"Hi, I'm Claire's brother," Owen introduced himself.
"Hello," Mrs. Zeller replied, thinking the young man looked somewhat familiar.
Zara's eyes lit up. "Do you go here too?" If so, the standard for hot guys at this school was incredibly high.
"I did."
Before Zara could celebrate, Owen added, "But I've already graduated."
The smile on Zara's face visibly flattened.
Still, she also felt that Claire's brother looked familiar. She just couldn't quite place him at the moment.
Her thoughts were interrupted when their final roommate arrived.
The first thing they noticed was the sheer volume of cheap, heavy-duty duffel bags.
They looked exactly like the kind of luggage transient workers used. Zara took one glance and immediately lost interest.
Claire, however, looked surprised. "Linsey?"
Sure enough, the final roommate was the same girl Claire had roomed with during the winter math camp, the one who had competed alongside her in the international competition.
But when Claire glanced at the nameplate on the last empty bed, it didn't say Linsey. It read Lex Grant.
"Claire!" Linsey's face lit up with undeniable joy.
She looked ready to tackle Claire in a massive hug.
She had been full of anxiety about college life, terrified she wouldn't get along with her new roommates.
After all, her family was practically destitute, and she worried her shabby belongings would make her an outcast.
But with Claire here, that fear vanished entirely.
During the competition, Claire hadn't judged her at all. Instead, she had constantly encouraged her and treated her as a genuine friend.
"You actually know this country bumpkin?" Zara's tone was far from polite.
Despite her abrasive words, though, there wasn't any real malice in her eyes.
"Yeah, we competed in the math decathlon together."
Claire answered without hesitation.
"Linsey, why did you change your name?"
Claire asked.
Zara tapped her chin. "The name on the bed opposite mine is Lex Grant, but you just called her Linsey. You're not an impostor, are you?"
"Are you using someone else's identity?"
Dealing with sketchy relatives in her own family had made Zara naturally suspicious.
"I'm not," Linsey said, terrified of a misunderstanding. "Lex is me. I legally changed it. Linsey was my old name."
Mentioning this, she quickly turned to Claire. "And I only had the courage to do it because of you."
"My parents were completely
against it. They said my grandfather chose my old name because it was supposed to bring good fuck to have, a son next content
"I demanded the change. I told them if they didn't agree, I'd change it to something
that meant 'dead brother.""
"I bluffed, but it actually terrified them into giving in."
The thought that every time someone called her by a cursed name it would spite her spoiled brother brought Lex a twisted sense: of satisfaction.
"Then why Lex? It sounds so masculine," Zara said, clearly baffled.
However, she had heard stories about how intensely backwards some rural families could be regarding gender roles.
Families like hers, where the parents doted entirely on their only daughter, were clearly a minority in those parts.
"Because I want to make my mark on the world," Lex said, instinctively glancing at Claire.
In truth, she remembered Claire mentioning that her own name meant a bright and clear sound.
If she was going to be Claire's friend, wasn't it fitting to have a name that matched her vibe?
"Getting early admission to Cabinda
University is already making your mark, isn't it?" Claire said, unaware of the deeper meaning behind Lex's Choice.
She just felt that the girl was radiating much more confidence than before.
"Right? That's what I thought too." Lex let out a wide, unbothered grin.
She quickly and efficiently began unpacking her belongings onto her bed. "Ugh, what is that smell?"