Annah-Lee "AJ" Johnston's Story

"Go upstairs, and it's three doors down. You can't miss it." The blonde nodded gently, a small smile upon her lips as she nodded to Mrs. Smith. She said nothing, and was pretty sure that was for the best. Since the moment she had walked through that door, she'd felt like she was intruding on their home. They all seemed rather friendly, calm and collected. But... she had just been chucked out of her home. Already that rings in people's ears that there's something wrong with her.

She lugged her case up the stairs, trying to make as little noise as possible. That didn't really happen though. Her bag clunked against each individual step, and she cringed even more at each one until she made it to the top. She huffed out a little sigh and then smiled to herself. Never before in her life had walking up a few stairs been like hauling a double decker bus a few miles. AJ tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear and the band wrapped around her head before walking down the hallway, walking a few steps and counting the doors.

"One. Two. Three doors down." She said quietly to herself, leaning forwards and knocking on a door. She stood there a few seconds before someone peeked around the door. "Someone's in here. Wait your turn." they said before closing the door again. She blinked a couple of times, before realizing it was a bathroom.

"Oh, I, uhm, Sorry!" AJ called out appologetically, blushing slightly and then going to the door next to it, knocking on the door and hoping this wasn't just a floor of bathrooms. She had met Nadia before. Kinda. It wasn't like they talked that much. She'd just seen her when she came over to see Theo every so often. She seemed nice and a real fun girl. She hoped she didn't mind too much that she'd be sharing a room with AJ. AJ just wanted somewhere to stay until she got back on her feet.

As she was cleaning up her room, Nadia heard Emma’s voice telling someone to wait their own turn, a bit rudely too. She smiled softly at the kid’s lack of manners. She wasn’t sure about Jon’s bringing up most of the time. She had heard a lot of people use the phrase, but sometimes she wanted to ask the older man if he had perhaps grown up in a barn… and passed his habits along to his kids. A second-hand barn raising. Nadia grinned at her own (completely non-humorous—though she tended to think otherwise) thoughts and waited for AJ to find the right door. And it had to be AJ. No one else knocked on the bathroom door. They just saw that it was closed and waited.

“Come in!” Nadia said loudly, shoving her last pair of shoes into “her new half of the closet.” It was a silly rule, one that she had made up herself, but a silly one all the same. It was just a personal space thing. She liked people, and she wanted to like AJ. But she couldn’t help but feel as if this girl was using her brother. After all, it was a bit weird that she was going to be living here. She had never invited one of her girlfriends to live with the family, even when their own families sucked. Maybe Theo was just nicer then she was. Or maybe she was awfully defensive of her family. No one was ever going to hurt them under her watch.

However, despite her doubts, she still looked over at the other girl and couldn’t help but smile. After all… she had always wanted a roommate. “So yea, just put your stuff over there,” she pointed towards the cot that she had bought for friends that slept over, “I’ll tell you were everything goes later. You can relax for a bit first.” Yea, so much for defending her family tooth and nail. When a pretty, nice girl was in the picture… what could possibly go wrong?

AJ smiled gratefully when she heard Nadia invite her in and gently pushed the door open, gazing around the room. She actually smiled at the sight of simply a room. It was a really decent size, so AJ was pretty happy that she wouldn't be completely invading Nadia's personal bubble. It was actually really nice to. Well decorated and really neat looking. Or, that could be because Nadia just tidied up. She didn't know though. AJ gave a small nod when she directed her towards the cot and then gave the girl a massive grin. "Thanks so much for this. I, uh... I hope I'm not intruding or taking up too much room." She said, pulling her bags over towards the cot and resting her case on the ground. She lowered down onto the matress, listening to the springs and then unconsciously resting a hand on her flat stomach, rubbing it softly.

She'd noticed it the other day. Her stomach had gotten a little bigger. Only a tad bit, but she went from flat stomached to having a teeny tiny belly. Sure, no one else would've noticed at all, but she did. It scared her a bit. She was just thankful that she got away from her fami... The people she used to live with. It was a good thing that Theo invited her there though. She wouldn't want to be going through pregnancy in a youth hostel, and she definitely didn't want an abortion. That just seemed totally wrong...

AJ looked around the room a little, tilting her head slightly and then smiling in Nadia's direction. "I'll just say, I really appreciate you putting up with me. I'm going through some stuff at the moment, and as soon as it's dealt with, I'll be gone." She said with a gentle smile, the hand on her gut still gentle massaging it beneath her large baggy shirt.

Cara Voss

Cara had been standing in the middle of the center, looking around for her mom (and scratching the polish off of her nails, a nervous habit of hers that really ruined her nails), when her attention was drawn to a boy a bit taller than herself with black hair and a complexion darker than her own. She wondered if he was here of his own accord. She hoped so, as she always did, but she also knew that if probably want true. She was always happy to see another person when she was this nervous, but here, here it didn’t help at all. It just made her sad. Except now. She had never had someone just come up to her and ask if she was okay. A smile spread across Cara’s face, and it was actually genuine.

“Yea, I’m okay. I probably just look stressed because I am.” She grinned nervously, tucking her hair behind her ear. “Uhm, do you have any idea where Mrs. Voss is?” She paused, a thought coming to her. “Unless you don’t know who she is. Are you new? I don’t think I recognize you from last year.” Her mom was Mrs. Voss here, no exceptions. It was actually her dad’s rule. It was a silly rule, like most or her dad’s rules, but she actually accepted this one. It helped her seem normal to the other kids. He said that it kept her safer, away from the anger of the kids who thought that they were okay.



Nadia Smith

Nadia sat on her bed and leaned back next to her window. It was a tiny window, due to the fact that it was on the second floor and it could get a bit drafty up here, but it showed a beautiful view of outside where the colors of the trees were just beginning to change. It was getting colder and everything was getting ready to die, but it was still her favorite time of the year. Right outside the window was a huge maple tree, one that was already a vibrant orange. Inside the room it had begun to change as well. She had been rejected from the only schools that she had applied to, and was forced to go to the community college down the road. So her carefully packed boxes had been emptied and her room was a room again; lavender bed sheets, silly motivational posters, and pictures of her favorite actresses re-inhabited her walls.

She looked over towards AJ and shook her head, a tiny smile appearing on her face. “Really?” She asked her voice calm and oddly soft, “That’s a shame; Theo told me that you’d be staying a while.” And he had. Her brother had told her in no uncertain terms, that Nadia was going to have a roommate for at least six months and she should learn to deal with it. He mother had told her, in even more certain terms that she was going to treat her roommate, who had just been through hell (it was a fairly safe assumption. Mrs. Smith had left home when she was only 16 due to her own mother’s lack of care for her.), as if she were her own sister. AJ was to feel at home no matter what.

“Honestly, I’m happy to share a room with you.” It was a lie, she was happy to share a room, but not really with AJ. She had been expecting to be sharing a room with her new college roommate, and that hope had just been smashed to the ground.