"Hello? Are you there?" A voice crackled through the phone as Courtney just stared at it. "Courtney dear, talk to me please. How's it going there? Are you making friends? Is your roommate nice?"

"It's fine here. I've made friends and yea, my roommate's nice. Happy now?"

Her stomach churned as the words came tumbling out of her mouth. She didn't plan to be this rude to her mom, but she couldn't help it.

"Courtney," her mom drawled out in the tone she used to scold her. "Is something wrong? Are you mad at me?"

She shook her head even though her mom couldn't see her. "No, no I'm not. I've just been tired lately. And it's late here too so I should be going to sleep now." Looking over to the clock she saw the time read 11:34.

That cued her yawn which her mother clearly heard.

"Oh okay sweetie, you should go get some rest. I'll call sometime soon, sound good?'

"Sure, good night mom."

"Goodnight sweetie, love you."

"Love you too." She clicked the red button and placed her phone on the dresser.

Courtney shifted her vision over to her roommate who was sound asleep in her bed. The last two weeks have been pretty uneventful for her. Stressful? Of course but it's nothing she can't handle. If anything, it's not the level of stress she should be experiencing. She's been studying and preparing for college since she was in her diapers. Her goal, the one main goal, the one she was working towards for her entire life up until now, was right there in front of her. It looked so close, maybe if she reached a little further she could finally grasp it, but no. She fell millimeters before she could grab ahold of the dream to make it a reality.

The dream that kept her up at night, the dream that seems to have turned into a nightmare.

The lights filtered through the window, casting a soft shadow from the furniture in the room. Courtney just sat on the side of her bed, observing the dorm she shared. The difference between her side and Bridgette's was clear. Her side was well-organized, pencils and pens off to the side in a cup and papers in stacks and folders around the center of her desk where her laptop laid. There were papers and pens littered all over Bridgette's desk and the trashcan below was filled to the brim with crumpled up pages and coffee cups.

After a few minutes of staring into space, Courtney could feel her eyes getting heavy. The amount of work given to her in just the past week was really draining her energy. She took another glance at Bridgette who had her back to her and was sleeping soundly. Courtney tucked herself in and was lulled to sleep by the soft snores of her roommate.

*

It was a bit chilly but Courtney was prepared. She checked the weather exactly nine times before she left for the cafe to meet with the group. She wore a scarf around her neck and a cozy sweater that kept her pretty warm.

"Courtney! You're finally here!" Cody cheered and the others did so too, except for Heather who was ordering food.

"Was I late?" She panicked, checking the time which read she wasn't late at all. 'Did I read it wrong? Could it have been earlier?' Courtney thought.

Cody shook his head violently and patted the seat like he always did. "No, definitely not! We just finished class earlier than usual so we headed here right after."

She sat down and observed Cody's more-than-usual fidgeting. His fingers were weaving in and out and he looked on edge. His eyes would dart around the room each time the door opened and someone new came in.

"Not a footprint to be seen," Everyone turned to see Alejandro singing, almost falling out of his chair in doing so. "A kingdom of ~isolation~ and it looks like I'm the queen."

"Baby, what are you doing?" Heather asked as she hauled him back upright on the chair.

"Siiiinging in the rain I'm singing in the rain! What a ~glorious~ feeling! I'm-" he tapped the table to the song while the whole cafe was staring at them. "Happy again!"

"You should probably go check it out, this isn't normal," Cody says, still fidgeting and looking around.

Heather scoffed and pulled out her phone. "I know that, Code." She walked outside, leaving Alejandro singing but at a quieter tone since his lover was gone and there were only so many people that were worth his whole concert of songs.

A few minutes later, Heather came back in but with Noah trailing behind.

"So when you said you were inviting someone you meant," She looked at Cody then pointed at Noah. "Him?"

"Do you have a problem with that?" Noah slid next to Courtney and smirked at Heather.

"Ugh, well, Alejandro and I have to leave anyway, they're going to check him out later." They nodded and she practically dragged her boyfriend out the door who was now singing some song from Mulan that Courtney didn't know.

An awkward silence fell upon the group as no one knew what to do then.

"So uh, Noah, huh," Bridgette said, looking between the two boys.

"We're just friends!" Cody quickly interjected and then slumped over his chocolate croissant.

"Mhm, yea sure." She sipped her coffee before turning to Courtney. "You and Duncan going at it or something?"

She choked.

And died.

The end.

Haha no.

She choked and glared at her roommate. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Geoff's pretty good friends with him and he tells me that Duncan and you are," Bridgette wiggled her eyebrows and so did everyone else, even Noah.

"What does that even mean? We aren't even doing anything anyway!" She exclaimed.

The table just laughed and Courtney was left stumped by everyone else. She's honest though. All they've ever done is just talk. Nothing more. It's just because she has no one else to talk to in class. Though she doesn't want to admit to herself that maybe that isn't the only reason. 

sorry it's been taking long to get these chapters out. school's been taking up all my time >:(. i hope you like this chapter! sorry for any mistakes