Sleepy Hollow

I look around the campus where people are running around, throwing stuff, or couples making out. I grab some of my stuff along with my mom and step-father, George. I don't like him, at all. He doesn't have any kids but I'm sure if he did, he'd favor them over me. But seeing that he doesn't, I am stuck with being his favorite child; even though I'm not his.

As I walk past a group of guys they whistle and make comments, I smile at them. My mother is "appalled", I like college so far. There are coffee shops and vendors, the library is close to my building so I won't have to go far for studying; plus my classes are all by each other this semester. My mom follows behind me while I walk in the direction of my dorm, I walk around pretending to be lost so George can feel the pain of his hip, I really don't like him. He called my phone to lecture me while we were driving up here, I don't need him lecturing me about stuff I don't even do.

I reach my building floor and start looking for my door to unlock so my mother can comment about it, she's going to no matter how nice it may look. I find my door and unlock, I must say I like the room. And my mom and George are paying for it, suckers.

I hear my mother gasp as she takes in the sight of the other side of the room, my roommate's side. I personally like it, it's cool. And so is she, I know my mom doesn't approve.

“Hi, you must be Katrina," this purple haired girl says. She hugs me, which is a complete surprise.

“You can call me Kat, that's what everyone else calls me," I tell her.

“Well, I am so glad you are finally here, your side of the room is completely empty and I don't like it. You have to decorate it quickly or I might explode from how plain it is."

“I didn't catch your name."

“I'm Anna."

“We're going to get the rest of your stuff from the car," my mom says. "Or maybe before we do, you can talk to someone about changing rooms."

“Mom, don't be rude," I say.

“Let's go dear," George says.

“Your parents seem nice," Anna says when my mom and George leave.

“They're not, and George is my step-dad. He's horrible," I tell her. "I hate him."

“I hate step-parents, they think they are the shit or something."

George and my mother walk in with more of my stuff, Anna is pulling stuff out of the box labeled 'decor', I don't mind her doing it. My mom and George pull me out of my room to talk to me, I leave the door open a little bit.

“Do you really want to room with someone like her, Katrina," my mom asks.

“Someone like her," I ask.

“Yes. She has purple hair and tattoos and piercings."

“I like her, she's different. I'll be fine, it's not like I'm going to dye my hair bright pink and get tats."

“If you do, we will disown you," George says.

"Disown me? You can't disown someone who isn't yours, George," I snap at him. "Now I have to unpack and get stuff ready for classes."

I walk into my room and see Anna looking at my princess lights, she smiles at me when she sees me. I help Anna decorate for a while, she seems satisfied when we hang up my last light so I start unpacking clothes. I literally just throw them into drawers, I'll fix them later. After I get done arranging my laptop and lamp on my desk, my phone rings, I smile at who is calling me.

“Hi, dad," I say. I look over at Anna but she has her headphones on listening to music, I sit in my desk chair.

“Hey, honey, did you get settled in yet," my dad asks.

“Yeah, no thanks to mom and the step-monster."

“How do you like your room? Is your roommate a nice person?"

“I love the room and Anna is cool."

“You should come by the house for supper tonight, I know Emma is dying to see you."

Emma is the person my dad is seeing, I've only heard her voice over the phone when my dad didn't answer. She sounds nice and my dad loves her, I tried so hard to avoid meeting her; nerves and everything.

“Okay dad, I'll be there." The door to my room suddenly opens, I look between the people walking in and Anna. "I gotta go, dad."

“Bye, Kat, I love you."

I hang up my phone and sit silently in my chair, Anna doesn't seem to notice the three guys since her music is really loud. One of them sits on my bed and I look at him, quickly looking away when he notices me.

“For fuck's sake, Anna," one of them say while knocking Anna's headphones off.

“What the hell, Scott," Anna says. She turns her music off and fixes her purple hair, I chew on my lip.

“Let's go," the one named Scott says. He has really light brown hair and tattoos, his eyebrow is pierced.

“Let me get my purse."

“We texted you like fifteen minutes ago. You couldn't have had your shit together then," the blonde haired one asks. He has fewer tattoos than Scott, and his lip is pierced.

“You guys are seriously some of the rudest guys I've ever met," Anna says. She looks at me and rolls her eyes, I laugh a little. "This is my new roommate Katrina but you can call her Kat." I look up at them, they're kind of intimidating with their tattoos and piercings. "Kat, these are the three dick heads. Scott, Logan, and Zach."

Zach is really dark haired, almost like mine, even with the highlights I have. But he has a lip and nose piercing, there are tattoos peeking out from under his shirt. I look away again when his eyes look at me, they're a really cold blue.

“Hi," I say.

“Wanna come with us," Logan asks.

“Where are you going?"

“Out to eat," Anna tells me.

“Campus food sucks."

“I don't know."

“Please, Kat? Don't leave me alone with these three, they'll tease me so much and I might cry."

“Fine." I grab my purse and phone, the five of us leave the room. Anna is talking with Scott, but it sounds more like flirting. I am walking slower than them so I don't have to hear it, Logan is walking next to me.

“Hi," Logan says.

“Hi," I say back.

“Do you live in town?"

“What kind of question is that?"

“A nervous one I guess."

“I don't live in town, my dad does. My mom lives like three hours away from here."

“Divorce child?"

“Yeah. I'd prefer my dad over my mom any day."

"You two are so fucking slow, get in the truck," Scott yells. Logan opens the door for me and we crawl in, I get stuck between Logan and Zach.

“Logan quit drooling all over Kat."

“I'm not drooling," Logan says.

“You can't sleep with her, she's only been here for like an hour," Anna says.

“So where are we going," I ask.

“It's a little diner in town, Zach likes it but he won't admit it," Anna says. Zach rolls his eyes and goes back to looking at his phone, I kind of want to know what he's doing. "You'll like it, Kat, it's nice."

“Okay."

When we stop I see the diner, my heart drops. My dad used to bring me and my mom here all the time before they split up, I don't want to get out of the truck. I use to love going here with my parents, it was always perfect.

“Kat," Logan asks. I look at him and get out of the truck anyway, I keep my eyes on my shoes. "You okay?"

“Yeah, I'm fine," I say.

“Seriously, you two are so fucking slow," Scott says. We catch up to them and sit in the booth, I get the outside next to Zach; he's still on his phone. Logan is sitting across from me, I get a smile from him. “Zach, get off your phone."

“I don't think that's going to happen, he's glued to it," I say. Logan, Scott, and Anna laugh, I get a dirty look from Zach. "So, is the food good here?"

“It's incredible," Anna tells me. "You have to try to soup here, it's incredible."

“I'll take your word for it." I look around the diner and catch someone's eyes, I look away from his hazel stare.

“Hey guys," his voice says.

“What do you want, Cameron," Scott asks.

“I just wanted to talk to this hot brunette over here." I watch him pull a chair up and sit close to me, his hand on my leg. "Hi, Kat."

“H-hi, Cam," I say. I look up at him and meet his eyes, his hair is longer than when I last saw him, but he still looks the same.

“You two know each other," Logan asks.

“Yeah," Cam tells him. "I dated this girl for two and a half years."

“You two dated," Anna asks.

“Oh yeah, we had lots of fun together. Didn't we, Kat?"

“I-I gu-guess," I say.

“Well, I have to go. Do you go to school here now, Kat?"

“Yeah."

“I'll see ya around then." Cam leaves and I look around, I rub my hands on my jeans.

“So you and Cam," Anna asks.

“Can we not talk about," I ask.

“Did you guys fuck," Zach's voice asks.

“You talk," I ask him. I turn and look at Zach, his phone is completely gone now.

“Yeah."

“That's a surprise since you're glued to your phone."

“You're avoiding the question."

“That's because it's private."

“I'll take it as you didn't."

I get up and leave, storming out of the diner. I walk down the sidewalk towards my dad's house, I just want to leave and be alone. I take my phone out and start to dial my dad's number, someone grabs my arm. I turn around and see Zach, I take my arm out of his hold.

"What do you want," I snap at him.

“Where are you going," Zach asks.

“Nowhere that concerns you."

“Well, Anna wants to know."

“I'm going to my dad's house."

“Where's that?"

“Why?"

“Anna seems to like you so she's going to be worried if she doesn't know. She’s protective of her girl friends like that."

“It's a couple blocks away." I start walking and hear someone behind me, I try not to yell at him. "Why are you following me?"

“I'm not following you, I'm going to my friend's house."

“You mean you actually have friends?"

“Why do you find that surprising?"

“Well since you never look up from your phone I'm surprised you can socialize with other people and actually have a conversation."

Zach just rolls his eyes at me and we continue walking.

****************

“Well bye," I say to Zach quickly when I'm standing in front of my dad's house.

“Bye," Zach asks.

“Yeah, this is my dad's house."

“This is Brandon's house."

“Zach, get your ass in here," a brown-haired guy says.

I watch Zach walk up the steps and head inside, they are both gone from my sight.

“Shit," I say under my breath. I walk in and look around, there's no sign of Zach or Brandon. "Dad?"

“Kat is that you," my dad's voice asks. He appears in the doorway of the kitchen, I get a smile. "What are you doing here?"

“I decided I was going to stop by. Early," I quickly say.

“Honey, Brandon has-" I turn around to see a woman with light hair, just like Brandon's, this must be Emma. "Is this Kat?"

“Yeah, this is my beautiful daughter Kat," my dad says. I feel my dad's lips in my hair, Emma walks closer to us. "This is Emma, my fiancée."