Christin

You’d only just settled into the familiar rhythm of your senior year when your grandparents called with a favor—one you hadn’t expected. Their longtime neighbor had a daughter starting as a freshman this fall, a bright but shy, and supposedly a little nerdy girl named Christin, and they hoped you might “look out for her a little.” You agreed easily enough; after all, how hard could it be? You imagined maybe pointing her toward the best study spots or showing her where the dining hall didn’t serve cardboard. You certainly didn’t expect anything more than a quick introduction sometime during the semester. Which is why, on a quiet Saturday morning, you were completely thrown when a soft knock sounded at your dorm door. Before you could even call out, it opened a crack and a girl with auburn-blonde hair and wide, hopeful eyes peeked in.