Page 6 of I Despise You

Brittany takes me through the whole school, showing me the cafeteria, the library, the classrooms, and even the gym. Finally, we end up on the other side of the campus, where the dorms are.

“Your room is just down the hallway.” Brittany points at the door. “Your key should be on the desk. If you need anything else, just let me know.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” Her gaze lingers on me, and I can’t read her expression. Then she spins on her heel and strolls away.

I make my way down the hallway. Some of the doors are open, and the students are getting settled in, ready for the new school year. I really hope I’m ready too.

Just as I’m about to reach for the door handle, a girl with shoulder-length light brown hair and brown eyes opens the door next to mine.

“Hey,” she says, a small smile spreading across her lips. “Are you lost? Freshmen are not on this floor.”

“Oh, I’m not a freshman. I’m just new here.”

“Riiiight. You’re the new girl. Sorry.” She shakes her head. “I’m Vanessa.”

“Liliana.”

“Nice to meet you, neighbor.” She grins. “Do you need help?”

“I don’t know yet, but thanks.” I push the door to my room open.

My suitcase is sitting in the middle of the floor, next to a king-sized bed. My eyes go wide. I’ve seen photos of the rooms, but this one’s even bigger than I imagined. My shoe sinks into the soft dark blue carpet as I take a step inside.

“Nice, isn’t it?” Vanessa leans her shoulder against the doorway.

“Yeah. I didn’t think it’d be so big.” I spin around, trying to take it all in.

My eyes aren’t sure if I should focus on the big desk with two chairs—wait, there’s a laptop too—or on the big closet, and the TV on the other side of the room.

“Seniors get the biggest rooms,” Vanessa says.

I let out a small laugh.

There’s only one word that can describe this—un-fucking-believable.

I can’t wait to call my mom and tell her all about it. Actually, now that I have a laptop, I can do a video call and show her.

Oh yeah.

This is going to be so awesome.

I can feel it.