I close my last bag and then I look around my room once more. I will miss my little corner of heaven, as long as I stay in the dorm room.

I hope you are ready to go, Anna. I don't have time to stay after you all day. My mother shouted from the kitchen, and I rolled my eyes.

Maybe I won't miss some things at all. This is where my mother's behavior towards me comes in. Ever since I've known myself, all I've done is to please them. To study well at school, to get home on time, not to go to parties, to spend time with David...

Don't get me wrong, I love doing all these things. I love spending time with my boyfriend, but it seems that nothing is enough for my mother. David is just like me. A nerd got angry and somehow that brought us closer, but I don't know if it's love in the middle. I mean...I'm attached to him, I want to spend more time with him, but it's not like...that's how it's written in the books that love feels.

Maybe that's me. Maybe love manifests itself differently for me. Who knows?! I take both my bags and drag them behind me to the living room. My mother finishes packing some yogurts and something to chew, then she gives me a critical look. While she is dressed as if she is going to the most important conference on earth, I am dressed simply. A pair of jeans and a looser t-shirt.

I have no idea where you think you will end up with this outfit, but we don't have time to change.

- Let's go, mother. It's not like I want to catch anyone's eye. I tell her in a sarcastic tone, then with my luggage after me, I leave the house, leaving her to speak alone.

I put my luggage in the trunk of the car and then get into the seat on the right, waiting for my mother to show up.

Who knows what he's checking now...

I take my phone out of my pocket and read the message I received from David.

"Have a good trip. Call me when you get home. Take care of yourself."

It's a trivial message, but at least he made an effort to write to me. Well, he could take the time to come and see me before he left, after all he works at his father's company. But I'm used to this kind of treatment. I only hope that my departure will make them miss me. I hope he learns to appreciate me.

-Listen to her... To attract the eyes of other men. If dear David could hear you, how do you think he would feel? My mother walks into the car.

Really?! Still stuck on this thing?

But David is not around, so... I say then shrug carelessly.

I spend the next four hours listening to my mother's nagging and I want to jump out of the car. But I resist. A little more and then I will be able to spend my time as I want. Without the careful supervision of the mother. Without a thorough interrogation from her.

My mother parks the car in the campus parking lot and we get off. I take my two bags from the car and then we head to the secretariat.

-Hello. I'm Anna Brown... I say, and the woman with gray hair looks up from the papers and smiles widely at me.

That's right, dear. I spoke on the phone. Here you have the room key and a plan of the building.

After I take everything the woman handed me, I take a bag pulling it after me, while my mother follows me with the other bag.

Room…65…Look at it.

I head towards the room almost running and without thinking, I open the door. I see a red-haired girl with an earring in her nose on her bare chest and I want to bury myself in the ground in shame.

I could knock on the door...

-Get in. Don't stand there so scared. She tells me using a joking tone, and I enter the room followed by my mother. I'm Iris, your roommate.

Anna. I say simply and extend my open palm towards her, but she pulls me into a bear hug making me giggle.

-Do you smoke, miss? Do you drink alcoholic beverages? The mother behind me asks and I widen my eyes.

Does he have no common sense at all?

-Mother…

-What is it, Anna? I'm just curious. I need to know what kind of person you are dealing with. I don't want to make you learn such habits...

I turn my gaze to Iris, miming a silent "I'm sorry", and she just smiles.

I guess you have educated your daughter well. I think you can trust her that she won't do anything bad.

Iris' answer left me surprised, and the mother just mumbled something incomprehensible to us before showing her million dollar smile again.

-I will leave now. And so I was half an hour late for the meeting with the parents. Call me, okay? He tells me then sends me a kiss through the air.

I forgot to specify... My mother is the director of the high school where I studied.

Maybe that's where he adopted this nagging attitude. Because he has to guide all kinds of students on the right path.

-Yes mom. I'll call you later tonight. I tell her, and she leaves the room without adding anything.

I don't know what I expected him to tell me. I love you? She only tells me that when she has to go somewhere and she has to leave me alone. I mean, closer all the time.

I sigh with relief that she's gone and I get a giggle from Iris.

I'm so sorry for how your mother questioned you. It's clear that she shouldn't be bothered by your habits, but that's how she is. I tell her, sitting on the edge of the free bed that will now be mine.

-Do not worry. I'm used to my parents asking me questions all the time. Everyone thinks that if I have an earring somewhere other than my ears, it means I'm doing other, more serious things.

Iris, at first glance, seems like a business girl. I think we will get along wonderfully together, even if it seems that she is much different than me.

I start unpacking my things with the help of Iris, who immediately offered to help me, making it clear this time that she also has a good impression of me.

Are you in New York for the first time? She asks me as she takes my purse with my personal hygiene items and places it on the shelf in the bathroom.

What I liked most about this hostel when I applied for a place here, was the fact that each room has its own bathroom, which means that there is no need to walk the walk of shame from the bathroom in the hall to the room .

-I was there once before when I submitted my documents for the dormitory. I tell her, arranging every piece of clothing that I put in the closet.

So it's your first time when your mother doesn't accompany you... She agrees with the assumption and I hasten to deny it.

-Actually, when I first came here, I came with David.

-And can you tell me who this David is?

I laugh because of her curiosity to find out everything about me because I didn't expect that. I am not a very interesting person.

-David is my boyfriend. We have been together for a year. I tell her, closing the closet doors, then I sit down again on the edge of the bed, feeling tired.

- Did you come to study together?

-Not. Just me. He preferred to take a year off from his studies and helps his father at the company.

It seems that you are not very disappointed that you are not together now...

My eyes immediately move towards her thinking that I will find an expression that will make me feel guilty for the way I think, but instead I only find the same warm expression with which she welcomed me when I entered the room.

Don't get me wrong, I like David, but I seem to have accepted this relationship only so that my mother would stop pressuring me that I should be with him. But enough about me. It's time for you to tell me something about yourself.

She displays a devilish smile and now I'm really curious about what she's going to tell me.

-Well...Your mother was half right with what she said. I mean, I like to party. Every time someone throws a party and I'm invited, I never say no.

-Oh…

Yes... And I can't wait to go to the next party together. She tells me, clapping her hands like a small child and laughing at her.

- I don't think I'm the right person for the party. What I didn't tell you about myself is that I'm a nerd.

She snorts amused as if it were no big deal, then returns to her previous state.

-So what?! And nerds deserve a little fun. They needs to put his mind on pause a little more so as not to short circuit.

I look at her as if I were seeing an alien and that amuses her even more.

-You'll see... After attending the first party, you'll want to be present at the next one as well. The parties here are criminal.

I don't know, Iris... I've never been to a party and I really don't want to put my mother on my head.

-You'll only get it if you tell her you went to a party, but you're of age. It's time to make your own choices.

If you sit and think coldly about everything Iris said, she's kind of right. But I don't even want to start lying to my mother. I wouldn't want him to think that Iris is influencing me to do such things.

That remains to be seen... For now, today I want to rest. I drove four hours to get here, I listened to all my mother's unfounded complaints about me, then I unpacked my bags... I want nothing more than a good night's sleep.

-Okay, dear. Today is what you want, but tomorrow we do what I want.

I nod my head and then I take my pajamas from the closet consisting of a pair of shorts with hearts and a tank top with the same print, both blue pieces. I enter the bathroom and turn on the shower. After I get rid of my clothes and untie my hair, I go under the hot water which immediately calms me down. I start washing my hair and then my body, using the chocolate-flavored shower gel, then I rinse. I have the impression that I hear a man's voice talking to Iris and I start to feel slightly stressed. I hope she doesn't have the habit of calling boys into the room because I don't agree with that. I try to listen better, but I can't hear anything.

Maybe it just seemed to me...

I start to dry my hair with a towel, then I take another clean one with which I dry my body. I put on my underwear, then my pajamas and leave the bathroom, but not before leaving the clothes I've undressed in the laundry basket.

The first person I see when I get out of the bathroom is a little girl about five years old who smiles at me widely, but then hides her face behind her little hands.

Hey, princess... What's your name? I ask kneeling in front of her and taking her palms from her face.

- My name is Gigi and I am five years old. She tells me, fixing me with her angelic gaze. What's your name?

I take her in my arms after standing up and place her on my bed, taking care to arrange her dress.

I'm Anna and I'm 18 years old. I tell her and Gigi starts laughing. What are you doing here? Where is Iris?

God...I shouldn't ask a little girl questions.

She went to bring my clothes in which I will sleep from my father's car. Iris still takes care of me from time to time, when dad has work.

-And you are a very intelligent princess, aren't you?

That's right. Dad tells me that I inherited his intelligence and my mother's power of manipulation.

I laugh with her and she sits in my arms, running her small hands around my neck, hugging me. My heart fills with happiness and I hug her in turn.

-Is your mother busy tonight? My mouth takes the advance, and Gigi gets sad.

-I do not know. Mom didn't want me, that's why it's just me and dad.

Simply, my heart cannot cope with the sadness on her face and I tickled her making her laugh out loud. The door of the room opens and Iris appears with a backpack in her hand.

It seems that you have already met. Says Iris and Gigi vehemently agrees with her head. You understand each other perfectly.

Gigi gets out of my arms and goes to give Iris a hug too. After exchanging a few lines between them, Iris looks at me with puppy eyes.

-What? I ask her not knowing what the problem is.

I know it's short and you've only just met Gigi, but I didn't know she'd come tonight and I've already made plans...

Ok...

-Please, are you staying with her tonight?

What could I say? I look at the little princess and it would be bad for me not to want to stay with her.