Look After You

She cleared her throat, taking in her surroundings like it was a new book she just picked up. "I guess this is it."

Her soft spoken almost meek voice came out, mainly to herself.

She took a deep breath, adjusting the hefty load of books she insisted on carrying as she made her way to her dorm room. She wiped the beginning of perspiration on her forehead and stared forward.

Noelle Serrano struggled through the halls of Stevenson into her new life as a freshman attending UCLA. She was told it was a school for the creative mind, so when she submitted her application she didn't know how…unorthodox it really was.

She was told she would get a roommate by the receptionist and this is what she silently dreaded. High school had been a breeze for her. Most of her teachers hadn't paid much attention to the students but if you did the homework, you passed with flying colors. Noelle was known as the introverted type. She was more concerned with getting the job done without social distractions clouding her mind. The temptation to slack off was knocking on her door often but she learned to not be so submission to peer pressure.

Growing up she didn't have many friends and would at times, enjoy life in solitude for as long as she could. It was a life she couldn't help. Had its good and bad days. She just wasn't a social butterfly no matter how many times people didn't understand it. She daydreamed a lot. That was one of the things she couldn't suppress. She had a lot of dreams about the world. Changing it in some way but without having to conform to society's standards on who she should be.

She stuffed her ears with ear phones and switched her ipod to soft Christian music. She wasn't religious but this type of music always seemed to speak to her best. She worked better with this even though she wasn't really working.

Her eyes danced to the various dorm rooms checking on the numbers as she periodically glanced to her information. She put the music on pause, stuffing the device in her purse. Music helps her relax but for some reason it wasn't working. She couldn't find her room and she was getting a little worried. What if it took all day of looking and the administration never actually assigned her a room? A few wild scenarios like those circled her mind as she looked back at the packet of papers she held onto tightly, panicking slightly.

She bit her lip, straining in her steps, now going backward, checking if she made any mistakes. Not a one she could find. She applied for a single room and was solely determined to get one but the University had the policy options of first come first serve, plus most of the more well off students had special treatments. She knew the system wasn't fair but there was nothing she could do about it. Noelle had scholarships to survive on; they weren't sufficient enough but they had to do for now. She promised herself she'd get a part time job on the weekends to support herself for food and supplies. Scholarships only covered tuition, not extra expenses. The life of a college student was slowly becoming more trying even on the first day. She worried about the loans she took out before some months away too.

Her life wasn't perfect but it could have been a lot worse in retrospect.

She debated going back to administration but she knew she'd be lost all day trying to find the room if she didn't try. After she huffed out some frustration that built up she completely backtracked her path and fumbled her way towards the main office on the other side of school. She grimaced when she remembered the long lines. Cursing inside but she bit back the impatient attitude so she can solve this problem. She didn't expect to have bad luck on the first day of the quarter; she honestly thought she left it back home where it belongs.

When Noelle walked back to the main campus she saw something off the corner of her eye. She briefly looked and saw a group of guys sitting together. They had that too cool for school look about them. She didn't get a good look because someone behind her interrupted her thoughts, asking if she was in line. Noelle said yes with a nod and secured her position back where she needed to be.

This entire day up to this point felt like the show Felicity; only this wasn't New York. This was a place she'd never been to; a place where she believed was full of sunshine, movie stars and nice, outgoing personalities; in other words: utter paradise. It seemed like everyone had their cliques. Noelle felt a little scared of the mood, was she going to fit in here? Pittsburgh was waved goodbye as soon as she boarded the plane. Small town girl is no more. Now it's the city she must acclimate to. It looked daunting to say the least. Noelle had never been through so much change in such a short time.

Students were sitting, standing or walking scattered around her acting as if they already belonged here. As if this is how things are. Noelle tried to ignore all the bustle of everyone's lives and focused primarily on herself more than anything. This is what she needs, absolutely no distractions and do what she needs to do, that's all.

Noelle wasn't even going to pay attention to the opposite sex. It caused her nothing but trouble from the past and getting involved, especially too deeply involved can set her back in her plan to being happy for once. Of course it's going to take a lot of hard work, hours every day of dedication but if everything is ignored, all the outside noise that is, she'll be closer to the life she prayed she would get.

College will be a ground for those temptations no doubt but Noelle was a pro at turning people off who don't seem to understand the concept of no. Being an experienced introvert has paid off when she needed it. She could be more social, she could put herself out there, but it scared her beyond anything. She can't see herself being the most popular person in any sense of the word. Not even in writing, which she is a stickler for her sometimes. She stopped recently because she was planning her way out of her small town and away from negativity.

California is supposed to be the new life, the one she wanted to make her new home. If she could find it that is.

After the long line had decreased considerably, Noelle was the next person up finally. She had rechecked all her paperwork so there wasn't anything she was missing. She could have sworn it said Stevenson Hall, 3rd floor, double, no single room, in fact she was certain.

When she was called up to the front desk, the receptionist had the gull to hold up her index finger while she answered the blaring telephone beside her. She didn't even say excuse me. Noelle bit her lip and held her tongue in retort. She cowered in the place of authority often and this felt like another set back. The receptionist looked as if she was a freshman herself, taking her sweet time on the phone like there was no one waiting for her service.

Noelle coughed loudly and the girl finally rolled her eyes and told the person on the other end of the line she had to go. She stared at Noelle like she was to blame and brusquely hung up the line.

"Yes, how can I help you today?" A fake smile oozing out of her surly demeanor.

Noelle swallowed intently and handed forward her paper work, introducing her problem to the worker.

After a few moments of the girl in front was idling and then she finally said something. "Yes, Stevenson Hall, they moved this building to a newly refurbished dormitory near the cafeteria area. Emails had gone out for this notice last month."

"I hadn't received any." Noelle said, nearly interrupting her.

The girl again stared down Noelle as if she were the most annoying thing on the planet. "Well they'd gone out a month in advance; as a result, some names were thrown in together as a last minute add on list."

"Are you telling me I may not have a room for the quarter?" Noelle asked, dreading the answer already. All this was for nothing? Noelle thought.

The worker held up her hand like what Noelle just said was the craziest thing she's ever heard. "No, this just means, some rooms are mixed up, because of last minute adds and crashes there might be a co-ed confusion."

"What?" Was all Noelle could ask. This didn't sound good at all.

The worker sighed, obviously she was having a bad day or she hated Noelle on the sight. "It's not to worry, good news is you have a room, that's all you asked for isn't it?"

Noelle wanted to slap this girl hard for being such a rude bitch but she managed control herself in those few seconds before saying. "Yeah, alright, great. How do I find the building?"

The worker pulled out the campus map only showing her part of the way. She told Noelle if she was confused she should ask a resident adviser in the building. Noelle had no idea who or what that was but she couldn't wait to get out of this situation, find her room and just relax on her bed before she lost her mind.

Noelle walked out of the double doors briskly through the vast, green lawns towards the large stone stairs leading up to the new building where she'd finally call home. Along the way she was bombarded with flyers coming from people at every corner of the campus. Clubs, new bands, the latest restaurants, clubs, everything she never did in high school was shoved into her face without warning. She replaced her sunglasses over her reading glasses when it became too much and just said nothing to the people who got in her face. She'd be half-blind but at least passer bys won't see her eyes when they start to ask her "will you join?" "will you come?" questions that made her extremely uncomfortable.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Success, she finally arrived, opening the door of the new building getting hit in the face with the stench of new latex paint and that fresh air conditioner smell that felt like a talk show studio. Noelle managed to bump shoulders with more people than she can count on the way to the elevators but nobody made eye contact or excused themselves. It all seemed like their phones were the most fascinating thing in the world, the rest were on their ipads/ipods doing god knows what. Noelle had only imagined sexting or whatever was trending with her generation now. Yeah this certainly feels like an outgoing atmosphere Noelle thought. She rolled her eyes and tried to find the RA as the receptionist called him.

Her arms felt like Jell-O as she drug all of her things and books up to the third floor through the elevator. When the floor came up she nearly dropped her stuff and almost had a heart attack from the heavy load she carried.

Noelle spotted the resident adviser's dorm door and shuffled to it, knocking in a rush. She waited a few moments and knocked again, a bit harsher this time. The door flew wide open and she stared into a pair of the bluest eyes she's ever seen. His lips was in the shape of a heart and his brown hair covered his forehead, nearly over his eyes. But Noelle could still make out the solid color. He looked like a mutant more than a person. She'd never seen any guy look so…immaculate before. So groomed. Guys she'd seen back home looked homely and dirty half the time. This guy resembled a Burberry model that just stepped off the runway. This was her residential adviser? Noelle forced herself to get serious and gave him a serious stare.

He smirked, his smile was brighter than the Texas sun. "Can I help you?" He held out the door further, leaning on it.

Noelle remembered why she was here and got to the point. "Yes, uhm, can you help me find my room please? I was told to come here."

He nodded, "Ah, you're new here. Don't worry, I won't tell, I looked just like that when I first came here."

This guy was personable, Noelle thought. She gave a weary look and handed him her dorm information silently, hoping he'd just take her to the room and stop attempting whatever he was trying to do.

"I know where that is, they changed everything last year so everyone is so confused the first few weeks. I'm Austin Norgren." He held his held to her.

She looked the gesture hesitantly then at him. He seemed harmless. Maybe if she shook his hand he'd just do his job already, so she did. He noticed her tentative attitude and awkwardly walked with her, leading the way to the room was apparently at the end of the hall. He offered to roll her suitcase to the door since her hands were already full and she affirmed him to do so. There was something about this guy that made her feel comfortable. He didn't seem like everyone else downstairs. He seemed, pleasant. Regal maybe, old fashioned. She'd only just met him so it was wrong to assume all these things without properly getting to know him. She cleared her head of these thoughts and remained neutral.

His accent from what she heard sounded Scandinavian, maybe a bit British or a combination of both. He had a soft voice and she liked that. Guys with rough, low voices she never trusted and avoided at all costs. Austin remained silent until they walked to the last door on the left overlooking a big window.

"Well this is it." He said, pausing to clear his throat. "Let me know if you if anymore questions OK?" He smiled, trying to look at her, having an amused look on his face when she looked at the door.

Noelle felt eyes on her and side-glanced Austin's way, nodding, "Thank you," She said quietly. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Noelle, just moved here from, well its really far east." She begun to ramble and stopped herself, fidgeting with her things.

Austin noticed this and helped her with opening the door, moving her suitcase inside.

"Take care Noelle. I am the room to the end, there's a sign in case you have questions about anything. I am here to help freshman on this floor." He assured before turning the other direction.

Noelle had some questions just as he was leaving but thought it better to ask them later when she settled in. She looked around the empty room to the left, a bed that resembled a girl scout's cot was stuffed in the corner, a quaint night stand to its right and an empty closet, waiting to be filled called her attention. The room was dull and plain, the other end of the room had another bed, a top self and a black duffel bag thrown on the mattress. Looked like her roommate played a sport, was it track? Swimming? She didn't know.

"Oh great, someone already here." She looked to the other door at the end. Was it a closet? She put down her things on top of the desk to look closer.

With each step she grew scared and her throat started to dry up. She squinted as she felt like she was sneaking up suddenly when the light under the door lit up. A shower head turned on.

"Oh shit." She said with slight panic. Somebody was already here, she did apply for a single first but she wasn't a special treatment so they must have given her a double. Made sense.

Girl roommates were inevitable so she didn't worry about it. Girls are fine with this kind of stuff; locker rooms back home were just like this. As long as she kept to her corner all was well in her mind. Noelle placed her shoulder bag on the mattress and pulled the suitcase on top, unzipping at the sides starting to unpack. Her back was killing her and she'd really wanted to get more comfortable now that she's beginning to finally relax. Long day, she thought, as she went underneath her top to take off her bra, removing it from the bottom of hem of her blouse.

She threw the flimsy bra on the side and searched for a one of her dancer camisoles, removing her shirt before.

She heard the door open with a slight crack and her eyes went wide. Her naked back was visible and she froze, her pink tank concealing her breasts, barely on. She winced and peaked at the corner of her eye, screaming at the top of her lungs, the top falling to the ground. She was topless to the stranger in front of her.

It wasn't a girl.

A boy came out with steam permeating off his lean, lanky and toned body. His brown, curly hair wet and matted against his forehead as he tried to remove his towel but stopped himself when he saw Noelle, sharp intake of breath on both corners of the room.

"What are you doing in my room?" They shouted at each other.

Notes