Noticed

“Oh, this isn’t going to work at all.”

Looking over her shoulder, Kirsten caught her first glimpse of her new roommate. The tall girl was strikingly beautiful, with mocha skin and almond shaped eyes. The frown on the beautiful girl’s face made her nervous, though.

“What… what do you mean?” Kirsten asked uncertainly, turning around from the task she had been working on, putting away books on a shelf on her half of the small dorm room.

One hand on her hip, Nina raised her eyebrows and scowled. “I mean that I was fairly clear with the housing office about what kind of roommate I wanted.” Throwing her overly-expensive leather Prada backpack onto the empty bed across from Kirsten, she scowled and crossed her thin arms over the front of her trendy DKNY top. “I told them I didn’t want anyone NEAR as pretty as me as a roommate.”

Letting out an audible sigh, Kirsten then laughed as Nina finally smiled. “You’re evil,” she told her new roommate. “We’ll do fine.”

Laughing, Nina nodded in agreement. “You’ve got a sense of humor,” she replied to Kirsten. “So yeah, we will.”

For the next hour, the girls got to know each other. Despite the fact that they came from entirely different backgrounds, they got along great. “You’ve lived outside San Francisco your whole life,” Nina shook her head in amazement. “And you NEVER went to Los Angeles? God, it’s like a one hour flight! Or an eight hour drive, if you choose to do it that way.”

With a shrug, Kirsten smiled from her seat on her bed and pulled her knees under her chin. “I’ve visited my sister and her husband in New York a few times,” she told Nina. “But otherwise, I’ve been three places: San Francisco, obviously; Minneapolis to visit my grandparents a couple times; and Austin, Texas once for a school math competition.”

Looking over at her roommate, Nina had decided almost immediately that she liked the girl. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t tease her. “A math competition?” she raised her perfectly arched eyebrows. “Sounds… how do I finish that sentence any other way besides ‘like the totally uncoolest thing I’ve ever heard of’?”

Grinning, Kirsten shrugged. “Whatever,” she rolled her eyes at Nina and grinned. “We can’t all be the daughters of millionaire movie producers. Some of us had to rely on our nerdiness to get into this school.”

This was information Nina had exchanged willingly with Kirsten when they first started talking. Her father was a well-respected Hollywood movie producer, and her mother was a fairly well-known actress. Her parents had never been married or even together since Nina could remember, but both people had reasonably involved in her life, so she had no real objections to the way she had been raised.

“My only complaint,” Nina had explained. “Was that they both thought I should live in a dorm freshman year versus an apartment. You know, because they thought living the 90210 lifestyle through my high school years was enough.”

Kirsten had just listened in amazement to the exciting life Nina had led until then, going to Hollywood parties and awards shows, living in mansions and meeting celebrities. “So, I guess you got a scholarship here then?”

There was no contempt in Nina’s voice, and Kirsten understood why her roommate was asking. Early in their introductory conversation, Kirsten had explained that her father was a professor at UC Berkeley – and unfortunately, public university professors didn’t earn that much. Additionally, Kirsten’s mother was a child psychologist, also not a great-paying job. While her family had never been in need, Kirsten knew they had also never even glimpsed the wealth that Nina was familiar with.

“Sort of,” Kirsten finally replied to Nina’s question, feeling her cheeks heat with a blush. The truth was, the small private liberal-arts college she had ended up at in Nevada had always been her first choice, as it had the best human genetic biology program in the country. But Kirsten had always assumed that, if she didn’t receive a full scholarship there, she wouldn’t be able to afford to go.

”What does ‘sort of’ mean?” Kirsten stretched out on her still-stripped bed, her long legs running the full length of the mattress as she used her backpack as a pillow. “This place costs over 30 G’s a year. How could you afford it, without a scholarship – no insult meant.”

“None taken,” Kirsten was still blushing as she followed suit, stretching out on her own bed, although she had put on sheets, blankets and pillows as soon as she had arrived. “I got a scholarship for about ten grand a year. And I took out the max in loans, another ten…”

“So the final amount?” Nina turned onto her side, leaning up on one elbow and resting her chin in her hand while looking at her roommate with interest. Obviously there was a story there, or Kirsten wouldn’t be blushing so hard.

Biting her lip, Kirsten closed her eyes. “Well, my sister’s husband insisted on paying for the rest,” she said. “He’s like… rich. And famous.”

Sitting up, Nina smirked. “I knew there was more to you than meets the eye,” she said with self-satisfaction, her black eyes glimmering with interest. “So who is this generous brother-in-law?”

Taking a deep breath, Kirsten also sat up. Looking across at Nina, she paused before speaking. “His name’s Joseph… Joey Hart.”

Her mouth dropping open, Nina stood up. “JOEY HART?” she sounded indignant. “The guitarist from Broken Dynamite?”

Looking up at Nina, Kirsten realized the girl had to be a good six inches taller than her, which wasn’t that great a feat considering she was only five-three. “That’s him,” she replied with a weak grin. “Joseph’s my brother-in-law, and although I begged him not to, he paid for the rest of my tuition this semester, because he knew how much I wanted to go here.”

Pausing dramatically for a moment of silence, Nina just shook her head with amazement. “So, now, I’m like totally embarrassed,” she said in an accusatory tone. “Because while I’ve been going on about my old boring-ass parents, you’re sister is married to the HOTTEST guy I have ever seen.”

In the last minute, Kirsten’s cheeks had turned from pink to crimson to bright red. “Please don’t say that,” she closed her eyes in embarrassment. “This is my sister’s husband you’re talking about! It still humiliates me to know I had fantasies about marrying him when I was fifteen.”

Laughing, Nina sat back down on the bed and put her hands on her knees. “I guess I get that,” she admitted, as Kirsten crossed the room and walked over towards her bookshelf. “I won’t give you a hard time, I promise. If you at least get me backstage for one of their shows. Is Zip still single? Or Adam? Come on, one of them has to be available!”

Rearranging her books alphabetically, Kirsten felt her shoulders tense. Focusing on the spines of her hardcovers, she sighed. “Please don’t tell anyone, Nina,” she said softly.

Looking with confusion at the back of her new roommate, Nina contemplated the request. “If you don’t want me to, of course I won’t,” she replied, and saw the muscles in Kirsten’s back notably relax. “But will you at least tell me why?”

Nina’s promise sounded sincere, but Kirsten was still nervous as she turned around and took a seat on her bed again. “See, until junior year in high school,” she began. “I was never really… anything at my school. And I don’t mean that totally badly. I mean, I wasn’t cool, but I also wasn’t a dork. I wasn’t a jock, but I was pretty good at softball. I wasn’t a complete nerd, but I got good grades. I wasn’t ugly, but I wasn’t considered beautiful-”

“I doubt that,” Nina interrupted kindly. “You don’t go from average to the hottie I see before me overnight.”

Blushing, but with appreciation this time, Kirsten shrugged. “Maybe I just didn’t think I was pretty,” she admitted. “Anyway, I always felt like no one noticed me. It was all I ever wanted – to be noticed. But then,” she looked into her lap and frowned slightly. “Then, halfway through junior year, Lianna – that’s my sister – she started dating Joey Hart. After that… high school changed.”

“How?” Nina asked with interest. After all, she had grown up outside Hollywood, her parents both famous, her friends all the children of actors or directors or producers. It was actually a new story for Nina to hear, how life could change for someone who had never dealt with a life of fame before. “How did things change?”

Laying back down on her bed, Kirsten looked at the ceiling. “Well, at first I liked what was happening,” she told Nina. “Suddenly, as Lianna’s sister, I was interesting to people. I got invited to ‘cool’ parties and hot guys asked me out.” She then got quiet.

Waiting a moment, Nina urged Kirsten to continue. “Well, that all sounds pretty good,” she said questioningly. “Why don’t you seem happy about it?”

Biting her lip, Kirsten tried hard to think of a totally honest answer. “Because,” she said as she opened her eyes and looked over at Nina. “I spent my whole life trying to be noticed for being me, and suddenly I was noticed… but for something I had absolutely nothing to do with. It was more depressing than being ignored – it made me feel like maybe I would never get noticed for being… me.” Taking a deep breath, she sat up and looked Nina in the eyes. “Now do you get why I don’t want anyone to know?” she asked nervously.

Cocking her head to one side, Nina gave Kirsten a wide smile. “Totally,” she said honestly. “And truthfully, you have no idea how many brownie points you just earned from me. I respect you so much for wanting to be noticed for who YOU are – especially after coming from a place where EVERYONE rides on the coattails of their parents or siblings or whatever.”

Feeling much better after Nina’s praise, Kirsten smirked a little. “So does that mean you’re not going to tell anyone you’re Sean Williamson’s daughter?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“Hell no!” Nina replied just as Kirsten expected. “Just because I respect you doesn’t mean I have any intent to not use my father’s money and influence – along with my KILLER body – to have the wildest, funnest, coolest college experience that anyone has EVER had!”

Bursting into giggles, Kirsten smiled a big smile. For having only been on campus for four hours, she couldn’t have imagined things being any better than they were already. College looked like it was going to be a blast!


“Is that actually our professor?” Kirsten whispered to Nina as she looked down in amazement from their seats in the lecture hall towards the man standing in the middle of the room, setting up a projector. “He is gorgeous!”

Chuckling, Nina nodded. “It amazes me that you signed up for this class without knowing what Dr. Houston looks like,” she told Kirsten. “This is the hardest intro freshman English class on campus. I’m just here because I met him during orientation.”

Taking in a deep breath, Kirsten couldn’t argue with Nina’s logic. Dr. Houston couldn’t be much more than thirty. He was thin but obviously in shape, African-American, with a shaved head and perfect bone structure. “I signed up for this class because he has won awards for his scientific writing,” she told Nina in a hushed voice. “But I have to admit… I wouldn’t care if he was teaching Native American Weaving Practices – after seeing him, I’d be asking where to buy a loom!”

Still giggling as the professor finally introduced himself to the class, Kirsten looked around the room. She quickly realized that she and Nina were not alone in admiring Dr. Houston’s aesthetic appeal. The room was easily three-quarters female, and most of the girls were looking on with puppy-dog crushes at the beautiful man explaining the syllabus for the semester.

Still, as Kirsten scanned her classmates, she saw someone who was able to take her attention away from Dr. Houston. Three rows down, three seats over… The boy was leaning over towards the guy next to him, whispering something and giving Kirsten the perfect view of his profile.

And PERFECT was the only word she could come up with. With his sandy brown hair and classic features, this boy was definitely the best looking student she had seen in her three days on campus. He also had an ease in the way he held himself that Kirsten knew only added to his attractiveness.

“Derek Tarner,” Nina said, making Kirsten jump.

“What?” Kirsten whispered back, trying to seem unaware. “What are you talking about?”

Smirking, Nina nonchalantly pointed her pen in the direction of the boy Kirsten had just been admiring. “The guy you were just having wicked thoughts about,” she teased. “His name is Derek Tarner. He’s a sophomore.”

“I wasn’t having wicked thoughts,” Kirsten blushed, and then looked over at Nina. “Anyway, how do you know who everyone is already? You only arrived here three days ago – and about three hours after I did.”

Shrugging, Nina grinned. “I did my homework before I agreed to attend this school,” she told Kirsten. “I wanted to go to UCLA, but my parents thought it would be better for me to try out life outside of the Hollywood bubble. But I wouldn’t agree to it until I figured out who else I would be going to school with.”

Biting her lip, Kirsten held out as long as she could – which ended up being about thirty seconds. “So, why is he in a freshman English class if he’s a sophomore?” she tried to sound uninterested, but knew she was doing a terrible job. “I mean, I was just wondering…”

With yet another smirk, Nina shrugged. “His dad is, like, a billionaire computer-whiz,” she explained to Kirsten. “He basically takes, like, two classes a semester and plans to ride out his dad’s checks to the university as long as he can.”

Looking back down at Derek, who was again exchanging whispered words with the guy beside him, Kirsten tilted her head a little. “Or maybe it’s just hard changing lifestyles like that,” she said softly. “Maybe he’s just having a hard time adjusting.”

“And maybe he needs some beautiful little pixie from Berkeley to come along,” Nina said in a sing-song voice. “Someone who understands who he REALLY is and who can SAVE HIM from himself.”

Elbowing Nina, Kirsten felt her cheeks heating once again. “Shut up,” she whispered.

Unfortunately, the yelp Nina let out when Kirsten elbowed her was loud enough for the professor to hear. “Yes, miss?” Dr. Houston asked, looking at Nina. “Did you have a question about the syllabus?”

Throwing a glare at Kirsten, Nina immediately changed face and gave Dr. Houston a smile. “No,” she said, her voice apologetic but flirty. “I just was saying to my friend how excited I am to be taking this course. I apologize for the interruption.”

Looking pleased, Dr. Houston nodded. “No apology necessary,” he said, turning back towards the rest of the class. “I’m glad to have such enthusiastic students this semester.”

Staring at her lap to try to keep herself from breaking out into peals of laughter, Kirsten could feel the look of anger Nina was giving her, but she wouldn’t look up. If she did, she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from cracking up.

“This isn’t over,” Nina whispered into Kirsten’s ear as the lecture began. “I am SO getting you back for this. I don’t know how and I don’t know when… But I’m just warning you – IT’S COMING!”


“Kirsten?” a voice called out across the quad as Kirsten and Nina left their English class. Turning around, Kirsten tried to figure out who was calling to her.

“I thought it was you!” a lanky boy with dark hair jogged to catch up with the girls, his thin face filled with blush. “I didn’t know you were going to school here.”

“Patch!” Kirsten was genuinely enthused as she pulled the boy into a warm hug. “I had no idea you went here. I thought you were out east…”

Looking with confusion between Kirsten and the guy staring at her with the widest, most adoring eyes she had ever seen, Nina stepped forward. “Hi, Patch, is it? I’m Nina, Kirsten’s roommate.”

“I’m sorry!” Kirsten said sincerely with an embarrassed grin. “Nina, this is Patch Harrison… oh, um, or do you go by Evan now?” she asked, unsure how to continue.

Tilting his head with no embarrassment, he shrugged. “Nope, it’s still Patch,” he said. “I know most people would want to drop that nickname after high school if they got the chance, but after four years… it just feels like who I am, you know?”

Raising her eyebrows in amusement at Patch’s goofy demeanor, Nina looked at Kirsten for some sort of explanation. “Patch and I grew up on the same block in Berkeley,” Kirsten began explaining. “He was a grade ahead of me.”

“And the nickname… Patch?” Nina was amused already by the situation arising in front of her. “Is that, like, a Pirates of the Caribbean thing, or a Robin Williams Patch Adams thing, or what?”

In truth, Kirsten wouldn’t have known what to say just then for fear of embarrassing Patch, but luckily for her, he didn’t easily embarrass. Instead, he jumped headlong into the explanation for Nina. “It was pre-Pirates of the Caribbean,” he told her. “I was nicknamed Patch, as in a pirate, but without the coolness of Johnny or Orland.”

Chuckling good-naturedly, Patch pushed some loose dark hairs back from his face. “If Kirsten doesn’t remember,” he looked at her with a grin. “My nickname comes from junior high, when Danny Oliver beaned me with a plastic spork at lunch because I was such a dork. I had to wear an eye patch for a month. Last month of eight grade.”

“That’s terrible!” Nina said honestly, while unable to stop laughing. “So you went through all of high school with that nickname?”

“Yeah, and that only added to my popularity,” Patch said sarcastically. “By the way,” he turned toward Kirsten with a smirk. “Didn’t you date Danny Oliver for a while?”

Walking over towards the Student Union in step with Patch and Nina, Kirsten shook her head. “First of all, I only dated him for a month and it was in seventh grade,” she reminded him. “And secondly, that was before he damn-near blinded you. I never spoke to him after that.”

As Kirsten and Patch continued jokingly bickering about junior high and high school, Nina felt like she was getting an unadulterated true glimpse into who Kirsten was. And shockingly to Nina – since she had grown up around people who were fake and pretentious – Kirsten seemed to be exactly who she had alluded to being when Nina first met her.

As Nina turned her attention back to Patch and Kirsten, she saw him give her a shy, appreciative smile. “You always were so nice to me,” he was saying. “Even though I was a total loser and you were Miss Popularity.”

Blushing, Kirsten shook her head as she looked over at Nina, who was listening with interest to the conversation. Thinking back to high school, Kirsten had to disagree with Patch’s assessment. “I wasn’t popular,” she said softly.

“Well, compared to me you were,” Patch replied immediately. “Although that wasn’t too hard. But you were beautiful, and fun, and talented…” he teasingly reminded her.

“It’s weird that you think that,” Kirsten looked down at her feet as they continued walking, before looking over at Nina. Turning back to Patch, she shrugged. “I was telling Nina the other day that in high school I always felt like I never stood out, like I was never noticed.” She stopped walking for a second, and both Nina and Patch looked at her with concern. Kirsten was still looking at the ground as she continued. “I just always wished that I would be noticed.”

“Well,” Patch wanted to say something to make Kirsten feel better. “I know it’s not saying much, because I was such a dork, but all my friends had huge crushes on you in high school, and were so jealous that you were my friend.”

Smiling a little, Kirsten glanced over at Nina, who was grinning knowingly at her, before she looked back up at Patch. “Friend is a pretty strong word,” she teased as they all approached a coffee cart. “I’d say ‘neighbor’ is a better term.”

“Meanie,” Patch grinned, glad he had gotten her smiling. “Anyway, I have another class now, but I’m so glad to know you’re going to school here.”

“I know he is,” Nina muttered with amusement under hear breath and ignored Kirsten’s quick glare.

“Anyway,” Patch looked over at Nina. “It was nice to meet you. And I hope to see a lot more of you, Kirsten.”

Waving as Patch walked away, Kirsten then looked at Nina distrustfully. “Don’t say it,” she warned.

“Don’t say what?” Nina replied in a chipper tune, smiling at Kirsten. “That Patch is hopelessly in love with you? Or that when he said ‘I hope to see a lot more of you, Kirsten’,” Nina’s voice dropped to an exaggerated mocking copy of Patch’s. “He meant he wants to see you naked.”

Blushing hard, Kirsten shook her head. “He’s just…” she faltered for a description. “He’s Patch. I mean, he’s… just a friend. Maybe a friend with a crush.” Looking nervously at Nina, Kirsten paused. “He’s a good person, Nina,” she added softly, her voice serious. “He’s really good, so please don’t give him a hard time.”

Feeling truly a little offended, Nina ordered a coffee without answering Kirsten. Getting her drink, she turned to face Kirsten. “I think Patch is nice,” her voice was obviously insulted. “And yes, it’s cute how much of a crush he has on you. And yes, I’m going to tease YOU about it. But in the past three days, have I given you any reason to think I would be anything but nice to your sweet, goofy, love-sick neighbor from home?”

“None,” Kirsten immediately responded, feeling chastised. “I’m sorry, Nina. I guess… I’ve always been a little protective of Patch.”

“Not protective enough, obviously,” Nina replied. “Otherwise, you would have blocked the spork that gave that sweet boy such an unfortunate nickname.”

Dissolving into giggles as the girls started heading back towards their dorm, Kirsten shook her head in gratefulness. She had so many things to appreciate – an opportunity to go to a great school, a brother-in-law who insisted on helping pay, a fantastic roommate, and now having Patch – someone she really enjoyed spending time with and who had known her all her life. What more could Kirsten ask for?


“Derek, this is Kirsten.”

Standing in silent shock, Kirsten didn’t know what to say. It was the morning after her first English class, and she had just gotten back from the showers to the dorm room. And here she stood wrapped in a robe, no makeup and her hair in a towel, with Derek Tarner standing in her room beside Nina – who was wearing a wicked grin – and another attractive, athletically built guy.

“Kirsten, this is Derek and Hunter. They’re in our English class.”

Still unable to form a complete sentence and feeling the blush filling her cheeks, Kirsten just looked at Nina. Although her roommate wasn’t saying anything, she could hear the retribution in her voice coming clearly through her stare: “I TOLD YOU I would get even with you.”

“Hi,” Kirsten finally forced out, putting her toiletries on her bed. “Sorry, I just got out of the shower,” she threw a dirty look at Nina as she continued. “I didn’t know we were going to have anyone over,” she finished, her teeth clenched in annoyance.

“No, we’re sorry to have interrupted you,” Hunter said genuinely, and Kirsten relaxed a little at his kind tone. “Nina and I just went to school together back in LA, so when she called to say hey, I thought we’d stop by before our classes.”

Immediately, Kirsten liked Hunter, and from one glance at Nina, should could tell that her roommate MORE than like him. However, there was one person in the room that had yet to speak, and Kirsten couldn’t help but be aware – and extremely embarrassed by that fact. Pulling the towel off her head – guessing she at least looked better with wet hair that a huge turban – Kirsten shook her head but didn’t make eye contact with anyone. “Well, it’s nice to meet you both.”

“It was nice to meet you, too,” Hunter replied. “But we’ll get going now and let you ladies get ready for the day. So, give me a call later, Nina. Maybe we can do something?”

“Yeah…” Nina’s voice sounded nervous to Kirsten, for the first time since she had met her. “That could be cool.”

Both boys waved and headed out of the room. At that moment, Kirsten put her hands on her hips in anger and turned to yell at Nina when she saw Derek pop his head back into the room just before the door was about to close. “Would it be okay if I called you sometime, Kirsten? For coffee or something?”

Taking in a short breath, Kirsten forced herself to speak. “Sure,” she said. “Um, that’d be nice.”

“Cool,” Derek grinned, and Kirsten couldn’t help but notice how beautiful his grey eyes were, crinkling just a little at the corners as he smiled. “I’ll give you a call later this week.” With that, the door closed shut, and Kirsten looked at shock towards Nina.

“That was supposed to be a punishment for embarrassing me in class yesterday,” Nina said with a smirk at the still-gaping Kirsten. “But I’m glad it ended up being better than plain retribution.”

“You,” Kirsten began, not sure what words were about to flow out of her mouth. “You… are the best roommate EVER.” Throwing herself suddenly at Nina, she hugged her roommate.

“So, you wanted to be noticed, right?” Nina grinned as she and Kirsten started controlling their giggles. “It seems like one of the HOTTEST boys at this school already noticed you after, what? Five days here?”

“You rock-” Kirsten began, but Nina shut her down.

“No, no,” Nina insisted. “I mean, yes, I do rock. But that? That was all him thinking you’re a cutie. I just wanted to get even. You looking totally hot in a robe and towel – that was all you, my friend.”

Grinning, Kirsten didn’t care if she didn’t believe what Nina was saying. All she cared about was that Derek has said he was going to call her.


I PROMISE I’M GOING TO FOLLOW THROUGH WITH THIS STORY! I KNOW I’VE BEEN OFF-AND-ON WITH STORIES THIS YEAR, BUT IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED, I DO INTEND TO START WRITING REGULARLY AGAIN. SO PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK SO FAR.

PS JUST TO WARN YOU: THIS STORY IS GOING TO BE KIND OF DARK IN LATER CHAPTERS. JUST WANTED TO LET READERS KNOW.