"God Garrett, could you be any slower?" I had already made it up the three flights of stairs and was waiting for him in the hallway.

"Ugh, why is all your useless shit so heavy, Jules?" he complained. I finally saw his face from the door propped open from the stairwell.

"Stop being such a pussy. I let you carry the lightest box." I started heading further down the hallway. I think my dorm room was this way. "And it's not just useless shit. It's awesome useless shit."

"Why do I have to help you move in anyway? Shouldn't your brother be doing this?" He shifted the weight of the box. He winced as his fingers started cramping.

"Baby bro's back at home. His first football game of the season is today, and neither of my parents wanted to miss it," I explained.

It was no surprise that my brother was my parents' favorite. He was pretty much the perfect son, and I was...well I was too awesome to be perfect. I'm so awesome I could handle this alone, without them. I'd guilt trip them into getting awesome stuff for me when they came to visit.

The door to my room was open, thank God. I wouldn't have to dig through my pocket to fish out the key my resident assistant gave me.

My roommate had already moved in. She was smoothing out the covers on her bed. Everything was already neat and organized and put into place.

Her long dark brown hair fell into her face as she turned towards me. She smoothed the stray strands behind her ear.

"You must be Julia," she said.

I say down my box in the middle of the floor. My arms had just started to burn. "Jules. You must be Katerina. Can I call you Rina?" I said with a bright smile. I could already tell we were going to be a bit different. Might as well make the most awesome impression possible.

She wasn't smiling. "Just Katerina, please."

Oh great, she was one of those people.

"Jules, I..." Garrett froze at the doorway. His mouth was dropped open. What was his problem?

Katerina's eyes went wide as well. "I thought there weren't any boys living in these dorms," she said a bit frazzled. She tried to move my box to the side, but it wouldn't budge.

I rolled my eyes. That rule was a bit inconvenient. I had to go to the one building that wasn't mixed. "Don't get your panties in a bunch. It's just Garrett. He's really not much of a boy, and he's just here to help me move in."

"Sorry about Jules. She can be a bit rude." He gave me a look, and I stuck my tongue out at him. He set his stuff on top of mine and pushed both of the boxes over to my side of the room. He held out his hand out to my roommate. "I'm Garrett Hedervary. I'm just Jules' friend. We're just friends." What did he think he was doing? He couldn't possibly be...

"My name is Katerina Edelstein. I'm Julia's new roommate."

"You can call me Jules." I repeated. They weren't listening. She put her hand in his. He held it for a moment before lifting it up to his lips for a light kiss.

This could NOT be happening! She was even blushing like some Disney princess. Garrett was grinning like an idiot while he held her hand.

"Garrett, could you help me get the rest?" No response. He was looking into her eyes like some lost puppy. "Now!"

He finally looked at me. "Right, I'll be...we'll be right back," he said.

Katerina nodded. She hadn't said a word. I had to drag him away. I closed the door behind me.

"What the hell was that?" I punched Garrett in the stomach.

"Ow! What is your deal, Jules?"

"What's my deal? What's YOUR deal?! You're gay!"

"My deal...WHAT?! I'm not gay!"

"Yes. You are. You don't have to deny it. I'm your best friend. I've known you've been gay forever. Probably since that time we were kids when you were playing with the Barbie dolls my mom gave me. You know, the ones I was going to light up with fireworks."

"I. Am. Not. Gay. God, Jules! Just because I never hit on you, you automatically assume I'm gay?"

"You've never hit on any girl! Who wouldn't think you're gay? And then you just suddenly start pulling the moves on my roommate?"

"She's just so...perfect! I've never met a girl like her! She's so pretty and proper and..."

"And what, a neat freak? You don't know a thing about her! I can't believe she fell for those cheesy moves!"

"They weren't cheesy. They're classic." He started smiling like an idiot again. "You really think she likes me?"

"Keep it in your pants, lover boy." I slapped him in the arm. "And help me get the rest of my stuff.

---

We were back in my hallway with the rest of my stuff. And by rest of my stuff, I mean, I was carrying the last three heavy boxes and Garrett had diddly squat. He was being an annoying butt munch as he slowed his pace.

"Oh God!" he muttered. "What if I blow it?"

"Open the door already, princess!"

"What should I say?"

"Don't say anything! Propose! Ask her on a date for a cup of coffee? Whatever you do, open that door for me before I drop these on your foot!"

Garrett finally hauled his ass and got the door open to my room. I scrambled over to my bed and placed the boxes on the bare mattress.

I huffed out in disbelief. My friend, my BEST friend, was a damn skirt chaser! And her skirt wasn't even short. It ruffled down to her mid calf like an old Amish lady.

"I think you're done here, Garrett. You can go. You should go," I said.

Katerina glared at me. Whoa, there, honey! Calm yourself! If they stayed there ogling at each other, I think I would puke.

"Hey, Katerina!" Her attention was pulled back to Garrett. His green eyes were sparkling. Did he just flip his hair? Oh God no...

"I know this might be a bit sudden, but do you want to grab some coffee?"

"Okay." A small smile played on her face.

Oh, just kill me now. This was almost straight out of a trashy romance novel. There was no way this crap happened in real life.

Garrett did this ridiculous half smile. If he could see his face, he'd be wanting to crack up as much as me. We used to make fun of suckers like him.

"I'll just freshen up a little bit first. I'll meet you downstairs," she said.

"Alright. I'll be waiting. See you later, Jules!" Garrett said as he left. He gave an extra special smile to Katerina.

Katerina turned toward me once Garrett left. No wait, she turned towards the mirror. She smoothed down her already silky straight hair.

"Pretty hot stuff, huh?" I said. She didn't look amused by my teasing. Who put the stick up her ass? I went back to my boxes. Just which box had I packed it in?

"I'm not easy, you know," she said. "I'm not like that."

"Oh really?" I said sarcastically. Could we just drop this? I tore at the tape sealing one of the boxes. "Never would have guessed."

"Garrett seems like a gentleman, and I'm willing to take the chance this once."

Once? I guess I could believe this was her first. A pretty face could only get you so far.

"I really don't want to make things awkward for us on the first day, so if you..."

"Nah, it's fine," I said. "You guys go have fun. I've got to unpack anyway." Where could it be? I grabbed the next box and started to search through the contents.

"Good. I'll see you later then."

"It'd be pretty hard not to, considering we're living together," I said.

"I'd rather you not put it that way," she said. "It has multiple implications."

Oh. My. God. What was her problem?! "Fine. We're rooming together. Happy?"

"Yes. Bye, Julia." She closed the door behind her as she left our dorm room.

Oh God, this was going to be a long year. What in the world did Garrett see in her? Oh there it is! My laptop!

I brought my prized possession to the surface and removed its new case. I kissed its smooth exterior.

"I missed you, baby," I whispered to it fondly. My life was practically tethered to this thing. I hardly went anywhere without it.

The box with my laptop also held my diary. Well, diaries. I'd accumulated quite a few over the years. I grabbed one and flipped to one of the old entries. I laughed. This one was from elementary school. I could tell from my sloppy scrawled handwriting and the dirt smeared into the pages. I had skinned my knee from beating the boys in the races. It was a pretty awesome day much like all the others. And just like all the others, I had practiced signing my name. Julia Marie Beilschmidt. Among the variations was one name that wasn't mine. One that I that I had wished I had, at least when I grew up a bit more. Julia Hedervary.

I closed the diary. It was ridiculous how much of a silly school girl I was. I'll admit, back then, Garrett was pretty cute. A wimp, but still cute. He followed me around like I was his savior or something. When the other boys teased him for hanging out with a girl, I punched them in the face. He was my best friend. I thought we'd be together forever.

But, I had seen him go through the awkward teen phases. I laughed at him when his voice finally cracked and his peach fuzz made its grand appearance. I could never think of him in that way ever again. It was a very scarring time for me, actually. I honestly don't think I'll ever get over it.

It's almost funny how times can change. Especially now. Things would never be the same again.