Page 1 of Gracefully Yours

Prologue

CHARLOTTE

FRESHMAN YEAR

My fingers strummed against the plastic underneath the car window as I stared outside, watching the passing view. There was greenery all around, even in the summer. I loved it. I loved the mass of bridges that we were passing by as we drove up the interstate towards my new home.

Home.I was searching for what that really meant.

Maybe it was because I didn’t quite feel at home in California that I’d chosen a small, private school in Oregon. Maybe it was something else pushing me entirely.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” My mother asked me—for the tenth time since that morning—as we’d taken one final car ride from our hotel to my new college campus.

The place where I would spend the next four years of my life.

The place that would be my home, where I could be my own person and make my own choices. That newfound freedom that had me leaping out of my bed each morning on our road trip up.

I looked over, staring at her light blonde hair–the same shade as mine, though she’d long since started dyeing it that shade–and studied the tightness in her jaw. The slight downcurve of her lips.

“I’m sure, Mom,” I said, smiling out the window as we pulled onto campus.

There were a thousand reasons she’d given for me staying closer to home, but there was something about this school that called me there.

It was a small university—nestled along the bank of the Willamette river in Portland—but here, I wouldn’t be one of a hundred thousand students, just one of four thousand. The average class size was thirty people, instead of three hundred.

On the tour I’d taken last fall, they’d talked aboutcommunity.Each dorm was a community. The residence hall you lived in was so much more than that.

It had everything the giant state schools had not.

Trees lined the drive as we pulled in, towards my dorm and new home: Juniper Hall. I couldn’t wait to meet my roommate. Maybe we wouldn’t be best friends, but as long as we got along, that would be enough. I’d never shared a room before, but excited jitters ran through me as my mom parked the car and I hopped out, heading towards check-in to get my keys.

The process was quick, and after I’d met my RA, I headed up to my dorm with my key in hand, pulling an enormous suitcase behind me with my duffel swung over one shoulder.

My new roommate was sitting on the floor, her long red hair pulled back into a thick ponytail, folding a turtleneck sweater, when I walked in. Her orange patterned bedspread was already spread out over her lofted mattress, giving her plenty of room underneath for storage.

“Oh my gosh!” she exclaimed, standing up as I walked into the room. “You’re here!”

“Hi,” I smiled, extending out a hand. “I’m Charlotte.”

Not Lottie or Charlie. I’d grown out of those nicknames a long time ago, and now I wanted to figure out who I was on my own. Charlotte seemed like a good start.

Ignoring my hand, she pulled me into a big hug, and I instantly sank into the embrace.

“Noelle,” she said, cheeks rosy as she beamed at me. “This is so exciting. What are you studying? I’m an English major, but I’m hoping to work in the book industry one day because Iloveit.”

I dropped my duffel on the bed and left my suitcase next to it. Straightening out my pink dress, I got ready to head back out to the car. I had brought very little with me, especially compared to my roommate. We’d gone shopping for the other essentials when we got here.

I focused back on my new redheaded roommate, who was unloading a box onto her desk in the corner, several romance books in her arms. My eyes grew wide, finally connecting the dots with what she had just said. “You like toread,too?” There was no containing my smile. “I have to get another load from the car and find my mom, but we’resogoing to be good friends.”

Maybe best friends. I hoped.

I needed one.

“Do you need any help?” Noelle asked, but I shook my head.

“I don’t have that much more—I’ll be quick!”

“Okay. Just let me know if you do!”

---