ONE

It happened one night when we are in our room.

I looked at my right side and saw my male roommate, whose name is Samuel, sleeping soundly on his bed right next to me. I was half awake.

When I blinked, he was gone.

I sat up on my bed and slapped myself to see if my eyes are deceiving me. But Samuel's really not on his bed.

-

I am a freshman while Samuel's a sophomore. The university I go in are pretty far away from my hometown so my family and I decided that I should just live in university's dorm.

Though when we learnt that I'll be sharing a room with a guy we became hesitant. They said the dormitory is full now because this year, to their surprise, many students had passed the entrance examination.

The acceptance rate is 4%. Because of that, it was very competitive. The university's medical school is even way more harder to get in. But this year, they hadn't expected many students to pass the entrance exam.

I was not used of sharing room with anybody and what's more I am sharing a room with a guy?

I thought about it carefully and just accepted it. The dorm is the most convenient place to live in because it is closer to our university.

The university is located to the city where half of the country's population live. Living in an apartment 30 minutes away from the university could take you an hour and a half because of the traffic.

I asked my parents for their permission but it wasn't easy. It took a lot of time before they finally agreed.

The first time I met my roommate was when he helped me find where the dormitory is located, he even accompanied me. The university's large so it is easy to get lost. He was nice and I liked him immediately because he's pleasant to be with. His face is also handsome and his body is also in a good build. He's tall and has a good posture. He looks familiar, though. I just didn't know where I saw him.

While he's guiding me, I could see a lot of girls whispering with each other while looking enviously at me. I raised my eyebrows because of confusion.

"Don't mind them." Samuel said and smiled at me. I just nodded my head awkwardly.

With a face and body like his, it is no wonder he's popular among girls.

When we're in front of the dormitory building, he excused himself because he said he's going to eat with his friends. I thanked him for his help.

When he left, four girls approached me.

"Hey, are you his girlfriend?" the girl in a ponytail asked.

"Huh? no, I am not. I was just lost and can't find this dorm. I am a freshman." I explained while having an awkward smile in my face.

"Oh? is that so? then we'll leave."

After she spoke, the three other girls followed the girl with the ponytail. I just looked at them until they disappear.

I finally entered the dormitory building. This dormitory has three floors. The room I am going live in is on the third floor. I just took the elevator so I could save some time.

The day is Saturday and my class are gonna start on Monday. While going here, I noticed there aren't a lot of student. Maybe in weekends they go out a lot and have fun or they just simply went home to spend some time with their families.

When I was in front of my room, I breath heavily and knocked. I did it thrice and when I was sure there was no one inside, I took out the key and opened the door. I took off my shoes before going inside.

The room looks neat and tidy. I suddenly felt embarassed. My room in my parents' house looks like a mess. It was always the maid who clean my room but my mom made her stop because she wanna see me do the cleaning. My mom said she doesn't want me to grow up not knowing the basic things in life. I was used to people doing everything for me so hearing that was quite upsetting.

When I heard my mom said that, I told that to my dad. My parents love to spoil me since I am their only child but my dad loves to spoil me more. But even if he loves spoiling me more than my mom does- he could do nothing because he's powerless against my mom.

So everytime I would lock my door so my mom could not see my dirty bedroom. I just shook my head and laughed quietly. Looks like I need to beat my laziness.

I sat on the bed on the right side before putting my things down. I got out my stuff from the bag and was thinking of ways on how to organize them. Inside of my head, I was screaming "mom and dad help me!!!". I sighed.

I opened the big closet, it smells like a man's perfume. On the left side there are men clothings. I didn't look at them any longer and just put my clothes on the right side of the closet. On the table in the center between our beds, I put my skincare products. I laughed like an evil and thought to myself, "this isn't hard! mom, dad, I could live independently now!" I was overjoyed because my organization looks clean.

I organized a few stuff before I received a call from a friend.

"Sup dude? heard you're living in a dormitory now" it was Julien. He is a childhood friend of mine.

"Fine, I just finished organizing my things." I said confidently.

"Organizing your things? are you sure it doesn't look like a dump site?" Julien laughed. I just rolled my eyes.

"Hah! unlike you who still cries on your mum when someone said a bad thing about you!" I answered with a mocking tone.

"Whatever dude! anyway, I am genuinely shock that you organized your things by YOURSELF." does he really need to emphasize that word? "I though you'd be upset because there are no maids who could help you."

"As if! I am already an 18-year-old WOMAN."

"Unbelivable."

"Anyways are you free? let's see each other. I am gonna treat you.- and send your address I am gonna come and pick you up."

"Okay!"

The phone call ended. I texted him my address. I also texted my parents and told them that everything is fine here.

At 3:00 PM, I exited the dorm. I saw Julien waiting on his car. I walk quickly and get inside the car. Julien started driving.

"Are there no traffics?" I asked him.

"There is still a traffic. But it isn't as heavy as the traffics in weekdays."

I sighed. "It really sucks living in this city! I am glad my mom didn't agreed when my dad said we should live here 5 years ago!" she complained.

Julien laughed, "sorry to tell you but it's more convenient living in this city."

What Julien said was true. Although my hometown is also a city, the population isn't that dense. You can still breath a fresh air. But it wasn't as developed as this city. There are more job offers here and jobs here generally pay higher. This city is actually quite advanced. People who love technology loves living here.

My dad had the idea of living here since he wants to experience living here, but mom opposed him because she said she couldn't endure being stuck in the traffic.

-

After 40 minutes, Julien parked his car. We are now on a mall.

"Let's watch movies. I saw online that the X movie is good." I suggested.

"Oh I wanna watch that three days ago but was just too lazy to do so."

We watched the movie for 2 hours. Many people cried inside the cinema. The movie is about a woman who lost the people he love in World War 2.

After 5 hours of hanging out with Julien, he drove me back into our dorm. The time is already 9:50 PM when we arrived into the dormitory. We said goodbye to each other and told him to drive safely.

Before entering to my room, I knocked first. Before knocking for the second time, the door opened. We both raised our eyebrows because of shock. Inside was the guy who accompanied me earlier.

"Uh... hi? are you my roommate?" I smiled awkwardly.

"Yes, yes!" his expression looks like he still haven't recovered from the shock. He moved and made a way for me to go inside.

I took off my shoes and smiled at him before going inside.

"You should've told me earlier your room number."

"Sorry, I just didn't thought it was that important."

"That's fine, I didn't asked you earlier so it is be natural you won't tell me. I'm Samuel by the way. A sophomore." he said gently.

"I am Isla." my body is kind of stiff. "wow.. this is quite awkward huh..." I touched my nape.

"Don't worry I won't do anything to you. Just tell me if you need some help."

"Okay... thank you." I answered before standing up to get some clothes. I am going to take a bath. "I am gonna head out to the bathroom." he just nodded.

I walked away and reach the bathroom. There are still four girls inside. I was relieved because I am not going to be alone.

I just cleaned my body for 20 minutes and headed out back into our room. When I came back, Samuel was already sleeping on his bed.

My movements were quiet so I won't wake him up.

I laid on my bed. I wasn't feeling any kind of unpleasant feeling from my roommate so I fell asleep immediately.