Just Call Me Ali

My foot tapped anxiously on the ground as I waited for my luggage. London, England. I was finally here. Finally a chance for a new life. A new beginning. Boy, was I ever ready. I spotted my purple suitcase coming around the belt and grabbed it, pulling it to my side. Now, to find a taxi.

I pulled my luggage along outside to the cab parking lot. Many white cars were parked, waiting for customers. I walked up to a random car, pulling my coat closer to my body. London was much colder than Texas. Once inside the cab, the driver spoke.

“Where will I be taking you, miss?” My lord, the British accent.

I pulled out the paper with the Residence Hall address and handed it to him with a smile. He read off of it and nodded.

I sat back in the seat and put my seatbelt on just as the cab pulled away from the curb.

London was quite different from the suburban environment of Texas. There were so many old looking building in London. People hustled about on the red brick sidewalks, wearing large coats to keep warm. There were so many people out on such a cold day. Back in Texas, we would be inside our homes trying desperately to keep warm with blasting heaters and hot chocolate. I smiled at the thought. Home was always home. It was always my parents and I. We had grown a tight bond, but their expectations for me ruined that quite easily.

They always wanted me to be the best in the class. My parents constantly compared me to others around me, and always put studies first. I could never lose my temper around them, because they were such good parents. Some would call them over protective, and so did I. I understood, though. I was their only child, let alone a female. Of course they would want to take extra good care of me.

Still, my parents had isolated me from society. Every day, I would come home from school and hit the books, studying like a madman. It was my life, and I was used to it, even if it pissed me off. I wanted something different. I wanted to see the world, and I was finally getting to do so with this scholarship to the top college in London. The fact that it was in London was just a bonus. That fact that One Direction were constantly around London was a double bonus.

I had a very large obsession over the band. It was a bit out of my limits, and my parents hated them. They were completely against the five boys who were my only obsession. My parents constantly told me that they would never do anything for my education, that all they would do is take my money. My parents banned and type of poster or simply just anything related to them from being in the house. Little did they know I had downloaded all three of their albums. It was all I truly had of them.

“Miss?” the driver interrupted. The car had stopped in front of a huge building that towered over me. I had searched up pictures of the London School of Economics residence hall, but it definitely hadn’t looked this big.

I grinned widely and stepped out of the car. After grabbing my luggage from the back, I paid the driver and made my way up the walkway. It was a ridiculously large building. One that I would be staying in for four years. I had memorized my room number and followed the signs to the 400-414 rooms.

I reached room 410 and grabbed the keys I had received in the mail to unlock the door. The letter had stated that I would have a roommate. I was more than excited to meet whoever this girl was. I hoped that she was nice and had an amazing British accent.

I unlocked the door and took a deep breath before pushing the door open.

I screamed.

The guy on the couch stared at me, looking a bit shocked. I was scared as hell.

“Who are you?” he asked, standing up slowly. He didn’t have a shirt on, and I tried oh so very hard not the stare at his prominent six-pack. His British accent rung through my ears.

“This is my room.” I said sternly, keeping my eyes on his.

“Correction,” his smiled. “It’s our room. You must be my new roommate.”

My eyes widened. There was no way in hell I was going to live with this guy. Sure, he was mighty fine, and his face was gorgeous, but it was a guy.

“There must have been some mistake.” I stuttered in a rush.

“You’re Anali Patel, aren’t you?” the boy questioned, approaching me. I winced when I saw his bare top half. He noticed and quickly apologized. He hurried into a room and came back out with a shirt on. Thank god.

“To answer, your question, yes, I am Anali. But you can just call me Ali.” I’ve always wanted to be called Ali but my parents didn’t like nicknames. They thought that nicknames were disrespectful to the people who named you. Epic eye roll.

“Ali,” the boy nodded. “I’m Brett Kreus. Nice to meet you.”

Brett held out his hand and grinned at me. My lord, he was such a good-looking person. I scolded myself and quickly shook his hand.

“So you knew your new roommate was going to be a girl?” I asked, setting my suitcase down. Brett shrugged and nodded.

“We’re going to have to share the same room,” he blushed a bit. “But we’ve got separate beds. Is that alright with you?”

If only my parents knew.

“Sure,” I sighed. “But if you’re secretly a rapist, I will not hesitate to knee you in the balls.”

“Ouch,” Brett laughed, motioning for me to follow him. I grinned with satisfaction and followed him. He led me into what seemed to be the bedroom. I was surprised at how neat and tidy the room was, considering he was a guy. I expected to see underwear and left over garbage thrown carelessly on the floor. The beds were connected together like a bunk bed, only one bed was sticking out. It was a unique kind of furniture. The walls weren’t really decorated all too much, just with a single picture and blue painted walls.

“Would you like the top bunk or bottom bunk?” Brett asked, glancing at me.

“Which one do you normally sleep on?” I questioned.

“That bottom one, just because it’s easier to get to.” Brett shrugged, “but you can choose.”
“I’ll take the top one.” I answered hesitantly. The idea of rooming with a guy still hadn’t quite sunk into me. I didn’t have a brother, let alone siblings at all. The bunk with a random guy that I barely knew was a whole hundred miles out of my comfort zone.

“You alright?” Brett asked, interrupting my thoughts. I quickly nodded and set my suitcase down on the ground. “The bathroom is right down the hall and the kitchen is to the right. It’s quite small but it’ll be enough for the two of us.”

“Thank you.” I smiled, giving him a hard look which was his cue to leave. Brett gave me a short nod and left the room.

I exhaled the large breath I had been holding in and sat down on the bottom bed. This was crazy. What was I thinking, agreeing to house with a boy? I couldn’t trust anyone here, not yet. I didn’t know anyone. My parents had taught me to protect myself, especially from the male population. There were so many creeps out there that treated girls like crap, and I didn’t want to be one of those girls. Yet, Brett definitely did not come off as one to hurt me. He seemed quite nice, and extremely polite. I debated on giving him a chance, then decided that I should. This was s tart to my new college life.

I unzipped my suitcase and pulled out a pair of sweatpants, a decent shirt, and undergarments. I couldn’t help but think that staying with Brett was a bad idea. I hoped I wouldn’t regret it.

Notes

Hello all you pretty little faces! This is my new story!!!!! I'm gonna give Louis a try, though I've honestly got no clue how it's going to be. Hope you'll enjoy, and I think we should all cross our fingers that this'll be a good one!!

- lalaladoo(o)