It was a rather chaotic start to the day. Earlier I had been rather rudely awoken by both Sam and Irene- the former's drawing of the blinds and the latter's well-aimed pillow to my sleeping form. That combination would normally have annoyed me, but I quickly realised that it was nearly one o'clock in the afternoon made me spring awake easily in a rush. We were supposed to meet Sam and Irene's mysterious new friend for lunch. And that was in approximately… eight minutes. Oops.

I came back hastily from brushing my teeth and washing up as quickly as I could- almost as if I was at boot camp. But I didn't want them to be tardy because of me. I rummaged through my closet, suddenly feeling like there was nothing to wear. That always seems to happen especially when I am in a rush.

I just wildly grabbed at what seemed most immediately acceptable- my favourite pair of stonewashed jeans and a faded yellow crew neck tee, just plain and casual. There was no time to pull up my hair into a ponytail, so I just combed through it a few times, leaving it a messy mane. I was about to hurry out of the room once more to change, since Sam and Irene were currently lounging on her bed waiting for me.

'You're not going to the toilet to change are you?' Irene exclaimed, though not in a mean way. 'Are you afraid of us checking out your hot little body?'

That made me blush ever so slightly, even though Irene was no stranger to me. As a matter of fact, I never changed in the room when Sam was around. I guess I did feel some degree of self-consciousness, although the same could not be said for Sam. Sam with her lissom, thin and absolutely fat-less body, I might add.

'What? No…' was my lame response, although my genuine answer was more to the tone of a resounding yes. Irene chuckled while Sam remained silent. I wondered if she too thought it strange that I never changed in the room with her. I hope she didn't take any sort of offence to that. But nah, she didn't seem like the type to.

With my back turned to them, I stripped myself of my sleep shorts and put on my jeans, hopping a little to help yank them up past my hips. Then, I quickly took off my shirt, and replaced it with the yellow tee. I was probably being paranoid but I felt like their gazes were burning through my back. It didn't help that I heard one of Irene's trademark giggles escape from her lips. Just as I turned back round, glad to be finally fully dressed-

'Carrie!' Irene and Sam exclaimed in unison. Said person stood in the doorframe, a huge grin on her face. For a split second I wondered who she was. She looked very familiar, and then I remembered.

'What the fuck are you doing here? I thought we were meeting at the café!' Irene said excitedly, her mouth stretching into a wide smile. 'C'mere, bitch!'

Carrie just laughed, a deep throaty laugh. She walked over and gave Irene a huge bear hug. 'I was just texting Sam when I realised I just moved in down the hall from her. Can you believe that?'

'That's awesome!' Irene replied, punching Sam, who looked considerably less responsive, lightly in the arm. 'Isn't it, Sam? We can all hang out together again!'

Sam sat up and nodded, smiling widely too. 'Hey, Carr.' She gave Carrie a quick hug too, and gestured towards me. 'Oh, that's my roommate Natalie.'

The tall dark-haired girl turned to me, her green eyes twinkling just a bit in surprise. 'Hey…' she said. 'We met last night, didn't we?'

'Yeah,' I responded, still a bit flabbergasted by the coincidence, but smiling nonetheless. The smiling seemed contagious. 'I had no idea you knew Sam.'

'We go way back actually,' Carrie responded, throwing Sam and Irene a playful look, her green eyes sparkling. I wondered how many crazy escapades these friends had shared. They seemed extremely warm and close, and I suddenly felt worried that I'd be extra, unwanted company.

'Which is why we need to catch up now!' Irene chirped. 'And of course, you must get to know our dear Natalie here too.'

I was grateful that Irene made the effort to make me feel welcome, though I still felt a little nervous, tagging along with them. We then left and locked our room, with Irene and Carrie walking ahead and Sam and I following behind.

Irene kept bouncing on her heels, while Carrie, with the taller and clearly more athletic build, strode on calmly.

'She looks really athletic,' I commented to Sam next to me.

'Of course,' Sam said. 'She's a rugby player.'

My jaw dropped.

We settled quickly into a corner booth in the café, with Carrie and I taking one side. Irene and Sam slid easily into the opposite side, seated comfortably on the shiny blue vinyl seats.

A preppy waitress took our orders shortly, all four of us opting for the sandwich special of the day. There was a moment of silence as the waitress walked away. My stomach growled suddenly. I was pretty hungry, since it was my first meal of the day after all. I was worried that they heard it, but Irene had already broken the silence.

'So, Carr, why did you transfer here?'

'Well, they suddenly offered me a scholarship to play for them here. I thought it was a pretty good opportunity, plus I remembered you guys were here.' Carrie spoke calmly and with ease. Her eyes crinkled slightly as she smiled. It suddenly struck me how she managed to be both warm and distant at the same time.

'Aw… I knew you missed us. That's awesome though, the scholarship. Hmmm… but it means that you'll have to spend a lot of time training on the field, huh.' Irene wrinkled her nose slightly. I guess she wasn't much of a sports fan.

'Oh it's not that bad. It's still the off-season anyway so it's twice a week starting next week.'

'Wait,' Sam finally spoke up, crossing her arms and leaning forward thoughtfully. 'Where's Kayla?'

I turned to face Carrie and saw her give a rueful smile and the slightest shrug. I don't deny that up till that point I had been wondering whether Carrie was a lesbian too, like Sam. This pretty much confirmed it for me. It made me wonder suddenly why they chose to hang out with me and bring me into their circle. I felt like the odd one out- the only 'straight' girl. Am I really? Now was definitely not the time to be opening that can of worms though.

'No…' said Irene in disbelief, her eyes widening dramatically. 'I seriously thought you two were going to get hitched or something. I mean…'

'Wow.' Sam's response was simpler, but her surprise was no less evident.

I remained silent, a little uncomfortable. I had no idea who this Kayla person was (though of course I could infer that she was Carrie's now ex-girlfriend), and I had no appropriate response to contribute. It was a pretty awkward moment for me, and presumably Carrie as well. My eyes wandered across the café instead, casually people-watching.

'Nat, Kayla is, well was, Carrie's girlfriend for like, forever, they…' Irene began to explain, but I was distracted by a familiar figure standing in the queue at the counter. He was tall, with light brown hair that grew just a little too long and wearing wire-rimmed glasses. Almost at the same moment I caught sight of and recognised him, he turned around with his drink in hand and his gaze caught mine.

Ray.

His deep brown eyes flickered with interest when his eyes fell on me. I had completely and utterly forgotten about his email stating that he was going to arrive. Had it already been a week? I was still staring at him in quite a bit of shock as he waved at me rather enthusiastically.

I scrambled out of my seat quickly- thankfully I was sitting on the outside, so I didn't have to scoot past Carrie. 'Sorry, be right back,' I said hastily as I got up and made my way towards Ray's smiling figure. It all happened so fast.

'I can't believe you are really here!' I exclaimed. It was nice to see a familiar face; someone that I had took comfort in and grew close to. A mixture of feelings took over me. Part of me was genuinely glad to see him. I felt something like a rush of nostalgia, like I was in my old life again. The other part of me felt extremely unsettled. I wondered if the girls were observing my interaction with Ray.

He smiled warmly, and pulled me into a tight hug. 'I'm so glad to see you again, Nattie.' he said as he pulled away. Ray's familiar husky voice was filled with so much sincerity it made me wonder in that moment why I ever broke up with him.

'You're here with friends?' He enquired, jerking his head in the direction of Sam & co.

'Yeah… one of them is my roommate.' I looked over at the three of them. They seemed absorbed in their own conversation, thankfully. Perhaps they'd never notice Ray.

'I'll introduce you some other time?' Part of me wanted to somehow keep Ray separate from them in my life. I hoped it wasn't too rude of me, and that Ray wouldn't be offended by it.

'When would this some other time be?' Ray asked, grinning. 'How about dinner sometime this week?'

Immediately the awkwardness of bringing Ray on a date with my friends flashed through my mind.

'How about just the two of us? We could, you know, catch up…' I said tentatively.

Ray's eyes suddenly lit up. I think he took that to mean that I was keen to spend time alone with him. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing, or whether I was giving him the wrong idea. I was 90% sure I had no intention of getting back together with him. 'That'd be great,' he replied enthusiastically.

'I think I gotta get back,' I said, gesturing to my friends once again. 'I'll see you soon?'

'Oh yeah, sure. Looking forward to that,' Ray said cheerfully as he leaned in it towards me. Remembering that I was, as of now, broken up with him, I leaned in only slightly and gave him a brisk pat on his shoulders. No hug, no kiss.

With that, I gave a quick "see you!" spun on my heel and strode back toward my seat. My heart pounded a little in my chest, but honestly I had no idea why I felt nervous in the first place.

As I approached my seat, I noticed that it seemed like Sam and Carrie were in a heated debate. Irene sat back idly, which was unusual for her. She looked even slightly bored. I slid back easily into my seat just as Sam and Carrie stopped their conversation.

'Thank God you're back, finally,' said Irene with the slightest roll of her eyes. 'Who was that guy there?' She continued, blunt as ever.

'Um… that was Ray.'

'Ray who?' She pressed. Carrie remained silent, as did Sam. It was rather unsettling a feeling, having the topic of conversation suddenly becoming centred on me.

'He's a friend from back home.' Irene arched an eyebrow sceptically and looked expectantly at me.

'He was my ex-boyfriend.' I figured it was easier to tell the truth than to come up with an elaborate lie, even if I didn't exactly feel comfortable talking about my ex-boyfriend. I guess part of me was worried that this made me fit in even less with them. I wonder how it is that at the ripe old age of twenty I could still be caught up with the teenage obsession of fitting in.

'Ah, that explains the pat on the back.' Irene said sagely.

'Told you so.' Sam said ever so quietly, but I caught it. It wasn't directed to me though, but rather the person sitting across her. Carrie gave a shrug and leaned nonchalantly back in her seat, although it seemed like she was stretching the muscles in her broad back. It was probably some kind of athlete's habit.

Sam continued to grin at Carrie almost victoriously. I was seriously perplexed and I guess my expression showed as much.

'What?' I asked, unknowingly directing my question to Irene.

'Sam thinks Carrie's gaydar is faulty because-'

'-Not a big deal, let's go.' Carrie interrupted, beginning to stand up. She managed to sound authoritative without coming across as fierce or heavy-handed.

I wanted Irene to finish her sentence but everyone began to get up anyway so I followed suit silently, my eyebrows still knotted together in confusion. I wondered if the conversation had anything to do with me.

'Come on, kid,' Sam said, slinging her arm casually around my shoulder as we exited the café. Carrie did the same to Irene as they strode out ahead of us, but I was pretty sure Irene wasn't feeling the same tingly sensation in her gut as I did.

A/N: Will be trying to update at least once a fortnight. Thanks for the feedback and reviews, keep them coming! :)