RIVER

"How did this happen?" she asked me, taking the agreement from my hand as she began to tap on the keyboard. I calmly explain the situation to her, and she looks up at me after staring at her screen for a while. She looks at me as if I am being ridiculous or maybe joking with her; when she sees I am waiting to hear from her, she drops the papers on the table.

"You had me worried for a second," she says as if she had solved everything, but in reality, she had done nothing.

"Well, shouldn't you be? I am supposed to have a girl roommate, but..."

"You have a boy," she nods, and I tilt my head, trying to understand what she meant.

"And you don't think that's an issue?"

"Of course not, how can it be? The house you chose is a shared house, meaning that both genders can cohabitate there," she explained, and even though that should be enough to clear the air, my mind still can't understand what she meant. "You did not specify in the agreement that you wanted a girl, so we went with the next person on the list, and it happened to be..." She looked down at the papers in front of her before adding. "Taylor Deluca"

"I thought Taylor was a girl," I cry out in frustration.

"You've said so, but as we've established, Taylor is a boy, and going back and forth isn't helping us both." I stare at her because I don't believe her one bit.

"Can I at least swap rooms and have a girl roommate?" I ask, and she shakes her head as if she is about to deliver great news.

"I am sorry I cannot do that; if you find someone who wants to swap, then I would happily help you, but without their consent, I can't change their room." I eyed her and couldn't believe how unhelpful she was being. Do I begin to knock on people's doors asking them if they want to swap rooms with me?

If anyone asked me that, I would think they had gone mad and slam the door in their face. I groan, and she smiles. "It's not such a bad thing," she adds with a smile. "One of the best relationships I had on campus was with a boy I shared a bed with." I was almost certain that the situation was different, but I was not in the mood to talk about what her life was like.

"Is it possible I can change housing?" My mind was spinning, trying to find a place to live. I could not think of living with Taylor for the rest of the session; it could not work. What was I to tell my father when he called?

"Well, you can try, but I am sure that all housing around campus and on campus is full." For some reason, she seems to be enjoying this more than she should. "Just take the house and don't make a big deal out of it." She is ready to dismiss me, and I can see it. I sigh and take the agreement form from her desk and step out, feeling my life slip from my hands.

This was not how the start of my morning was supposed to go. I was supposed to come in here, have the issue resolved, and then go to my department to get my class schedule, but now I wonder if the day was cursed already from the start. I stay rooted in place for a few more seconds before I turn and begin to walk back to the apartment. I should be going to school, but my day was ruined. Why ruin it further? By the time I had walked forty minutes and was at the top of the hill, I was panting and huffing so much that I did not know how much longer it would take me to catch my breath. I see a motorcycle parked in front of the house. I wonder how I had not noticed it this morning when I left.

I open the door, and I see Taylor standing in the kitchenette, shirtless, pouring water into his mouth. I stand and take a deep breath, trying to focus my eyes on anything but his toned abs and slightly more visible tattoos on his side. If only that lady at the housing agency had seen this, she would not have said it was not a big deal and would have tried her best to help me out. How was I to deal with this?

"You are an early worm," he says, closing the bottle and dropping it to the counter before wiping off the remains of water on the corner of his mouth.

"And you sleep in," I return. I don't know why I said that when I was supposed to be talking about our situation.

"So you are getting back from the housing agency, I guess." He ignores my remark and walks out of the kitchenette towards me. I take a step back, not because my brain tells me it's the right thing to do. "What did they say?" a teasing smirk on his face.

"You already knew what they would say, didn't you?" I asked, shocked he had allowed me to waste my entire morning walking back and forth, only to get disappointed.

"It's already too late to try and switch houses," he says, almost repeating what the woman had said.

"And you could not have told me this yesterday?" I ask, feeling my blood boil. He felt like a prankster in that moment, and I hated it. "You made me ruin my entire day just to get that news at the housing agency?" My voice rose a bit, but as soon as I realised the change, I stopped talking and threw a glare at him.

"With how uptight you seem, would you have listened to me?" His question strikes a chord in my entire being. He is right; there was nothing he would have said that would have made me relent. I would have still gone back and forth without thinking about it. "See," he adds with a head tilt and then the smirk over his face.

"I guess you are my roommate," he exclaims, not smiling, still smirking at me.

I take a deep breath and nod. "I guess I am," I mouth to him, and he claps his hand. Was I really doing this? Living with a shirtless boy who made water look scandalous? Maybe the woman at housing was right. Maybe I was cursed.

"You strike me as a girl who would like to make rules that must be followed. I will listen to you," he says as if he were giving them an opportunity. I frown and sit on the couch for the first time, feeling how soft it is. Maybe this place can't be that bad; it would be a year, and I would make sure to change my housing and double-check it all so this does not happen again. How bad can a year be?

"Are you giving the rules or not?"

"I want to write them out."

RIVER

I was even surprised that he asked me to make the rules. I had thought he would have been against it, but then maybe this was a good thing. He knew boundaries and decided to accept them. I take out a notebook and open it to an empty page before I begin to write in it. I wanted to believe that somehow I might find a way here before the end of the year. Who knows, my luck could just turn around all of a sudden, and I could get lucky.

'HOUSE RULES' I write boldly at the top of the paper and draw a line underneath. I hear him snicker, but he does not say anything about it. "First rule, you can't be shirtless, especially in shared places," I say, and he smirks with a head shake. He is quiet as if he had agreed, and since I did not get any refusal from him, I scribble it down and go on to the next.

"No morning noise, at least before 9 am," I say, and because he is just sitting there quietly as I recite all of the rules before scribbling them down. I tear out the page and hand it over to him.

He takes the paper from me and stares at the right rules I had written. "Don't I get to write anything down?" He sounds like he is judging all of the rules I had written.

I stretch the pen to him, and he shakes his head. "I am not a weirdo," he whispers as if that is supposed to be some kind of insult. He drops the paper on the coffee table in front of us before he walks to the room and comes out with a neon highlighter and begins to scribble on the paper.

Once he is done, he hands it over to me, and I gasp at what he has under. Under rule number one, which is that he can't be shirtless in shared spaces, he writes, 'I can't promise that,' and then he goes on to rule number four and scribbles, 'Can I bring my dog?' He knows I clearly mean that he can't have a girl over, and yet he wants to provoke a reaction out of me. And under number eight, which is most important, no flirting with me. 'You'll break this one first, sweetheart.'

I look up at him with my eyebrow raised slightly. "This is only temporary; I would find a solution to this, and we would go our separate ways," he nods, but it is obvious he does not believe in me.

"I will put this up on the fridge," he announces as he makes his way to the kitchenette. Soon, the rules are hanging there, and he is still standing in the middle of the kitchen, shirtless. I stood up and walked to the counter separating us, and with a clearing of my throat, I grabbed his attention.

"Rule number one," he says, looking at me as if I am speaking gibberish for a while before he walks away with a smirk and emerges a few minutes later with a tank shirt on.

"Happy?" I nod because I am; at least he was not violating me with his body, even though I could still see how much he worked out from his arms. "I am going to make some toast and scrambled eggs; want some, sweetheart?"

"Don't call me that. And no, thanks," I say, backing away to go unpack my things.

"I guess you don't like your nickname. Then I am going to come up with another for you."

"I do not want a nickname; you can call me River, and I would call you Taylor," I say as if he is not aware of his name.

"Are you sure that's what you want, sweetheart?"

"Hundred per cent"

"Suit yourself then," he said, turning to the cupboard and taking out the ingredients he needed. I was in my room and checking the time. I could see it was a little past ten am, and I sighed. I'd better get to unpacking.

A few hours later, I was done with all of the stuff I had and was now anticipating the rest of my things coming along later that week. I can't believe I would unpack them now and then get to pack them up again. I know that I would find a solution to this problem, as there has never been an issue I have not been able to solve.

I looked up places I could get something to eat since I had no food to prepare with me. I stepped out, and sitting on the couch were Taylor and a strange girl almost on his lap. It hasn't been a full day, and he was already breaking one of the rules.

"Good afternoon," she says with her eyes running down my body as she looks back at Taylor. "Is she the roommate?" I usually did not care about what people thought of me, but I did not like that this girl, who looked superficial, had already heard things about me.

"She is." Taylor looked uninterested in whatever she was saying as he kept on wiping his phone.

"Baby, don't you think she is too hot to be your roommate?" The girl cried, acting as if I were not standing right there.

"Taylor, a word," I say, and then to the girl I smiled. "Don't worry, Taylor is not my type." I do not even know what my type is; I had never been in a relationship before, so saying my type was a far fetch. She looks offended by my declaration, and I can't understand why. Shouldn't she be happy? I ignore her and take Taylor to the kitchen, pointing at the fridge.

"It's been barely a minute, and you are already breaking rules," I say, pointing to the fridge.

"Are you saying I am not allowed to have my girlfriend over?" he asked, amused. It is almost as if he thought the rules were supposed to be a joke.

"Did I stutter?" I respond, looking over to the blonde sitting on the couch, staring at us. "I am going for lunch, but this should be gone by the time I get back." I hold my bag close to me before storming out angrily.

PS: I know you want to see River's rules, so here you go.

HOUSE RULES.

1. No shirtless walking around the apartment. Ever.

2. Respect morning silence: no loud music or talking before 9 a.m.

3. Dishes must be washed immediately after use.

4. No random people allowed in the apartment.

5. No touching my stuff. Especially my notes. Or my snacks.

6. Keep the bathroom clean. Hair. Towels. Everything.

7. You stay on your side of the living room. I stay on mine.

8. No flirting. With me. At all. Ever.

RIVER

I am sitting alone, munching on my chicken, when I see a familiar figure pass by me. I don't know where I know her from, but it is etched in my memory.

"River?" The voice comes out, and I recognise it at once. I look up at the girl as she slides into the seat in front of me, and her face forms in my head. "You came here? I swore you were going to go to Harvard or maybe Oxford; I never thought that Adlerbridge would be your choice. Her eyes are twinkling with excitement.

"Same here, Lana." Lana was a classmate at my high school, and we did not really talk; it was a surprise to see her here. I never imagined she'd make it to Adlerbridge. Not because I thought she wasn't smart, but more because I never paid attention.

"Oh my goodness, what are you in for?"

"Pharmacy," I murmur, wishing she would leave me alone.

"Same," she shrieks as if she had gotten big news. "We can be study buddies," she adds with excitement. I am not sure if I need a study buddy, but I am hoping that would be enough to get her off my back. I did not know she was smart enough to get

"So where are you staying?" she proceeds to ask when I stay silent, staring at her.

"Manson's Apartment," I respond, and she nods.

"Well, I took one of the campus accommodations," she replies, and right now I wish I had taken the accommodation on campus. There must have been no way that I would get entangled with a boy. The only problem I had with that was no privacy; I'd have to be in the face of my roommate all the time, and I was not sure if I was ready for that.

"That is good," I said, nodding silently, hoping and praying she had company and would leave me alone. "I am so glad to see a familiar face; I hope we can get along."

"Me too," I say, trying to be sarcastic, but it was almost as if she did not get it, or maybe she wanted to pretend as if she did not care.

"I would be going in tomorrow to get all of my courses registered. Should we meet up?" I wanted to tell her that I had done it or that I did not want to do it yet, but I knew she would see right through my lie, and I would be at the department tomorrow.

"Sure," I say with a nod, and she claps too happily.

"Let me get your number." She takes out her phone from the little purse hanging on her shoulder that I had not realised until now. "Here," she turns the phone to me, and I look up and begging to disappear. I take it and begin to punch in the number.

"River," she says as she saves the number and gives me a call. "Save mine too, and I will see you tomorrow."

I almost say thank you when she stands up and walks away with a wave. I stayed there until I finished my meal and decided to walk back to the house just in case Taylor still had the girl over.

My phone rings, and it's my dad. I had thought that by the time I was speaking to him this evening, the roommate situation would have been a story we could both laugh at, but now I couldn't bring myself to tell him. I did not even know how he was going to react. I had never had a boyfriend all through high school, and he never brought up the topic. I had to steer clear of mentioning Taylor until I was sure what his reaction was going to be.

"Kiddo," he sounded too happy. Maybe he had been drinking. Knowing that I had been so eager to come to school and leave him all by himself broke my heart. I just wanted to come here because my mom had come here, and this was the only piece of my life I could use to get closer to her.

"How are you enjoying the experience?" He had been so adamant that a university was an experience and I should not waste it. I just wanted to be a pharmacist like my mom and see why she enjoyed the course so much.

"Fine," I lie because nothing about today has been fine. Everything seemed to be crumbling all on its own, and I wanted just a little bit of control.

"I want you to have a good time."

"And I am having a good time." One lie, and now an entire portal is open. I know it's only more lies from here, but I promise to make it all right soon. "Dad, are you drinking?" I ask because I can't shake off the feeling from my mind.

"I just had a few with Mr..."

"Come on, Dad, you drank last night, and you are there to drink again? Do you want to relapse and become an addict again?"

"River, I have told you times without number that I am the parent and you are..."

"The child, I know, but you can't be drinking, and you know it," I say. If I had been right by his side, then he would not have been able to sneak away and have a drink.

"I can take care of myself; you don't have to worry," he adds, and I have to trust him. "How is your roommate?" He asks, and even though I know it's his effort to try and change the topic, I can't help but feel guilty that I was about to hide a big secret from him.

"She's fine," I say, hoping he would not catch me in my lie. "The same Taylor DeLuca," I add nervously.

"I know you have better things to do, and I just wanted to hear from you, so take care of yourself, and I will talk to you later."

"Bye, Dad."

"Bye, kiddo." The line drops dead at once, and I stand on the pavement considering my life. What could I do to remedy this situation so I stop lying to my father? I walk a few more miles and stop right in front of the door. The motorcycle out front is neatly parked, and I roll my eyes.

Of course, he is one of those who would ride something like that. I open the door and enter the house, and I am relieved to find that the blind girl from earlier is gone.

"Sweetheart, you are back!" I stare at him in annoyance; of course he is shirtless.