When Sydney Sherwood was thirteen, she fell in love. She was utterly enamoured with Carter Pearson - the cute, enigmatic, brilliant fourteen year old who lived across the street. But, after only a few months, Carter and his family disappeared, leavi...
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My room was colder than I expected. My luggage had been limited on the flight over and now I found myself longing for the abundance of cozy blankets I had at home. Sighing, I sat up and switched my light on, looking around my new room.
It was a little worn, clearly having housed countless students before me, but nice enough once I'd strung up fairy lights and stuck photos from home to my wall. It was a two bedroom apartment, with two girls, Alice and Maya, sharing the other room. After my first year of university back in England having a room to myself, one of the biggest things I'd worried about my year abroad was how I'd deal with having a roommate. But, when I arrived at the accommodation services to pick up my key, I was informed that the girl I was supposed to share with had withdrawn her place last minute so, unless someone else ended up needing it, I had the room to myself.
After my first evening with my new flatmates, they seemed nice. Alice was the sweetest girl I'd ever met, with Rapunzel-esque long blonde hair and big blue eyes to match. She spoke in a soft, melodic voice, like she was an actual Disney princess. Maya, on the other hand, was the total opposite. When I met her briefly in the kitchen earlier she'd been a little intimidating; her dark eyes were accentuated by sharply winged eyeliner and her lips were tinted a deep berry shade. Plus, she towered over me at what must have been six feet tall.
But I was thousands of miles away from anyone I knew so for now Alice and Maya were my best bet at not spending the next four years a total loner. Slowly, I clambered out of bed, tugging my fluffy robe on over my pyjamas.
I padded out of my room and across the hall to kitchen/living room; to my surprise both of my flatmates were on the sofa.
"Can't sleep either?" Alice asked when she saw me.
I shook my head. "It's too cold and... different."
Maya patted the space next to her on the sofa. "Come join us. We were just saying we should do some game - never have I ever, that kind of thing - to get to know each other better."
I complied, sitting down beside Maya and tucking my feet underneath myself. Already, I felt a little less lonely, a little less lost.
"Oh, I know! Let's play twenty questions!" Alice exclaimed. Usually, I wasn't a big fan of ice breakers, but Alice's enthusiasm was contagious. "I'll Google some now."
I glanced across at Maya, who was smiling to herself. "Sounds good," she told Alice.
"Ooh, here's a good one!" Alice said, grinning. "Have you ever been in love?"
As we'd learned from her answers so far, Alice was a romantic. She'd been with her boyfriend, Sam, for two years and was clearly totally in love with him.
"Not me," Maya said. "I'm one for brief flings only, a bit of fun, nothing more. I'm too young to be in love."
"You can never be too young for love!" Alice countered, then turned to me, the quietest member of our new trio. "What do you think, Sydney?"
