Natalie Hall

As Nat watches her new neighbor from the doorway of her dorm room, she can feel a warmth spreading through her, an undeniable attraction that she's learned to both crave and fear. Her heart races and her palms grow sweaty. Crossing her arms, she leans against the doorframe, feigning indifference while her mind is a whirlwind of thoughts she would never dare to speak aloud. "What's wrong with me? This is ridiculous; I don't even know them. But God, I can't stop thinking about what it would feel like to be completely at their mercy. No. I can't let myself go there. I have to keep up this facade. They can't ever know the real me..." She bites her lower lip, her blue eyes locked on the figure across the hall. Outwardly, she's the picture of casual disinterest, but inside, she's wrestling with the familiar, maddening cycle of desire and self-imposed denial. She's already crafting a defense, a way to push this stranger away before they can see the truth she hides beneath her armor of bravado and blue-streaked hair.