Ethan said, as he followed me into my dorm room and set down the vintage surfboard I asked him to carry with the utmost care .
I had to agree with him. My roommate hadn’t arrived yet, and the stark university-provided mattresses and furniture looked utterly depressing.
“It’s not that bad,” I said, hoping I could convince myself of that fact, but truthfully , between the concrete walls, the bland furniture and the one window, I was cringing. Decorations and personal touches were definitely in order.
“There’s room at my house,” Ethan offered, as he poked his head into the bathroom my roommate and I would share with two other girls in the adjoining room. He made a face and turned around to appraise me.
“Where would you like me to sleep? In the workout room or in Garrett’s office? Last time I checked, there wasn’t a lot of extra space .”
“You can sleep in my room with me,” he offered, and although we’d shared a bed plenty of times throughout our lives, I wasn’t about to do it on a permanent basis.
I shook my head and walked over to the window. “You kick in your sleep. No way.” I turned around to see Ethan open his mouth to protest my accusations . “Besides, what would you do with me when you brought a girl home?”
“With you around, I don’t need any other girls,” he insisted, and I just rolled my eyes and gave him a look that told me I didn’t believe that for a second.
“Or you could just join us,” he said, shrugging in nonchalance, so I threw my pillow at him.
“Knock, knock,” a female voice said, and I wondered if it was my roommate. A tall brunette popped her head into the room. “Hi, are you Logan Kessler or Henley Hill ?”
“ I’m Logan,” I said, crossing the room to shake her hand.
“Well, I’m Riley, your R.A.,” she said warmly. I looked back to see Ethan staring with his mouth open when she directed her next question to him. “And you are?”
He closed his mouth and cleared his throat. “Ethan Lewis,” he said, puffing up his chest just a little. “Logan and I are just friends.”
Riley smiled. “That’s nice. It’s good to have a friend on campus. I came here from Iowa, so I didn’t know anyone.”
Ethan just stared, and I smiled, not sure what else to say. I wasn’t a big fan of meeting new people, and I wasn’t great with small talk.
“Alright, well, it was nice meeting you. I’m down the hall, room 412. If you need anything, just knock, and if you see a big, sweaty football player walking around, don’t worry, that’s just my boyfriend Troy.”
“Duly noted,” Ethan muttered, as Riley closed the door.
“Well can you blame her?” I asked, as I walked over and smacked him on the back of his head. “You were practically drooling. You’d better not do that to my new roommate.”
“ O w w ,” Ethan said, rubbing the back of his head. “I can’t make any promises, especially if she’s hot.”
I just rolled my eyes , turned up a song I liked by The Gaslight Anthem, and got to work unpacking. I put Ethan in charge of hanging things on the wall, even though it wasn’t really a manly job since I was just using wall putty. But he did a good job of hanging my iconic poster of the movie North Shore, a cheesy eighties movie about a guy who wins a surf contest in Arizona and goes to surf the big waves of the North Shore in Hawaii. We’d watched it countless times growing up.
Then he arranged my vintage surfboard in the corner by the window so you could see it when you walked in the room and lined up all my pictures of my family and friends on my desk and set up my TV, DVD player, laptop and printer. So I figured he’d earned the lunch I promised to buy him if he helped.
Then I turned my back for a second, and when I turned around, I saw he had put a framed copy of one of the full-page pictures of Garrett and me from Celebrity Weekly on top of the mini fridge I’d put at the head of my bed . It was of the two of us sitting on
I had to agree with him. My roommate hadn’t arrived yet, and the stark university-provided mattresses and furniture looked utterly depressing.
“It’s not that bad,” I said, hoping I could convince myself of that fact, but truthfully , between the concrete walls, the bland furniture and the one window, I was cringing. Decorations and personal touches were definitely in order.
“There’s room at my house,” Ethan offered, as he poked his head into the bathroom my roommate and I would share with two other girls in the adjoining room. He made a face and turned around to appraise me.
“Where would you like me to sleep? In the workout room or in Garrett’s office? Last time I checked, there wasn’t a lot of extra space .”
“You can sleep in my room with me,” he offered, and although we’d shared a bed plenty of times throughout our lives, I wasn’t about to do it on a permanent basis.
I shook my head and walked over to the window. “You kick in your sleep. No way.” I turned around to see Ethan open his mouth to protest my accusations . “Besides, what would you do with me when you brought a girl home?”
“With you around, I don’t need any other girls,” he insisted, and I just rolled my eyes and gave him a look that told me I didn’t believe that for a second.
“Or you could just join us,” he said, shrugging in nonchalance, so I threw my pillow at him.
“Knock, knock,” a female voice said, and I wondered if it was my roommate. A tall brunette popped her head into the room. “Hi, are you Logan Kessler or Henley Hill ?”
“ I’m Logan,” I said, crossing the room to shake her hand.
“Well, I’m Riley, your R.A.,” she said warmly. I looked back to see Ethan staring with his mouth open when she directed her next question to him. “And you are?”
He closed his mouth and cleared his throat. “Ethan Lewis,” he said, puffing up his chest just a little. “Logan and I are just friends.”
Riley smiled. “That’s nice. It’s good to have a friend on campus. I came here from Iowa, so I didn’t know anyone.”
Ethan just stared, and I smiled, not sure what else to say. I wasn’t a big fan of meeting new people, and I wasn’t great with small talk.
“Alright, well, it was nice meeting you. I’m down the hall, room 412. If you need anything, just knock, and if you see a big, sweaty football player walking around, don’t worry, that’s just my boyfriend Troy.”
“Duly noted,” Ethan muttered, as Riley closed the door.
“Well can you blame her?” I asked, as I walked over and smacked him on the back of his head. “You were practically drooling. You’d better not do that to my new roommate.”
“ O w w ,” Ethan said, rubbing the back of his head. “I can’t make any promises, especially if she’s hot.”
I just rolled my eyes , turned up a song I liked by The Gaslight Anthem, and got to work unpacking. I put Ethan in charge of hanging things on the wall, even though it wasn’t really a manly job since I was just using wall putty. But he did a good job of hanging my iconic poster of the movie North Shore, a cheesy eighties movie about a guy who wins a surf contest in Arizona and goes to surf the big waves of the North Shore in Hawaii. We’d watched it countless times growing up.
Then he arranged my vintage surfboard in the corner by the window so you could see it when you walked in the room and lined up all my pictures of my family and friends on my desk and set up my TV, DVD player, laptop and printer. So I figured he’d earned the lunch I promised to buy him if he helped.
Then I turned my back for a second, and when I turned around, I saw he had put a framed copy of one of the full-page pictures of Garrett and me from Celebrity Weekly on top of the mini fridge I’d put at the head of my bed . It was of the two of us sitting on
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