The Beautiful Monster

Alyssa\'s socked feet swung off of the side of her twin size bed. Her thumbs rapidly tapped away on the keyboard of her phone as she texted Elias back about their study session tonight. She figured she could probably head over to his place. When she did tutoring back in high school, that was what she did. She figured things wouldn\'t be that different now.

Elias; "Could we do your place instead? Still waiting for my new apartment to be set up."

Alyssa\'s eyes widened slightly. He had his own apartment? He hadn\'t mentioned any roommates or a job, so she wondered how he could afford that. She would\'ve gotten an apartment if she had the money for it. Maybe his parents were rich. Her own parents would laugh at her if she asked them for help with rent.

Alyssa; "Sure! I\'m in the south dorm building"

Alyssa then froze after she sent the text. Her eyes shifted around her room, which had clothes, papers, and empty snack packages laying around. Her room was a mess, and she was expecting company soon. She couldn\'t let him think she lived in such a messy place.

Alyssa; "See you in 30 mins?"

Alyssa read his text and hurriedly jumped off of her bed. She needed to clean now, and she had no idea where to even start.

Text me when you get here and I\'ll come get you!

Alyssa sent her text before throwing her phone on top of her light blue sheets. She snatched up a chip bag on her nightstand and then an empty water bottle on her desk. She started darting around her room, picking up trash and loose clothes to put up before he saw them.

She had meant to clean this week, but she had gotten so caught up with work and actually socializing that it had slipped her mind.

She needed to do a load of laundry and sweep the floor. She was already being a terrible adult, but she\'d get better as she got older. She hoped.

Once the trash and dirty clothes were scared away, Alyssa grabbed her clean linen scented air freshener and rushed around the entire dorm room, spraying the gentle scent everywhere she could.

She didn\'t even know where they could study at. She only had one chair for her desk. Wouldn\'t it be weird to get him in the bed with her?

Her cheeks warmed up at that. It was the only place they could both sit at besides the wooden floor. She nearly kicked herself for not thinking this through. They could go to the library, but it would be nice to have some time away from other people. Not that she expected them to do anything.

Alyssa hurried into her bathroom and peered into the mirror above the bathroom sink. Her cheeks were lightly flushed, nearly matching the shade of her shoulder-length hair. She ran her brush through the strands, taming a few frazzled looking hairs.

She still had on her shorts and tank top from earlier that day, and she figured that would have to do. Zoe would have to give her some fashion tips so that she could spruce her closet up a little and not wear the same things over and over again.

As she smoothed her hands over her tank top, she heard her phone go off. Had it been thirty minutes already? She had moved as fast as she could, but she had a lot to tidy up, including herself. She headed back over to her bed and picked up her phone to see a text from Elias.

Elias; "I\'m here"

It had been twenty-eight minutes. He was early by two minutes, but that felt like twenty minutes to her. There were still a few things she could put up or move to free the space up a little, but it was too late. What he saw was what he got.

Then again, Alyssa had a feeling he wouldn\'t judge her for a few misplaced things. He didn\'t seem like the type to judge people for things like that. If they were being awful people, like Kaleigh and Olivia, then he would judge hard. She liked him for that. She liked him for a lot of things.

Alyssa; "Coming!"

Alyssa sent him the text before giving her hair a light ruffle and then slipping on her black Converse. She messily tied them before rushing out of her dorm room and to the front door of the dorm building. Students needed swipe access to enter the dorms, and they only got that if they lived there.

She opened the glass door to see him standing on the sidewalk with his hands tucked into the pockets of his dark grey jeans. He wore a white T-shirt, so she could actually make his tattoos out better now. They looked incredible with their delicate black lines.