In the Air (The City Book 1) - By Crystal Serowka Page 0,3

piled with clothing.

If Kingsley acts like that when she's excited, I'd hate to see how she behaves when she's mad.

Trish worked on the pile, putting clothes on hangers and then neatly folding the undergarments, or knickers, as she would most likely call them.

"Where are you from, Natalia?" Trish asked curiously.

"I'm from Mount Prospect. It's a suburb of Chicago, Illinois."

I looked over at Kingsley, who was in her own little world. She was bobbing along to the music while her hips moved to the beat. I was a bit taken aback by Kingsley's choice of attire. She had the body for it, but I could never bare that much skin for the general public. Plus, it wasn't 90 degrees outside.

"I'm not sure I've ever heard of that town. Kingsley and I are New Yorkers–Brooklyn to be exact. Obviously, I'm not a native, but Kingsley has lived in New York her whole life. She's been dreaming about attending this school for years now."

I could tell Trish was trying to make up for Kingsley's rudeness by getting to know me better. I had high hopes I'd get a roommate that was eager to learn about me and see if we had anything in common, but Kingsley's demeanor had confirmed I'd been a bit presumptuous.

As I made up my side of the room, unpacking my clothes and hanging them in the spacious closet, I listened to Trish provide Kingsley with safety lessons and emergency contact numbers. I found myself smiling, knowing that if my mother were here, she would skip the safety talk and go right into preparing me for my first dance rehearsal.

By the time I was unfolding my comforter, Trish was hugging Kingsley and walking out the door. I waved goodbye to her and continued making my bed. I wasn't expecting Kingsley to strike up a conversation with me, but then she sighed and took her earbuds out. I turned and looked at her in anticipation.

"So, you're my roommate, huh?" She raised her right eyebrow while looking me up and down.

"No, I just thought I'd unpack all of my stuff in here and then move on to my real room." I can easily play the bitch card, too.

She smiled approvingly. "You're from the Midwest, right? Do you, like, live next to a cornfield?"

"I live in a big city. There's no corn in sight."

The presumptions that most people had about the Midwest were always amusing. They thought that if you lived anywhere near the center of the U.S., it immediately meant your backyard was a cornfield.

"You don't look like a big city kind of girl," she said as she took in my outfit. "You look more like someone who doesn't have many options when it comes to clothing stores."

This girl is seriously getting on my nerves, and I've only been alone with her for five minutes.

"How about we just skip the whole get-to-know-your-roommate thing?" I retorted.

I was aggravated by her lack of humility. It was going to be difficult for me to live with someone who acted like everyone in the world should bow before her.

"Did I hurt your feelings? Trish told me to go easy on whoever I move in with, but I just can't help myself around timid people." She laughed loudly.

"Are you this rude all of the time, or is it just something special you saved for me?"

With my comeback, the laughing stopped, but her smile lingered. I felt like she was testing me, seeing how far she could push me until I pushed back. I think I made it pretty clear that I wasn't a doormat.

"I'm this rude all of the time," she answered honestly.

She's honest and mean. I'm looking forward to being around that combination everyday.

"Well, aren't I lucky?" I replied sarcastically.

"Now that we have that tidbit out of the way," Kingsley said, sitting back against her headboard while propping a pillow behind her back, "we need to go over a few room rules."

I laughed at her obvious joke. "Yes, let's go over the 'room rules.'" I raised my fingers in air quotes.

"I'm actually being serious." Her face was void of all emotion.

I sighed and sat down on the edge of my bed. This might take awhile.

"Don't ever eat any of my food. I'm a stickler about my protein bars. I will do inventory of them every day and if I ever see one missing, I'll cut every single pair of your frilly tights. Number two," she continued, holding up two fingers in case I forgot which number