisa stayed to make sure I settled in. She helped me unpack my stuff and arrange everything in my closet. 

After we were acquainted with each other, she took her bag and left saying she would be back in the morning.

I sat on my bed as I watched her struggle to brush her hair which seemed to be messy all the time.

“Do you need some help with that?” I asked unsure of whether she would appreciate my desire to help or she would see it as being intrusive.

“Yes please” she answered handing me brush, seemingly pleased I asked.

“Sorry I walked in on you yesterday, I should have knocked” I said hoping it would not make things awkward.

“It is okay, I should have locked the door” she said clearly not offended.

“Your boyfriend seemed to be very irked” I continued.

“Who? Jay? He is not my boyfriend” she said looking amused.

“Huh? But...” I stuttered. I mean I had walked in on them making out, so I had presumed they were a couple.

“Iam not really the dating type of person” she said making quotes in the air with her hands, like she had read my mind.

“I see” is all I managed to say, deciding not to push the conversation further.

After I had held her hair in a neat bun, Lisa left for class and I decided to follow cue and get ready.

I put on my black jeans and white T-shirt written “free hugs” at the back. I took the map and made a mental note to get familiarized with the school later during the day to avoid using the map each time.

I found my way to the hall where most of the freshmen were seated for the orientation ceremony and sat at the back. As I scanned through the hall, I could not help but feel like I was out of place.

Everyone was dressed in affluent looking and trendy clothes. And then there was me, with my ‘free hugs’ t-shirt. Only then did Kate’s voice ring in my head when she said I needed to make the right impression.

I was used to living in a small town, where everyone knew everyone. But now, I was in one of the largest universities in the state. This meant that there were different people from across the globe and each one of them seemed to know what to wear except me.

After was seemed like an eternity of speeches, the orientation was finally over.

People started parting for their classes and I decided to stay back and be the last one to leave.

After almost everyone had left, I stood up and walked slowly towards the exit. I was looking at my timetable to find out the venue for the class when I heard someone say, “Can I get one?”

I looked up and saw a tall guy with blonde hair, wearing oversized glasses and cardigan that made him look extremely intelligent.

“What?” I asked confused.

“Free hug” he said smiling, pointing at my t-shirt.

Wow!

I smiled back, as he stretched his hand to greet me “Hi, am Liam Johnson. And I think your T-shirt is cute”

“Thank you. And Iam Zia Brown” I said shaking his hand.

“If someone thinks my t-shirt was cute then maybe Iam not really out of place as I had imagined”, I thought to myself.

“Iam trying to find my way to anatomy class, maybe you know where that is?” he asked politely.

“Oh me too. We can use my map.” I said as I stretched out the map to him.

After we found the class, we took the front seats.

“Are you going for lunch?” Liam asked after the class was done, it was almost 2pm.

“I don’t think so, I was thinking of taking an excursion around the school. You want to come?”

“Sure let’s go”

As we walked around the school, Liam and I talked a lot and I gaped at how he knew a lot of things. Not only did he look like a genius in his hideous glasses, but the way he talked convinced me he was truly one.

“Would you look at that!” Liam said as we approached the sports field, his finger indicating up.

It was a huge banner with a picture of a tall, extremely good looking guy.

He was wearing sports attire and was holding a ball and a water bottle on the other hand. His face was sweaty but still looked vibrant and one couldn’t help but notice the hazel eyes.

On top of the picture was written ‘Keith Johnson, Best basketball player of the year.’

“Oh my,” I gaped, while scrutinizing every detail of the picture.

“Are you coming?” I heard Liam calling out, and only then did I realize I was still rubbernecking at the picture of the boy with hazel eyes on the banner.

“Oh sorry” I said rushing forward to join Liam.

By the time I was going back to my room, Liam and I had spent most of the afternoon walking around the school. I had realized we had a lot in common and I was glad that I had made one friend already, which was progress.

I walked into the room and found Lisa standing in front of the mirror with two dresses in her hand.

“Thank goodness you are here, which one do you think I should wear?” she asked excitedly.

“Ummh, the red one” I said pointing at the dress on her right hand not exactly sure why she was asking.

“Perfect, I have a date tonight” she said as she tossed the other dress on her bed.