******** AUTHOR: Laragh
CHAPTER RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: These things are a bitch to write a different account for every time, so here’s the deal; I DON’T OWN THE CHARACTERS. Never have, never will, just borrowing them to continue my existence in happy denial-land.
SUMMARY: Willow leaves the only home she’s ever known to fulfil her parent’s dream of her attending New York University, but ends up having her own dreams come true in the process.
SPOILERS: Nope. This is totally Uber. Oh, but I probably will steal some dialogue here and there.
FEEDBACK: I crave it like I crave Oreos and milk. (Which is a lot. Just to be clear.)
Chapter 2
********
“Wow, this is a nice desk,” Tara commented on the desk in the back of the small van of Willow’s things.
“Oh thanks,” Willow replied, grabbing her last boxes of clothes, “It was my Pop’s…um, my grandfather, he was a doctor and it was his ‘doctor desk.’ I’ve had it since he retired when I was like eight.”
“I’m gonna get Craig down here, help us up with it. Hey, last thing in here as well. You’re almost officially moved in. After unpacking and everything.”
Willow smiled as the brunette whipped out her cell phone and pressed a few buttons, putting it up to her ear.
“Hey, Craig. My new roommate’s here. We need a big, strong man to help up with the desk…but you’re the only person around.”
Willow heard someone speak over the other end and Tara giggled.
“Thanks Craig, see you in a minute.”
“He’ll be down in a sec. Hey, um, I should check, just because we tend to be kinda…bantery. Are you out? Or, like, uncomfortable with people knowing? ‘Cause I can be discreet.”
“Oh,” Willow replied and contemplated the question, “Um, no, I don’t mind. I don’t mind at all actually.”
“Ladies, I have arrived,” a loud male voice came from the doorway.
“Like I said, biggest queen,” Tara whispered with a smirk and beckoned him over.
Willow looked at the new arrival on the scene, she figured he was at least six foot, had sandy brunette hair and was wearing a t-shirt and shorts, but still sweating from the early August heat. She smiled at him and extended her hand.
“Hi. I’m Willow. Willow Rosenberg.”
“Craig. Craig Bond,” Craig responded, shaking Willow’s hand with a grin, making Tara hit him on the arm, “Okay, so it’s Craig Smith , but that’s really not as exciting. Welcome to the building.”
“Thank you,” Willow replied, letting go of his hand, instantly warming to him.
“So…" Craig said, getting a mischievous look on his face, "Has Tara told you about-”
“Rainbow deck claims another soul,” Tara interjected.
“Ooh, goody,” Craig replied, clapping his hands together, “We have to take her to Liza’s.”
“She’s been in the city for like an hour, okay? Settling in time needed first. Now are you gonna help me with the desk or not?”
Willow stifled a giggle at the interaction and went to help with the desk as well.
“Why don’t you just take up your last box of clothes, sweetie,” Tara stopped her, with a smile, “Me and Craig can handle this and meet you up there.”
She called me sweetie! Oh my god, my heart is going like crazy…just from her calling me sweetie? Oh wow. Okay, deep breaths, concentrate on unpacking.
“Are you guys sure? It’s pretty heavy?” Willow asked, trying not to convey her edginess.
“Clothes are far more important to arrive safely,” Craig said seriously, “We’ll be up in a second.”
Willow nodded and picked up the box, going inside and into the elevator. When the doors were safely closed, Tara turned to Craig with wide eyes.
“Oh my god, Craig. Oh my god.”
“She’s gorgeous,” Craig commented, understanding what his friend meant instantly.
“Gorgeous? She’s a goddess! Did you see her hair? And those eyes? And that perfect shapely body. Do you know how hard it is not to just grab her and kiss her and touch her and oh god, Craig, I don’t know how I’ve managed to stay so composed this last hour.”
“Whoa, blondie,” Craig replied, holding Tara’s shoulder’s firmly, “You don’t freak out over girls. You never freak out over girls.”
“But her eyes…” Tara said with a pleading tone.
“Wow, you got it bad after an hour. Look, lets focus on getting her settled in first, okay. Our gay gods guided her to our floor, maybe they meant for her to be guided to you.”
“Been reading those self-help books again?”
“Do not mock your spiritual guru. Now lets get this desk upstairs before newbie thinks she’s been robbed by some city kids.”
*
“You like Thai?” Tara asked as Willow came out of the bathroom.
“Uh…the people?” Willow asked in confusion as she walked over to where the brunette was at the counter in the kitchen.
She had spent the afternoon unpacking all of her things in her bedroom, which was directly across the hall from Tara’s, with the bathroom in between, and was starting to feel fully settled now she had some home comforts set up.
“Oh sweetie, you really are small town, aren’t you?”
Willow blushed and averted her gaze.
There she goes again with the sweetie! I’m gonna have to live in a permanent state of having a quickened pulse.
“Don’t be embarrassed, I think it’s cute!” Tara reassured, then scolded herself for being obvious.
Way to go, calling her cute. Now she’ll think she has some psycho roommate who’s gonna try and feel her up in her sleep or something. And mocking her. That’s also great. Jeez, brain, please have some decorum, just this once?
Oh my god, she called me cute!!!
“I meant food, Willow. Thai food,” Tara finished, tapping her fingers nervously against the countertop.
“Oh. Right. Um, never had it,” Willow replied with a small smile.
“I think there’s been enough new things for today…pizza?”
“I love pizza.”
“Great. Toppings?”
“Um, pepperoni and mushroom.”
“Oh you just keep saying the right things,” Tara said with a broad grin, dialling the phone, “Hey, it’s Tara. Yea, I need my usual, large. Thanks, honey. Okay, bye.”
Honey. She has a honey. Of course she has a honey. Who wouldn’t want her? I bet her girlfriend’s pretty…and not naïve …and knows about Thai food. Stupid girlfriend.
“So, um, your girlfriend works at the pizza place?” Willow asked, trying to keep her tone casual.
“Girlfriend? No, no, don’t have a girlfriend,” Tara chuckled, “That was Justin. Our neighbour? He runs the phones at a pizza place around the corner. Well, one of his jobs.”
“Oh cool,” Willow replied, perking up instantly, “Great. Uh, not that it’s great that you’re single, it’s just…so how much is pizza out here?”
“Tonight’s on me,” Tara responded, looking through her purse for her wallet, not noticing the other girl’s verbal slip.
“Oh, no, you’ve already been so kind, please let me pay for-”
“Not a chance. You can get the Thai food when I make you try it. And I will make you try it. You’re in the cosmopolitan capital of the world, now. Lots of different things to try.”
“Looking forward to it,” Willow replied and sat gingerly on one of the sofas, “So…is there any, I dunno, rules? You know, for here?”
“Oh, um,” Tara responded, sitting down opposite, “You’re not into metal are you?”
Willow laughed.
“No. No metal.”
“Then, no, no rules really. I, uh, saw your room when I was passing and it seemed pretty immaculately clean already, so I don’t think there’ll be any problems there. And, um, I may own this place, but I want you to feel like it’s just as much your place as mine, okay? Don’t be afraid to put your feet up on the couch or...whatever you like.”
“I... thank you,” Willow replied, slightly dazed.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Yea. Yea, no I am, I just… I think it all just hit me. I moved outta home. Across the country. Starting college. And I think I may just have the nicest roommate alive.”
“Oh well, thank you. I think you’ll adjust out here okay, you seem pretty worldly. And I’m a seasoned New Yorker, born and bred here, so if anything about ‘life in the city’ starts to overwhelm you, just let me know.”
“Wow. Well, thank you.”
“No problem. So, can I ask you some stuff about you? You don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to,” Tara said, putting her feet under her on the sofa.
“Oh, yea, you can ask me what you like.”
“Cool. So, you said on the phone you’re going to NYU, right?”
“Yep. Double-majoring in Philosophy and Economics.”
“Whoa…talk about going either end of the spectrum,” Tara said wide-eyed, “And double-majoring. Damn, girl, you must be smart.”
“Not really,” Willow shook her head modestly, “My parents home-schooled me and made me study a lot, plus I test well. And I always liked numbers and thinking. I’ve already read some of the textbooks for the first semester so I could get a head start. Um, what about you? Are you a sophomore or a junior or…?”
“Huh? No, no, starting next month, freshman, same as you. I should’ve started last year, but I repeated 12th Grade. Um, with my grandmother and everything.”
Willow gave her an understanding smile.
“So, you’re…nineteen?”
There was a knock on the door and Tara got up, grabbing her wallet.
“Indeed I am,” she said as she answered the door, handing over some cash and taking the pizza box.
Willow saw her smile at whoever was delivering the food and close the door quietly. She walked back and put the box on the table between them, flipping the lid, the smell of melted cheese and dough filling the room.
“I’m, um, eighteen,” Willow offered, “And a half. But I think people generally stop counting the halves when they turn nine, so forget that. Um, what’s your major?”
They both took a slice and Tara took a bite, chewing slowly before speaking.
“Pre-med.”
Willow’s face brightened and she swallowed the pizza in her mouth before speaking.
“Wow, you wanna be a doctor? That’s so cool!”
“Yea. Both my parents were doctors. They died when I was a baby,” Tara replied with a small smile.
“Oh,” Willow responded, feeling deep pain for all the sorrow her roommate had apparently had to go through so young, “Tara, I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine.”
“Hey, don’t be sorry. Not like it’s your fault. And I didn’t mean to bum you out on your first night here. So…are you a party girl?”
“Me? Oh no. Really, no. I, um, never had many friends, ‘cause I was studying all the time, and definitely didn’t go to parties. I wouldn’t even know what to do if music started playing and I was supposed to dance. I’d spaz out in some way.”
“Well, I’ll get you out eventually,” Tara teased, “There’s some fun clubs around here.”
Willow nodded quietly, the idea of being in a club terrifying her almost as much as the thoughts of when she would start classes and getting around campus, but she knew, in the end, she’d probably do whatever the brunette wished of her. She took another slice of pizza and smiled at the other girl.
“Um, it may be completely inappropriate to toast with pizza, but, uh, can I anyway?”
“Go for it,” Tara giggled.
“To new beginnings,” Willow replied, smiling sweetly, feeling her heart flutter when Tara gave a similar smile in response.
“To new beginnings.”
Last edited by Laragh on Wed Dec 14, 2011 7:56 am, edited 2 times in total.
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