Rae of Sunshine (Light in the Dark 1)

“You must be my roommate!” An overly chipper voice sing-songed.

I lowered my hand and— “Gah!” I gasped in shock. The pretty strawberry blonde in front of me even wore a pink shirt. Thank God her shorts weren’t pink or I might’ve had a heart attack. Death by Over Exposure to the Color Pink—now that was a headline.

I couldn’t believe I was going to have to live with this for the next ten or so months of my life. Kill. Me. Now.

I looked down at my dark hair and black clothes. I didn’t see how I was going to get along with the Barbie Doll in front of me. We were clearly polar opposites.

“I’m Thea,” she held out a hand. What was up with everyone wanting to shake my hand today?

Skirting around her, I headed towards the plain side of the small room.

She followed me, either oblivious to the brush off or ignoring it. “You must be Rachael.”

“Rae,” I corrected her, dropping my bag on the bed and refusing to turn around. “I prefer to be called Rae.”

“Oh, okay. Rae is a pretty name. I mean, so is Rachael, but Rae is cooler. I—”

“Do you ever stop talking? Or breathe?” I wheeled around to find her all up in my personal space.

“Sorry,” she frowned. “I’m nervous.”

“Obviously,” I muttered. “Look, Thea?” She nodded. “I’m not here to make friends. So, don’t expect any late night talks with me, or nail painting, or whatever else it is you’ve conjured up in your head.”

“Oh.” Her face fell.

I turned back to my duffel bag and dumped my clothes on the bare bed. I needed to go back out to my car and get everything else. My mom had made sure I had everything I needed, since she knew I’d never do any shopping on my own. I had changed a lot in the last year, and I no longer cared about much of anything.

I hadn’t always been such a depressed person, but then life dealt me a pretty shitty card and I handled it my own way. Nothing I did could make me forget that day.

Once all my clothes were put away, I headed towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Thea spoke up from where she lounged on her bed. I still had to repress my gag reflex from all the pink.

“To my car,” I answered, glaring at her.

“Cool, you want some help?” She asked, bouncing up. Before I could answer, she invited herself by saying, “Okay, good.”

She was like an over eager golden retriever. I didn’t quite know what to do with her peppy personality compared to my doom and gloom one. Something told me this was going to be a long year.

As we walked through the building, she said, “My brother goes to school here. He’s kind of a big deal.”

“Is that so?” I asked, not interested at all in hearing about her brother.

“Yeah, he’s the quarterback of the football team,” she bounced along.

“Is that important? I don’t really like football.”

She stopped walking and grabbed my arm. Her mouth hung open in shock. “How do you not like football?”

I shrugged. “I just don’t.”

In another lifetime I had liked lots of things that I didn’t anymore.

“Are you from here?”

Here happened to be Colorado.

I huffed, irritated with all her questions. “Yes.”