Chapter 1: Arriving In Miami


"Why is it so hot? I was not expecting this," Theresa whined as they exited the airport, immediately being met with the Florida sun and humidity.

Rich squinted in the sun as he hauled their luggage cart, walking beside his wife. "Welcome to Florida. We're not going to be spoiled by our California weather anymore."

"Thank God for air conditioning then."

"Amen to that. There's Leann."

A silver Mercedes was parked at the curb and inside sat Tyler's mother. She waved before stepping out of the sedan as they approached. Even just to pick up someone from the airport, she was still dressed more fashionable than anyone within a hundred mile radius. She wore a slimming black maxi dress, black wedges, her short brown hair slicked back in a bun, and Gucci sunglasses adorning her face. "Hey! How was the flight?"

Theresa was the first to speak, hugging Leann as she stepped up onto the curb. "It wasn't bad at all. Thank you."

Leann hugged Rich and then Naura.

Was it weird that Naura still didn't really like Leann only because she felt loyal to Tyler? Maybe so but it was an automatic reaction she couldn't really control.

They loaded up all the suitcases in Leann's trunk and Naura was a little disappointed Tyler hadn't come to greet them. She hadn't expected him to but a little part of her had been hoping he would.

The drive to their new house wasn't long but the scenery was beautiful. Palm trees lined every inch of the street and the city was full of life. People were out walking their dogs or exercising or just hanging out and a lot of them were in bathing suits or board shorts. Naura even had the pleasure of seeing a bulky older man rollerblading in a speedo.

Gross.

"Are you excited about the move, Naura?" Leann asked from the front seat.

God, making small talk with people she disliked was not a skill she possessed. "Yeah, I guess. It's a nice change."

"Oh, you'll love Florida. There's so much going on here and so many opportunities for someone your age. Not to mention the weather is amazing." Leann laughed at her own statement.

Naura didn't want to be rude and not laugh with her but she really didn't find it funny. So instead she smiled lightly at Leann in the rearview mirror.

"Yeah, you'll like it Naura," Rich said from the front passenger seat. "I'll make sure Tyler shows you around a bit."

Even the mention of his name made her heart drop. She couldn't help being so affected. It drove her crazy but it wasn't something she could change, only ignore every once in a while.

The plan tonight was for all of them to stay at Rich's house and in the morning Naura would be driven to her new college for orientation and to move into her new dorm room. She wasn't sure if she was more nervous about her new school or being so close to Tyler. She felt weird every time she wasted a second wondering about his social and love life. Especially his love life. She really wasn't looking forward to seeing him out and about and was going to avoid it at all costs.

Rich's house was really nice and quaint. A white stucco house. Perfectly modest size for a small family. And it was surprisingly organized for a man. Not that all men are slobs but it's hard to come by one who cares much about how his place looks. Rich and her mother happened to be very similar in that regard.

The house was a two story with four bedrooms, a good sized kitchen, office, and living room. The kitchen was all stainless steel and all of the furniture was either black, tan, gray, or a mixture. The master bedroom and two other bedrooms were upstairs and the fourth was the guest bedroom downstairs beside the office. Naura chose that room because she felt weird staying in the one next to Tyler's old room. It was kind of sad to think of why Rich had bought such a nice house with two extra rooms. Obviously he and Leann had planned on having more kids after Tyler but had broken up before they'd had the chance. So Rich had been left with an empty house and a broken family. Maybe he and her mom would have a kid or two. They weren't too old just yet and having a younger sibling would be nice.

Instead of cooking, Rich suggested they order pizza. So they did just that and settled on the couch to watch a movie.

"Tyler is supposed to stop by for a bit to say hi before he goes to meet up with some friends but who knows when that will be." Rich grabbed another slice of pizza from the box atop the dark wooden coffee table and checked his phone in his other hand.

"Well, it's okay if he doesn't have time tonight, Rich. He can stop by tomorrow," Theresa said.

Sitting next to her mother, Naura was secretly praying that Tyler would get hung up and not show up. She didn't want to be in her pajamas with her hair up while eating pizza to be the first image he'd have of her in Florida. She wanted to knock him dead by looking amazing and show him what he'd been missing.

The front door opened at that moment and Naura had a mini panic attack. Fuck, he was going to see her looking like a mess. Why was she so unlucky?!

"Hey guys! Anyone home?"

Thank you Jesus. It was Leann.

"In the living room!" Rich shouted.

Leann came click clacking over to where they all sat and smiled brightly as she came around the couch. She was dressed to impress in a beautiful cream strapless dress and tan sandals with turquoise rhinestones, her black bob of hair sleek as ever. She sat down in the arm chair beside Naura's side of the couch and set her purse down on the floor. "How is your ladies' first night? You enjoying Miami?"

They had only been here a few hours and already she was asking if they liked it. To give an honest answer would take days, but Naura smiled anyway and answered. "It's nice. I like it. The scenery is great and the weather is nice too."

"Good! I'll have to take you and your mother out to lunch sometime this week."

Yeah fuckin' right, was what Naura wanted to say but instead she decided on, "That would be nice."

Even after all she'd been through with Tyler, Naura still felt loyal to him and knowing what his mother put him through made it extremely difficult for her to like the woman. Maybe Leann would prove to be a nice woman, someone completely different from who she'd been, but then again maybe not.

They all sat and watched TV for another hour before Leann said goodnight and left and they all went to bed.

Naura was not looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow was when she might see Tyler for the first time in a year. Her stomach did somersaults every time she thought about it.


"Here we are! It looks so nice, Naura! Doesn't it?"

Naura smiled lightly and responded to her mom. "Yeah, it looks great. Bigger than I thought it would be."

And it was. The campus was huge, as were the buildings. Palm trees seemed to be the campus plant because everything was covered by them including the walkway up to the administration building. Students and parents littered the campus, anxious and giddy, and Naura smiled to herself every time they passed a mom that was as giddy as her mom was when they spoke to their son or daughter.

Well, here she was. Ready for a fresh start and terrified of what that meant.

Naura was anxious to get to her room and meet her new roommate. She hoped to God the girl was clean and drama free. Two necessities when it came to living with someone. She'd heard the horror stories about people who'd gotten psycho roommates or people who didn't care about personal space or belongings.

Naura was grateful that her mom was there to help with her bags. The rest of her stuff had been mailed and would arrive in a few days so for now all she had to worry about was her four suitcases and two boxes. She refused to send all her shoes, clothes, and important keepsakes through the mail so that was mostly what her luggage consisted of. Walking down the hallway of her building was interesting. It was a nice building and she was lucky to be on the second floor. The hall was crowded with students and a few parents, all meeting their roommates and moving in their things. Excitement was in the air and it made Naura extremely nervous but also excited as well.

Walking down the hallway she noticed quite a few people staring and a couple guys checking her out. Could they tell she wasn't from around here? God, she hoped not.

When they stopped at her room, sixth door on the left, it was already ajar and voices could be heard from inside.

Naura slowly pushed the door open the rest of the way and stepped in. "Hello?"

"Hi!" She was immediately greeted by a gorgeous Armenian girl with long wavy black hair, beautiful brown eyes, and a perfect smile. The girl was dressed in a black high-low sheer skirt with a white tube top and studded gladiator sandals. She held out her hand as she approached Naura, clearly happy to see her. "I'm Lucine. You must be Naura?"

"Yes." Naura smiled and shook the girl's hand, hoping to God that her good-natured attitude was genuine.

Lucine introduced herself to Naura's mom who stood beside her and then introduced her own mom, the other person who had been in the room. Her mom was also beautiful and had a genuinely nice personality. Basically the older version of her daughter but with shorter hair.

Their room was small, as expected, but nice. There were two twin size beds against each wall and a desk at the end of each bed. A door to the left led to their bathroom and to the right was a small closet with a dresser beside it. The carpet was a cream color and the walls were white. The nicest part of the room was the big bay window, giving them a good view of the campus. All in all, it was an extremely bland room but Naura knew that with the combined efforts of herself and her roommate, they would have it spruced up in no time. Lucine already had her black and maroon sheets and comforter on her bed and a bunch of posters all over her wall. She'd even filled up her half of the small closet.

Theresa rolled Naura's suitcase over by her twin bed on the right and smiled at her daughter. "Well, I'm going to go help Rich with her last few bags. I'll be right back."

Naura smiled at her mom and set the duffel bag she had been carrying on her bed. "So...," she started, turning to smile at Lucine. "Did you find out what your schedule is yet?"


Miami. City of sexy people and never-ending fun. This was where Naura was going to spend her next three years of life. And she wasn't too disappointed. She was going to miss her friends and her home dearly but Florida had so much to offer.

Like amazing people like Lucine. Lucine was a hardcore gossipper but she gossipped more about the good than the bad. Two of her friends had already visited their room and Naura already had plans on her first night. A party at a senior's house that he shared with three roommates.

Oh, and Lucine and her friends knew Tyler. Wonderful.

And there was a good chance he'd be there tonight. She wasn't sure if she was going to be able to handle this.

Sonya, one of Lucine's friends, was currently hanging out in their room as they all got ready for the party. Apparently she was one of the many girls crushing on Tyler.

"I don't know what it is about him but he just seems like such a bad boy. And I love things that are bad for me. Bagels, candy, boys who ride motorcycles." Sonya giggled as she curled her straight blond hair, standing in front of the mirror above the dresser beside Lucine's desk.

Lucine laughed, pulling her attention away from her nails on which she was applying pale green polish. "I agree with you on that one. Luckily I'm prematurely growing out of the bad boy stage because guys like Tyler, I realized, are no good for me. No offense." She directed the last part at Naura.

Naura smiled, only able to give Lucine half her attention. She was too busy worrying if the dress she'd just tried on made her look fat. She wanted to look her best in case she ran into Tyler but she wasn't too in love with the simple black strapless dress she wore. "None taken."

"So what was it like trying to hide that relationship from your parents?" Sonya asked.

Naura shrugged, turning to the side to further inspect herself in the full length mirror that stood against the wall between the two beds. "It wasn't easy but we did it. I think mostly because our parent would never have suspected it and I know my mom wouldn't have. I used to date jocks."

"And what do you date now?" Lucine asked, crossing her legs butterfly style on her bed.

"I don't really have a preference." Meaning she wasn't interested in anyone but Tyler. It wasn't that she hadn't tried to move on. She just couldn't.

"Well, I love me some bad boys. And musicians." Sonya flipped off the curling iron, grabbing her hairspray. "Musicians are so sexy."

Lucine spoke, her nails currently forgotten. "I actually really like nerdy boys. Well, not nerdy but smart, driven guys. Confident and a little full of themselves. I don't know why."

Naura smiled. "Hey, nerdy is good. Usually nerdy guys are motivated to do something with their careers. And better at long term relationships."

"You're right. So what happened to you and Tyler? If you don't mind me asking."

Naura sighed and reached for one of the dresses lying on her bed. She was over this one. "He just said he didn't want to do the long distance thing anymore. Couldn't. And then he stopped calling. For some reason, I feel like that wasn't it though. LIke that was only the beginning of the issue. But Tyler's stubborn. He would never tell me the truth." Naura quickly took of the dress she wore and slipped into the new one.

"Well, you're better off without him. You deserve to be with a guy who appreciates you. Not one that can break up with you as soon as he gets cold feet."

Sonya nodded. "Fuck him. This is college anyway. You're supposed to have fun and be a slut! And speaking of sluts, that dress isn't slutty enough."

Naura laughed and turned to smile at the girls. "Okay, I need help."

Lucine grinned. "I think I have something that you'll fit perfect in."


A/N: Aiming on updating faster but I'm slacking! My goal is to update every two weeks, or week if possible. Please review if you're reading! It'd be greatly appreciated. :)

Emitti : Aw thanks for still reading! I can't believe it's been years since I finished the last one. Trying to work on that. Thanks so much for writing a review and I promise I wont take a year for the next chapter! Lol