Chapter Text
If Regina George is being honest, she wouldn’t use the word “suite” to describe a four-person dorm room. “Suite” implies high-class, good treatment, normally something better than what everyone else gets.
However, here she stands in her four-person suite - surrounded by boxes and suitcases and bags and completely at a loss.
The suite is separated into three rooms. There are two bedrooms with two beds each in them, and then a common room in between the two of them. The problem lays in the fact that the paint on the walls is dated, the couch in the common room squeaks under anyone’s weight, and there’s a certain floorboard that Regina’s sure is going to try and kill her before the end of the week.
The names of her roommates are plastered on the door, put up by their RA on little Marvel-themed cutouts. When she was texting her RA, who’s also her ex-boyfriend, Aaron, about the arrangement, he said that he made sure to give her the Hulk-themed cutout. Apparently she’s scary when she’s angry, whatever that means.
Along with herself, there’s three other names. Cady Heron on an Iron Man icon, Gretchen Wieners on a Black Widow icon, and Karen Shetty on a Hawkeye icon. Aaron made sure to tell her all of those when they FaceTimed last night and Regina hates that she committed them to memory.
Regina doesn’t know anything about the other girls. She wanted to look them up, but forgot in the chaos of getting ready to leave and a swarm of last minute packing, and as far as she’s aware, they haven’t bothered to reach out or look her up, either.
Regina’s roommate is the girl named Cady, who’s already here judging by boxes surrounding one of the beds and a lion plushy on the unmade bed. Regina wonders if she could get away with hiding it from everyone and everything. Who brings a plushy to college, anyway?
“You’re right by the window, how quaint!” her mother comments in a tone that’s more condescending than complimentary, and Regina rolls her eyes.
“I told you we should’ve left earlier,” she says, dropping her bag on the bed and grabbing her phone.
“Oh, hi!”
Regina turns on her heel, surprised to see a redhead with her arms full of a laundry basket practically spilling over with bedding and a backpack on in the doorway of the room.
Regina’s mother is quick to move out of the way, eyeing the girl curiously, and Regina finds herself mirroring her mother’s movements.
The girl is all smiles, wearing a t-shirt that was clearly picked up at some tourist shop as well as a pair of caramel-colored cargo pants and what must be some kind of hiking shoe. It’s such a bizarre outfit that Regina loses any and all words for a good twelve seconds.
The woman behind the redhead is almost a spitting image of her, albeit aged 20 years and dressed much nicer.
“You must be Regina!” the girl puts her basket down on her bed and smiles brightly at Regina, sticking her hand out to shake, “I’m Cady, nice to meet you. We’re roommates!”
Regina nods uneasily and shakes her hand, really not expecting such a formal introduction.
“I’m Betsy, Cady’s mother,” the woman following her adds, dropping the box under her arm on to Cady’s desk. She makes no move to shake hands or hug or anything as she nods, “Nice to meet you both.”
“I’m Regina, and that’s my mother, June,” Regina gestures to her mother, tacking on an overly nice, “Lovely to meet you both.”
If Cady notices how fake her tone is, she doesn’t react in the slightest, and instead nods, “Well, my mom and I have more stuff to bring up. Did you hear we have an RA meeting at 6? I hope our other roommates are here by then.”
Regina nods stiffly, “Yeah. I did.”
Cady gives her a look, like she wants to say something more, but she instead turns back to her mother and they leave the room.
Regina’s mother lets out a short laugh when they leave, “Jesus Christ. What was that girl wearing? Is she going trekking through the woods? We’re in the suburbs, for fuck’s sake.”
Regina doesn’t comment, feeling like it’s a little bit of a bad omen, but she can’t help but agree. The girl’s walking around in hiking boots and cargo pants like she’s Bear Grylls. It’s kind of insane.
Her other two roommates arrive together. They’re clearly friends already, by the way they’re helping each other out almost wordlessly and how the taller girl doesn’t have anyone with her.
Gretchen, a short redhead (Jesus Christ there’s two of them), is doted after as she enters the room by who Regina assumes is her father, and speaking in rapid Spanish with her mother. Her suitcases are all monogrammed and she shares the same look of disappointment at the status of the room.
Karen, a gorgeous Indian girl with long curly hair, is all energy and excitement as she comes into the room, observing everything like she’s a puppy experiencing life for the first time. It’s almost endearing, if Regina weren’t so sure that that attitude is going to get old, fast. Her lack of family with her is curious, but Regina decides it’s probably that big of a deal. She would’ve left her mother at home if she could.
The girls all say goodbye to their families not too long after, and Regina finds herself alone in her room with Cady, unpacking.
“So, Regina, where are you from?”
Regina tries not to look too pissed off, “Here, actually.”
“Oh, really?” Cady’s voice pitches with intrigue, “My mom’s from Chicago originally! I know that’s not here, really, but it’s close. Her job in Africa finished this past spring and she decided that we’d finally move here because I was accepted to this school. She also got a job here as a professor in some higher level classes - she’s a biologist and she homeschooled me.”
The homeschooling thing makes sense, and Regina just pays mind to humming her acknowledgments and putting her clothes away in one of the dressers.
“What about you?” Cady asks as she shimmies her pillow into a pillowcase. “Why are you at Northwestern?”
Regina shrugs, “It’s close to home and a good school. I think my sister would’ve killed me if I went too far for college.”
“You have a sister?”
Regina nods, “Yeah. She’s eight.”
Cady pauses, “That’s cute. I’ve always wanted a sibling.”
Regina nods. She didn’t want one until maybe six months after Kylie was born, but now, that kid is basically hers. She’s just hoping that her mother doesn’t drive Kylie insane in the same way that she did Regina.
Cady goes on to tell Regina some stories as they keep unpacking. She talks about Africa and living there with her mom and how this is her first time getting “socialized” (Regina can tell) and then about how she was born here but moved when she was just four years old to Australia with her mom and dad. The dad thing is dropped very quickly after, and Regina doesn’t ask about it. She’s pretty sure she gets it.
A little before six, the girls all congregate in the common room to head to the floor meeting.
“Does anyone know where the meeting room is?” Gretchen asks.
Regina nods, “I do.”
Regina leads the four of them to the floor meeting, and is immediately greeted by a room filled with maybe twenty people. There’s a spot on one of the couches that’s open for the girls, and Regina’s quick to have them sit down there.
It just so happens that behind her, perched in one of the windowsills, is Shane. Shane is one of Regina’s friends from high school, and someone that she hooked up with for most of her junior year before he realized that he was gay and started poking suspicions at Regina’s sexuality. She shut his theories down, obviously, but has kept him around. They’re still best friends, even without shit sex, and he’s always been willing to fight pissy people off for her. (Not that she needs it, but he’s a good tool to have around.)
Aaron and another RA stand at the front of the room. He’s sporting a Northwestern Mens Soccer shirt and an old pair of jeans and looking insanely uncomfortable. Regina knows that he took the job for the free housing and some leadership experience, but she doesn’t know if even those things are worth whatever this is.
“Come on in, guys,” Aaron says, eyeing Regina and her roommates curiously. He doesn’t say anything, though, and Regina keeps an eye on the people in the room.
Since coming in, more people have arrived, some boys, some girls. Shane’s talking to a boy next to him that Regina recognizes to be his roommate, a guy named Damian Hubbard. He was telling Regina about him last night being that he stalked Damian’s Instagram - he’s a theater kid, he’s from Pennsylvania, and he plays piano.
Aaron’s about to close the door when two girls come piling in, thanking Aaron for letting them in and sitting in the two free seats by Shane’s roommate’s side.
The first girl is somewhat recognizable, though Regina can’t tell why. She’s a tall, black girl, wearing a Billie Eilish t-shirt and a pair of short-shorts.
That thought is quickly lost, though, because Regina’s heart nearly drops out of her ass at the sight of the second girl. She looks kind of like a mess - wearing a vintage t-shirt and too many bracelets and rings for one woman as well as a pair of baggy ripped jeans and platform dark green Converse - but she’s recognizable immediately.
She’s Janis ‘Imi’ike.
Regina looks away quickly, hoping that the girl doesn’t clock her, and Aaron moves back to the front of the room.
“Good evening, everyone,” he starts, clapping his hands together like some kind of lame suburban dad, “I’m Aaron, one of your RAs for this year. My dorm is the one right next to the elevator and marked, so if you ever need someone, that’s where I am. Either way, welcome to Northwestern. This is a really good school and you should all be proud of yourselves for getting in here.”
The other RA, a girl with her hair pulled into a tight ponytail and sporting a generic Northwestern t-shirt, adds, “And I’m Claire, my dorm is on the other side of the elevator. We’ll also be able to be found in the RA office on this floor or on the third floor.”
Aaron nods, “Some ground rules; quiet hours are after nine. Which basically means, respect the people around you, turn down your music, don’t get into screaming arguments with your roommates, all of that. We’d also appreciate just no screaming arguments in general, but stuff happens. If things are that bad with your roommates, let me or any other RA know and we’ll see if we can get things sorted, whether that’s getting you on the same page as your roommate or getting your room moved entirely.”
Regina almost snorts. She can’t imagine anything being so dramatic that she’d willingly get into a screaming fight with any of her roommates.
“Also, ground rules. You’re under 21? No alcohol or weed or other illegal substances. No pets, and that includes literally anything. You can’t have a fish or a cat or a dog or an iguana. I also don’t want to write any of you up and I know that everyone’s adults here, so if you feel like breaking rules, feel like having a really good backup plan so that I don’t see it or smell it or hear it. Yeah?”
There’s a muttering of agreements from the students in the room and Regina adjusts herself to sit a little taller when Claire brings up a quick round of icebreakers.
It takes a couple of minutes, but they eventually get around to Regina’s roommates.
“I’m Karen. I’m from Miami originally and I really suck at math but I really enjoy talking to people, so I’m majoring in psychology.”
Gretchen’s next, “Nice to meet you all, I’m Gretchen! Karen and I are from the same area and have been friends forever, which is cool, and I’m majoring in English.”
Regina’s next and she toys for a second with what fact she wants to share before saying simply, “I’m Regina. I went to high school with Aaron and I’m majoring in criminal justice to hopefully be a lawyer.”
Unfazed as ever, Cady goes, “Hi, I’m Cady Heron. I’ve spent the last eight years in Africa with my mom while she worked there and this has been my first couple of months in the States since I was a little kid. And I’m majoring in applied mathematics.”
There are a couple more people before “Hey everyone, I’m Shane. I’m currently not majoring in anything but I’m thinkin’ about majoring in journalism if the whole football thing doesn’t work out.”
His roommate is next, smiling at everyone like he’s some kind of entertainer, “Hi y’all, I’m Damian. I’m majoring in theatre and my favorite musical on Broadway right now is SIX.”
Janis is next - wearing some kind of look where Regina can’t tell exactly what she’s thinking, but she knows that she’s not having fun - and hums, “I’m Janis ‘Imi’ike, and uh, I’m majoring in Fine Arts. I’m actually moving back here for school, but I was living in Hawaiʻi for the past five-ish years.”
Janis’ eyes land on Regina in the last second of her fact and her face drops, like she’s seeing a ghost, before quickly smiling at the other people in the room and looking anywhere but at Regina.
Regina presses her lips together and hopes to not show off how fucking screwed she is.