A Mermaid's Kiss (Bay State University #1) - Katie Holland

Chapter 1

Kayleigh

I stood on the sidewalk staring at one of the dorms of Bay State University. I still had a hard time believing it was going to be my home for the next four years.

“Are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to help me?” Karma said, as she nudged me.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist. I was just looking,” I shot back.

“Kayleigh, we have all day to do that. I just want to get our stuff and find our room,” she sighed.

“Fine.”

I’d known Karma since first grade, and we’d been best friends ever since. Sure, she was bossy sometimes. Well, a lot of the time truthfully, but I still loved her to death.

I got two boxes out of the car and followed Karma to the dorm entrance. The doors were propped open, so we didn’t have to fumble to get inside. Our room was 565. We got on the elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor. I was glad we were on the top floor. I’d always loved being somewhere high and looking out the window. We found our room, left our boxes, and went back for a second trip. Two more trips later and we had everything in the room.

I’d never been in a dorm room before, so I wasn’t really sure if this was a typical one or not. The room consisted of two bedrooms, complete with desks, a bathroom, and a small living area. The walls were a light grey but the highlight of the room for me was the view. When I looked out the window, I was sure I could see the whole campus.

“Kayleigh, which bedroom do you want?” Karma asked, pulling me away from the window.

“It doesn’t matter, you pick,” I told her.

“I’ll take that one,” she said, pointing to the one on the right.

That made me smile, because it meant I had the one with the bigger window.

“Thank you,” I said, “You’re the best.”

“I know,” she said grinning at me. “Now let’s go find some hot college guys.”

I had to smile at that. Even though we were best friends, we were almost total opposites. Karma had bright red hair and fair skin, to my light brown hair and skin that tanned easily. One of the few things we had in common was that we both had athletic bodies. Our personalities were even more different. Karma was very social and outgoing, and I, well… I wasn’t. I’d rather curl up with a good book than go to a party. How we’d managed to stay such good friends was beyond me, but I was grateful for her every day.

We decided on a compromise; we got our rooms in order then we went out to explore the campus. Orientation wasn’t until tomorrow, so we had the rest of the day to do what we wanted. Bay State University sat in between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean so it was quite a change from our home in Tulsa. It was a beautiful campus. There was a mix of old and new everywhere we looked. But the best thing was the palm trees. That’s not something we saw on a daily basis and I loved it.

We’d been wandering the campus for a while and had already seen our fair share of cute college boys. Karma was sure to wave at all of them.

“I’m so looking forward to college,” Karma said, winking at a tall, blond guy we passed.

“You’re terrible,” I said with a laugh.

“What? I have a healthy sexual appetite and by the looks of it, I’ll be able to have my fill here.”

“I’m so glad our dorm room has two separate bedrooms,” I said. “At least the sounds of your sexual conquests will be muffled.”

Karma just laughed at me. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t a prude. I just didn’t sleep around. I had a serious boyfriend in high school who I’d lost my virginity to. I thought he was in love with me, but when I got the scholarship to Bay State, he decided that a long distance relationship wasn’t for him and he broke up with me. Karma was ready to claw his eyes out, but I decided he wasn’t worth it.

We finally found the building we were really looking for, the Davenport Swim Complex.

“Let’s see if the doors are open,” I said. “I’d love to have a look around.”

Karma agreed and tried the door. It was open. We walked in and I smiled at the