The room key and a roommate to go along with it

The blonde at the desk took her ID for a moment, eyes widening almost imperceptibly at something. She nodded, then hummed to herself for a moment, glancing under the desk to read something she'd written down.

"Is something wrong?" Emily asked a little nervously. Some problem here would be just the perfect end to how her day had gone so far...

"Oh, no, no," the blonde said, "Ah! Here you go, down the hall, far end, at the right. I think your roommate's already checked in."

Emily breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you!"

She took the offered key, then set off in the direction the blonde had gestured. It was hard not to feel a little out of place; everyone around her was carrying at least one bulky looking suitcase, and there she was with nothing but a key and the clothes on her back.

At least she wouldn't need to worry about unpacking just yet. Still, already she was trying to make long-term plans; after the plane, the day was beginning to wear on. By the time she'd found the local shops she could probably expect them to be closed, so she probably wouldn't be able to buy anything to replace the contents of her cases today. She didn't particularly want to use her spending money on a new outfit, but it wasn't like she had a choice.

Still, there was a little time before classes started. She could spend a couple of days getting settled, just worrying about basic orientation. Hopefully her roommate would let her borrow an outfit for tomorrow, she didn't want to wear this for a second day in a row.

While she walked through the hall, Emily kept an eye out, getting a feel for the place. She hadn't been able to book an en suite, so she'd need to remember the bathroom was... oh, there! She spotted it when she looked back over her shoulder, a couple of adjacent rooms shared by the Hall.

The place wasn't exactly mazelike. It was just a straight shot down this corridor, then right as the corridor turned a corner, though with no junction. Then left, then... oh, er, it was quite a way. Emily picked up the pace slightly. Maybe there was another bathroom she was missing? She could do with a shower after the journey. Freshening up was enticing, but not if it meant going all the way through this corridor.

She didn't even have a towel! And even if she did... Emily bit her lip at just the thought of going all this way in just a towel. Maybe she should wait until after everyone had checked in. There had to be another, surely.

But there was no sign of any extra shower as she finally came to the end of the hallway. Emily gave one last look around, and almost reluctantly went to insert the key into the door.

She wasn't sure whether or not she wanted it to work. If it worked, she'd have her room, but she also knew what that seemed to entail for when she wanted to shower. If it failed, maybe that would mean her room was just somewhere else, somewhere better, or maybe things were just going wrong again.

But, no, the door clicked open.

"Ohmigod, hi!"

She barely had a chance to take in the room before a high-pitched squeal greeted her. Emily nearly jumped out of her skin.

Her roommate had short, slightly curly red hair, and an excited wide smile, pearly white teeth glinting as she beamed. Her eyes were bright, her skin tanned, silver earrings glinting from several piercings in each ear, complemented nicely by a few other similar bits of jewelry around her neck and wrists. A more judgmental person might think it tacky, Emily reflected.

No, that was rude. She was going to be nice. She was just in a bad mood from losing her luggage. She'd adjust to the bathroom, and she was sure her roommate would give a better impression when she wasn't so groggy.

Still, it didn't seem like the two of them could be much more different. It wasn't that Emily didn't like her body, she just preferred to accentuate rather than show it off, look good without looking revealing. The redhead seemed to go the entirely opposite direction. She wore a crop top, tight enough that Emily very much doubted she was wearing a bra underneath, hugging her chest and stopping having barely started going down an admittedly firm stomach. An inch or so higher and it would have been utterly indecent.

Daisy dukes completed the look, short shorts that were tight even by Emily's preferences, showing off the contours of the upper thighs beneath. After those two garments, her roommate was only wearing knee-high, fur-lined boots. She waved, acting as if she hadn't noticed Emily's double-take.

"Hey roomie!" she said, "I'm Stephanie, call me Steph, you?"

"Er, Emily," Emily said, "I... sorry, it's been a long journey."

"You don't need to tell me," Steph said. She blew a breath out in an exaggerated puff. "Here now though! Right? You looking forward to it?"

"Yeah," Emily said, "Yeah."

She repeated herself, more resolutely. It didn't matter how this had started, she was going to have a good time here. One mishap at the airport didn't mean her whole college experience was ruined.

"Well, just ask if you need help with anything!" Steph said cheerily, "Bringing cases in, unpacking, whatever."

"The airport lost my suitcases," Emily said.

"What?" Steph said, eyes wide, "That's fast- er, terrible! Well, me and the fam spent a couple of weeks down here earlier, I know my way around if you need to get anywhere, so there's that too. Plus I've memorised every club on offer. You should try some! Doing something new's going to be the best part of college, don't you think?"

"Hopefully," Emily said.

She managed a smile, and finally stepped inside. Despite looks, Steph did seem to genuinely be a friendly person. That should mean things were looking up.

Emily glanced around the room. It was pretty plain, similar to the one she'd seen on the open day, but not exactly the same. With the door behind her, there was a bed by the left wall, and a bed by the right wall, a wardrobe at the foot of each bed, followed by a desk, then in the middle of the far wall was a window.

Steph had already claimed the right side. Fairy lights were stretched from the top of the wardrobe over to the door, and a flag Emily didn't recognise stuck to the wall (three pink stripes, a white stripe, then three more stripes, more reddish than purple), and a glitzy set of bedding already in place. Her wardrobe was open, and a bag of hangars was strewn over her bed.

Tiredness catching up to her, Emily walked to her side of the bed. A bare mattress, an uncovered duvet and a single pillow. It was bearable at least.

"Wiped, huh?" Steph said.

"You have no idea," Emily said. She took a deep breath, then looked over, "So, you know I mentioned my case going missing?"

"Yeah, bummer huh?" Steph said.

"All my clothes were in there," Emily said. She hesitated, looking Stephanie and her choice of fashion over for a moment. Well... it was better than nothing, she supposed. "Would you mind if I borrowed some of yours? For tomorrow anyway, until I have the chance to go out and buy more."