Chapter One – Ash
Mom and I went through the basics on repeat as she helped me lug all of my stuff to my dorm room. I’ll be fine being the response I said most. I knew my mom was freaking out a little—who wouldn’t be, when their one kid was about to become the only girl going to Hillcrest University? Out of probably thousands of applicants, they’d picked me. I had no idea why.
The next thing I said most was: No, you don’t have to stay to meet him. Him meaning my roommate. I was rooming with the dean’s son, so there was really nothing my mom had to worry about.
Oh, and who could forget lucky number three: Yes, I have the rape whistle you gave me. Yes, I will always keep it on my person and use it if I have to. Yes, I’m aware that kicking and screaming and generally making a scene is the best way to get out of a sticky situation.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved my mom, but sometimes she could be a little over the top.
We’d already had tours of campus before. During senior year of high school, when I first found out I was coming to Hillcrest and being their guinea pig, it was all my mom and I practically did. Orientation, scheduling, private tours done by the dean himself—it was nonstop, seriously.
My mom sighed as she sat on the edge of my bed, gazing around at the dorm room. My roommate wasn’t here; he’d been here already, all his stuff unpacked, but if I had to guess, I’d say he was laying low somewhere else, letting me acclimate. Or maybe he just didn’t want to meet my parents and have things be super awkward.
He needn’t worry about the parents bit. I lived with my mom since I was four years old. My dad ran off with some secretary or something, but we did okay. This trial run at Hillcrest University was the only way I was able to afford to come to a private university. Mom and I weren’t overflowing with money. Usually we lived paycheck to paycheck—not a good way to live life, but you take what you can get in this world.
HU was one of the few colleges left in the United States that only accepted male students. Privately owned, it was full of people with money. I didn’t know whether they weren’t making as much as they wanted or if the owners of the school were feeling the pressure to adapt to the modern times—modern times as in like a century ago—and accept female students. Maybe a bit of both. They could have the best of both worlds, the rich boys and the hoity-toity girls.
I had no idea why I was chosen to be the test subject, but I wasn’t going to complain. Having Hillcrest on my resume once I started applying for jobs was going to look good. Plus, my tuition was next to nothing. You couldn’t beat that.
“I wish I could stay longer,” my mom, Helen, spoke as her eyes scanned the room. Her blonde hair was tied back in a low ponytail, her body a tad too thin. She worked as a photographer, and she worked herself ragged when she had jobs. The problem with being a photographer was that there weren’t always jobs floating around. “But I have an appointment at three with a client.”
The dorm room wasn’t like a typical freshman dorm. Kelsey, my best friend, had moved into her dorm room last week, and she showed me pictures of it. First off, her dorm had no AC. I would die if I didn’t have air conditioning. This was the Twenty-First Century; it was time to install AC in every building, wasn’t it? Secondly, her bed, along with her roomie’s bed, were both on top bunks, which left a bit of space under them for a futon and a TV. That’s it. You could literally stand in between the two beds and touch both bed frames. Her room was like a jail cell—and it’s what I would be stuck in if I hadn’t stumbled into this opportunity.
Kelsey was both hella mad and hella jealous that I was going to an all-boys’ school, but I placated her somewhat by telling her she could visit anytime she wanted. I’d take her to all the parties her little heart desired. I mean, Hillcrest was all boys, but there had to be parties, right? There was a public college about twenty minutes away from here. The two student bodies had to comingle.
I was very lucky in that my dorm room was huge. It was bigger than a freaking hotel room. The two beds were pushed on opposite walls, two large windows directly behind each bed frame. We had our own little kitchenette area, along with our own private bathroom. I couldn’t imagine using a communal bathroom with every single guy living on the same floor. Ew. The nastiness. At least here, I’d only have to share with one guy. He and I would definitely have to talk about cleanliness, because I was not going to clean up his shit. If he clogged the toilet, he was going to be unclogging it.
“It’s okay, Mom,” I said, sitting next to her. “I have unpacking to do, anyway.” All of my stuff currently sat in boxes. I had to put all of my clothes in the dresser and the closet, and then I had to put the sheets on the bed. Right now, we sat on the plastic covering that enveloped the mattress.
She kept looking around, frowning. “I do wish I could meet your roommate. I don’t like leaving you here without—” My mom was a worry wart. She had all these terrible notions that I was going to be ostracized and bullied and made fun of constantly because I was the only girl here.
Maybe. People could be assholes, but I could handle them.
I ran my fingers through my hair, bringing its pink lengths before my face, acting bored as I tried to spot some split-ends. It wasn’t all pink. Just half of it. The other half was a bright, natural blonde, so light it was near white. I’d inherited my hair color from my mom. “I’ll be fine. Declan’s the dean’s son. If he does or says anything wrong, I’ll head straight to the dean.” I dropped my hair as I patted the pocket on my jean shorts. “After I blow the whistle, of course.”
My mom frowned at me for a bit, but the frown soon gave way to a chuckle and a smile. She reached for me, pulling me into a hug, squeezing me just a bit too tightly. “I’m going to miss you so much, honey. Home won’t be the same without you. I know you probably want to have the college experience, but if you ever want to come home for the weekend, just let me know, and I’ll come pick you up.”
Right. Because being poor growing up did not lend itself to me having my own car. I’d had part-time jobs here and there, but all my money had gone to my mom to help pay the bills. I hoped she’d be okay without me.
“I will,” I said once the hug ended. We stared at each other for a bit. Leaving each other would be a new experience for the both of us. We were all each other had for so long now. After Dad left…well, let’s just say we were close, and as I grew up and realized how much of an asshole my dear daddy was, Mom and I bonded like gossiping friends.
“Text me every day,” Helen went on. “I want to know about your classes, if anyone tries to be your friend—”
I noted how she said friend and not boyfriend. My mom was of the vein that boys were no good and rotten. I didn’t blame her for thinking that way, but I knew not all of them were bad. Yes, there’d be some assholes here, but there had to be cool guys, too. If I came home for the weekend with news of a boyfriend…
Oh, my mom would flip. She’d flip, and it’d be so funny. Just like when I’d told her Jeremy has asked me to prom and that I was going to after prom with him. After flipping shit for two days straight, she’d finally calmed down and told me that if I was going to have sex, I better be smart enough to use a condom.