Most, Ice, and Rain- Chapter 3

"Hello, new neighbors!" A voice from outside of the hall called as the door of room 827 swung open.

All three girls jumped in their seats. Misty had been working on a watercolor piece. Amy was updating her blog. Mary was engrossed in a textbook.

"We thought we would come over and introduce ourselves." The tall and handsome boy continued. He was tan with jet black hair and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a black t-shirt with black ripped shorts and red sneakers. He was accompanied by two other men.

"My name is Hayden Jones," the black-haired boy said. "These are my two roommates, Carson Peters and Neil McDermott."

The two other boys waved politely. Carson was shorter than Hayden but still handsome in his own right. He had tan skin that was covered in freckles with green eyes and chestnut brown hair. Neil was tall and lanky with pale skin, bleach blonde hair, and grey eyes that were hidden behind a large pair of glasses. He was holding a sketchbook in his hand.

"It's nice to meet you," Mary said as she closed her book and hopped out of her lofted bed. "I'm Mary Larson. I'm an elementary education major."

Mary slowly turned back toward her two roommates as a silent prompt for them to be polite.

"I'm Amy," the model said without looking up from her computer.

"What are you sketching?" Misty asked as she walked away from her watercolor and towards Neil.

"I'm an architecture major," Neil said softly as he opened up his sketchbook to reveal beautiful designs of buildings and interiors.

"These are incredible," Misty said as she looked through his drawings. "I was just working on some watercolor. I'm Misty by the way."

Neil followed Misty to the space under her bed. The ocean view was miraculous and reflected in her painting.

"Well I was going to ask if you ladies wanted to join us for lunch, but I see that we would be interrupting the two lovebirds," Hayden said with a smirk, causing Amy to laugh from behind her computer screen.

Neil turned a vibrant shade of red and turned away from Misty. Misty felt a pain in her heart. It was way too soon for her to be romantically involved with anyone at this moment in time.

"We can get lunch," she said as she tried to hold back tears. "It's fine."

Mary picked up on her emotion and gave her a concerned look. Misty softly smiled at her as she gathered her messenger bag.

"Let's go, Amy," Mary said as the new found group was walking out the door without their sixth member.

She was about to reply with something scalding and sarcastic, but remembered what Carla said. She needed these people in her life. She wanted this year to be magical.

She closed her laptop and followed Hayden out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"What are you studying?" Mary asked Carson as the two walked side by side toward the Sumter Dining Hall. Misty and Neil were deep in conversation about their favorite artists and bands. Hayden was trying to flirt with Amy with no luck as she was texting someone.

"I'm an agriculture mechanics major," he replied with a thick southern drawl. "I've lived on a farm my whole life. Working the land is the only thing I know how to do. What are you here for?"

"I want to be an elementary school teacher like my mom," she replied softly, twirling a piece of her thick brown hair in her fingers.

"What grade does your mom teach?" He asked as he ran his fingers through his chestnut hair.

"She used to teach 3rd grade," she replied, "but she passed away when I was 13."

"I'm so sorry to hear that,” Carson said with genuine concern.

“It’s alright,” Mary replied, wondering why she has chosen to be so open with someone that she had just met. “I’m still working to get through it, but I live with my grandmother and get to help her around the house.”

“That’s nice,” he said softly as they continued to walk towards the dining hall. “I have ten brothers and sisters, so if you ever need some family time or a home-cooked meal then just ask. There’s more than enough Peters to go around.”

Mary chuckled along with him. Carson was a genuinely nice guy.

“Thank you so much,” she said. “It means the world.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

“I know you’re a supermodel,” Hayden said as he and Amy were swiping their Wave Cards, Marean’s form of a student ID, to get into the dining hall.

“Wow,” Amy said as she put her card back into her leather bag. “I’m really glad that you have internet and the ability to read. What’s it to you?”

Hayden smirked at her reply. She was fiery.

“Do you not like being a supermodel?” He asked, stepping in front of her and causing her to stop. The four others walked around them and went into the dining hall, leaving Hayden and Amy alone in the lobby.

“I don’t know,” Amy said, quickly becoming irritated. “I want to be a fashion designer. Starting as a model is one of the best ways to get there.”

“Why would you do something that you don’t like?” He asked, still blocking her path.

“I don’t know,” she said with an audible groan. “Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to get what you want.”

“What does the princess of New York know about sacrifices?” He asked with a scoff.

“What?” She replied in disbelief. She thought back to all of the friends that she lost. All of the events that her parents missed. All of the time she spent alone in her penthouse bedroom.

“You don’t know anything about me.” She said softly, feeling anger build up inside of her.

“I want to though,” he said, taking a step closer towards her. “I want to help you. I know that you like to keep yourself closed off. I get it, but you can’t stay like that forever. You can trust me.”

“Why would I trust you?” Amy asked as she tried to calm herself down.

“Because we have a lot in common,” he replied. “We have both had to make sacrifices to get what we want. I know that you have made sacrifices, don’t get me wrong. I just wanted you to open up.”

Amy stared at him for a second. She had never really opened up to anyone but Carla. She didn’t know if she wanted to start now, but something about Hayden made him seem trustworthy.

“We need to meet away from the others,” she said softly as she walked past him and into the dining hall.

“Is that a yes?” Hayden asked from behind her.

“Meet me in the stairwell at the end of the hall tonight at 10. We will see how things go.”

Reviews

[emipoemi]

I love Amy! I've said that once, I'll say that again! She's funny, strong, and has the potential of being a genuine badass! She's def the cool girl, Mary should thus be a version (not the exact archetype, but a version) of the annoying/stupid sidekick (for she clearly isn't, but her fanaticism for Amy has to show, and could be put to some fun use if done well), which makes Misty the "leader" who must overcome a certain life-changing obstacle. Now, superbly, the three girls are set up to each have the necessity to overcoming a life-changing obstacle, and that is going to be interesting to see how you play that out.
Ok, now, this chapter is constructed in a much better manner than the two previous. The only thing I would have to say about this is if you're going to make the breaks in the text to signify a switch in POV, let's see all the girls one by one, without mentioning what the others are talking about with the respective boys, because it gets wonky that way. Now, Amy seems like she's going to play the girl who's hard to get, but what about the other two? I understand roughly why Mary would straight be going for Carter, but Misty should if not completely, definitely there should be some sort of misgivings in accepting the boys' invite to lunch, especially since their entrance was a bit random, and none of the boys had given any sign that they should be trusted. Misty starts talking to Neil because she sees him holding a sketchbook. I knew the instant the sketchbook was mentioned that Neil was created to be a counterpart to Misty. But work on the pairing up. The characters are well crafted in characterization, but everything else is wonky and I'm not entirely buying it (except Amy....she's virtually perfect). So that's it for this chapter: The Boys and the three respective conversations on the way to the dining hall. Those are what need fixing. This is getting good, simply be careful how you're crafting and maneuvering.....it has a great effect on how the story flows and appears.