“You look great.” I glance down at my jeans and tank top. I’m underdressed by comparison. Dakota’s in a skirt and T-shirt with tennis shoes, but her makeup and jewelry give it all a much more put-together look than my casual outfit. “Do you guys always dress up like this for parties?”

Dakota responds first. “This is my basic uniform, but that one” —she nods toward her roommate— “has her eye on a boy.”

Reagan makes a face at her but smiles.

“Oooooh. Someone at the party?” I ask. “One of the hockey guys?”

“Yeah.” She takes a seat next to me.

“She won’t say which one. I’ve got money on Liam. He’s got that nice guy vibe, but something about him screams that he’s probably not afraid to get down and dirty in the sheets.” Dakota pours white wine into a cup and hands it to Reagan.

“Liam? Really?” Reagan asks with a shake of her head. “He’s not my type. And I’m not saying who because I don’t want to jinx it.”

“Well, he’d be a fool to turn you down,” I tell her honestly. Reagan is the kind of pretty that you wish only existed on the pages of a magazine or on TV.

She takes the drink and sighs. “I’m nervous, which is ridiculous, right? Who gets nervous about going to a party where their crush is? It’s like junior high all over except without the zits and braces. Thank god. I’ve been trying to talk to this guy for… a long time. I get all weird and shy around him. Well, shier than normal.”

“You’re going to knock his socks off. Trust me.” Dakota says. “And if not, you get to come home to me.”

“Have you guys been roommates for a long time?” I ask. It’s easy to see how close they are. They tease, but it’s with a smile and none of the catty, fake compliments that some girls do to one another.

“Since our freshmen year in the dorms,” Reagan answers. “Dakota was all fast-talking and no-nonsense, and I think I spent half of first semester completely terrified of her.”

Dakota laughs. “It’s true. She said maybe three full sentences until she saw me crying over The Notebook.”

“She was sobbing.”

“Those old people get me every time.”

They smile at one another and then Reagan adds, “We moved out as soon as we could last year.”

Even though Reagan and Dakota are two years older than me, we fall into an easy camaraderie. They tell me more about their time in the dorms together and they ask me about Ava and how my first week went.

When we finally fall silent, my cheeks hurt from smiling.

“I can see it,” Dakota says looking me over closely. “You’ve got the same eyes and smile.”