The Troublesome Roommate
Автор
Farah N. M.
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Karina Johnson moves to Kensington determined to keep her life simple: college, friends, and independence. That plan falters when she’s assigned a roommate like James Pearson. James leans into his reputation and sees no reason to change it, while Karina refuses to view him as anything but trouble. Forced to live together, minor irritations give way to tension to something far more complicated. As secrets surface and boundaries blur, they learn that first impressions rarely tell the whole story, and that proximity has a way of changing everything.
Chapter 1: The Arrival
KARINA
Karina stood in the bustling corridor after her hour-long drive from her home in Northampton. Her acceptance letter had arrived the week before, and now she found herself feeling dazed in a sea of new students, some of whom would be her classmates for the next three years.
The idea made her nervous, but she was determined to make the most of her time here. She had worked hard for it.
Before the day of her departure, she had talked with her father about studying in London. She had never been so far from home before, she thought.
“Well, that’s part of growing up,” she remembered him saying. “You get to make your own decisions and choose your kind of people.”
“But Dad, what if I come off as someone weird?”
Her dad had then wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “It’s their loss then. If you’d do your stuff without that fear, you’d make friends as you go along.”
She inhaled deeply as she adjusted the purple knapsack on her shoulder and rolled her medium-sized titanium silver and maroon bags beside her. The first thing to do before getting the timetable was to locate her dormitory.
She began looking for some sort of noticeboard, but there was none in sight. She began to panic. What if she hadn’t been assigned a dormitory at all?
Her heart steadied as she spotted a couple of girls at a noticeboard near a fire extinguisher. Karina sighed and walked up to them, hoping they were new students like her.
“Excuse me?” she began softly. “Are you looking for the dormitories?”
“Yeah, we’re first-years,” the girl with a pair of green spectacles and honey highlights replied. “Do you know where they are?”
“Oh, I’m new too. My name’s Karina Johnson.”
The girl extended her hand. “I’m Fallon Pearson. And this is Mariana Perez, my flatmate from Spain.”
“Oh, hi! I’m glad to meet some first-years,” Karina continued. “I thought they’d all be in class already or something.”
“Well, I arrived in London yesterday,” replied Mariana with a thick accent. “My cousin lives here with her husband. She insisted that I stay at her place while I’m here, but I thought sharing a dormitory would be better.”
“It’s a good thing, by the way,” Fallon added, “or else I’d be alone. It’s a shame my brother’s not sharing our flat instead of yours.”
“Your brother?” asked Karina.
“Yeah, I’ve got a twin.”
The two girls looked at her with surprise. Fallon blushed before turning to the noticeboard and scanning the circular for some now familiar names. “Here, found him! Ooh! Karina, you’re sharing a room with him.”
Karina craned her neck and stared hard at where Fallon’s finger rested against the glass. Right below her name was the name she had been wondering about. “James Pearson?” she asked skeptically.
“Yeah. What’s wrong?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s a guy. I’ve never been around guys that much, let alone shared a flat with one.”
“Oh, don’t worry too much,” Fallon said, waving her hand. “He may be a handful at times, but really he’s quite lovely.”
“Well, I guess it’s up to me to see whether he’s a handful or lovely, as you say,” Karina replied sheepishly.
“Don’t worry, you can come to me if he’s troubling you too much.”
The girls laughed as they began walking toward their dormitories when they heard someone calling behind them.
“Excuse me? Do you know where the dorms are for the new students?”
They turned and looked at her. She had her purple jacket open and her bags in her hands. She was huffing as though she’d run a marathon to arrive at Royal College of Art.
“My name’s Darrell Kingsley. Please, can you tell me where the dorms are?”
Karina returned to the noticeboard. “Darrell Kingsley,” she murmured. “I’ve seen your name here not too long ago—there you are! You’re with me.”
Darrell walked up and sighed in relief. “Thank goodness you’re there. Was beginning to think I’d be left alone in the dorm.”
“Not really,” said Karina lazily, “you’d still have the company of a guy.”
“What?”
“That’s right, we share our flat with Fallon’s twin brother here.”
Darrell glanced between Karina and Fallon, trying to make sense of what she had heard. “Well, I hope it’ll be—all right?” she responded hesitantly.
“You’ll be fine,” Fallon assured her.
The four girls chatted and laughed as they made their way to their assigned dormitories. They were about a mile off campus, but that wasn’t a bad arrangement.
As they walked, Karina couldn’t rid herself of thoughts about having a boy as a flatmate. Is he gonna be as decent as Fallon had described him to be, or much worse? How will he behave with two girls?
“We’ll see you muchachas later.” Mariana’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. “Our flat is on this side. We can meet up after we’ve settled in.”
The late afternoon air was crisp with the faint hum of the city. Karina and Darrell bid goodbye to Fallon and Mariana as they walked toward their flats.
They had begun to chat some more when something, or someone, shoved Karina’s shoulder out of the way. “Whoa! Easy there, mate,” she exclaimed, adjusting the strap of her knapsack, which had slipped from the impact.
The person who had shoved her turned around and glanced between the two girls. Karina held herself back from letting her gaze roam over his frame. He must have been at least a head and a half taller than her, especially with that mass of thick, messy brown hair on his crown.
His brows were creased in a slight frown, and his lips looked lusciously full, as though he’d just been snogging a female student in the bathroom. “Take a picture, kitten. It’ll last longer.”
She looked up and saw him smirk at her. She straightened herself immediately. “Well.” She cleared her throat. “I’m here to study. Not snog with little buggers like you.”
The boy slowly walked up to her, amused by how she was trying to keep her composure in front of him. “Well then, good luck with it,” he whispered to her. “It looks like we’ll be seeing each other for a while.”
“Let’s go, Karina,” Darrell said quietly as she tugged at her arm. “He’s not worth it.”
The two girls continued to walk away from the boy, but Karina couldn’t stop thinking about the way he had looked at her just a few seconds ago. The late afternoon air was certainly playing tricks with her head, so she quickly shook the thoughts off and let Darrell take the lead to the flat.
When they arrived, they were surprised to see the front door unlocked. Perhaps James had already settled in. The girls entered the flat and took it in; it was a humble student flat with a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and a couple of bedrooms.
Although it felt rather empty, basic appliances such as the hob, washing machine, and fridge made it look just about manageable for them. “This looks cozy,” Darrell murmured, putting her bags on the dining table chairs. “Let’s hope James doesn’t screw things up.”
Karina laughed softly behind her. “I suppose he’s already gone to Fallon to ask how to live with girls.”
“Or maybe he’s gone to Tesco,” she added. “Check the fridge.”
Karina opened the fridge door. It contained merely some bottles of Fanta, Irn-Bru, and Diet Coke. Probably James had stocked them.
“Oh wait, did you get the timetable?” Darrell asked. “The classes begin next week.”
“Uh, no. I was thinking we’d go after making a visit to the supermarket.”
“I think James must’ve gone to sort out our timetables. I’ll head to Fallon’s to check if he’s there. Would you be all right?”
“Yeah, I think so. I’ll check which bedroom is ours, and then we’ll sort our stuff together.”
“Okay,” Darrell replied chirpily and walked out of the flat.
Karina sighed again. Now that she was alone in the flat, she felt that sharing this flat with two other students wouldn’t be half bad. She was used to sharing her bedroom with her sister at home, so sharing one with Darrell would be something similar.
She entered one of the rooms where a few clothes were laid out on one of the beds and a couple of bags were zipped open. This must be taken by James, she thought to herself. She quietly closed the door and made her way to the other room.
This one felt empty. Once Darrell returned, they’d make it more comfortable and lively. Smiling to herself, she rolled her bags inside and placed them near one of the two single beds. Darrell would take up the other.
The front door closed, echoing in the flat louder than anticipated. Was she back so soon? “Hello? Anyone in there?” A deep, masculine voice called out.
This must be James, Karina thought nervously. She removed her trainers and slowly walked out of the room. “Hi, I’m your new—you!”
The boy whom she assumed to be her flatmate turned in her direction with his hands on his hips. His eyes widened momentarily before they were replaced with a cheeky glint.
“Why, hello there, kitten. We meet again.”
