Spencer sat in her dorm room, staring at the walls on her half of the room.  They were blank, devoid of any personalization.  She quickly glanced at the photo collage on her roommate’s side and sighed.  She had a few pictures out.   They were on the hutch of her desk, two of her and Ashley at prom, a picture of Ashley and Aiden fighting at a restaurant, her family, and then her and Ashley at the beach.  Other than that though, her half of the room didn’t look much different than when she moved in.

“Why’d I leave LA?”  Spencer asked herself as she laid down on her bed, crawling under the comforter Ashley had helped her pick out, saying she liked the bold, orange, and pink stripes.  Spencer thought it would be nice going back to Ohio for college, seeing old friends, but it seemed like they all left the state.  Sure, Spencer had run into a few friends from middle school and high school, but not many.  They went to the first football game of the season and then Spencer only ever saw them in passing.  Thinking about it, Spencer was the only person from her small group of friends back in California to leave the state.

Ashley was going to UCLA and Aiden was going to Berekly on a basketball scholarship.  Kyla was still in high school but would most likely end up staying in LA just to be near Aiden.  It was weird thinking of Kyla as part of her group but Ashley’s little sister had wormed her way into the tight knit group, and not just because of Aiden.  Ashley eventually seemed to have taken the young girl under her wing.  Ashley was a big sister to her.  Spencer smiled remembering the lunches where Ashley would completely embarrass Kyla, flirting non-stop with Spencer and Spencer just chuckling and shaking her head at her girlfriend’s antics.

Thinking of Ashley brought tears to her eyes.  Spencer missed her the most.  Ashley was her heart and soul, her everything.  It didn’t help that no one in Ohio knew about Ashley.  They all thought Spencer was free and single to look at guys.  Spencer wanted to be out in college, figuring people would be more open minded and wouldn’t care.  Of course, her original roommate ruined that belief for her.  As soon as the girl found out Spencer was gay she called the school’s resident life department and got her room assignment changed.  So when Spencer’s current roommate asked if she left a boyfriend back home, Spencer just said no and nothing more.  That secret was eating her alive.