168 Hours of Miles Fonte

Chapter 9: Monday

I hit the start button on the dryer. Then I stood against the wall, closed my eyes and listened to the wet clothes clank in the machine. I thought back over the night.
We didn't stay long at the bridge, the purpose of the meet up was not to have another party, thank god, but to wait around to make sure everyone was okay, and that no one got caught. Tyler was the last to show up which was bad because, as Andre informed me, he was the most likely to get caught. Heather was close to tears by the time Tyler finally jogged in. We stayed and chatted for a bit until everyone said their goodbyes and broke off.

I took out my phone, it's 3:30, people at home had been asleep for hours. Except maybe the "wild ones", the teenagers who are crazier and more rebellious than the rest of town. These were the ones who weren't made to live in a small, sweet town. They stayed out late drinking, shouting and sometimes vandalizing porches or someone's mailbox. If there was any drama or gossip going around, they were involved. My mom always disliked them. She hated how they "disturbed the peace." I wonder how my mom would react if she met Miles' friends, would she like them? Or would she think they were vigilantes like the "wild ones"? A beep from the dryer pulled me out of thought. I dragged the empty laundry basket with my foot and kicked it in front of the machine. The clothes were warm, soft to the touch, as I gently put them into the basket.

The dorm room was locked, of course, it was only locked when it was inconvenient for me. I knocked quietly trying not to wake our neighbors. But Miles didn't answer the door.
"Miles!" I snapped.
Silence. He must be messing with me. After I offered to dry his clothes along with mine. Typical.
I put the basket down and sat next to it. I leaned my head up against the door and I used the knuckle on my finger to knock on the door continuously. I thought I'd annoy him into opening the door. No luck.
My knuckle started to hurt after a while so I stopped, and drifted off instead.
It could have been minutes or an hour, I'm not sure, when Miles finally opened the door making me fall in and hit my head on the floor.
"Ow! Miles!"
"Oh my gosh, April? Were you sleeping?"
"Well...yeah." I rubbed my temple.
"Why didn't you knock?" He said.
Are you kidding me? I shot him a dirty look.
"Oh. I'm sorry. I was in the shower."
"You take too many showers." I complained. Which I immediately realized was a stupid thing to say. "Why was the door locked?"
"I lock it at night."
"Only nights?"
"Bad people come out at night."
"Wow. Logic." I said sarcastically, rubbing my head.
"I'm not insane, some crazy person could try and break in, don't worry though, I have a frying pan." He joked.
I half smiled rubbing my eye. I was too tired to joke around.
I grabbed my own clothes out of the basket. "Your clothes are what's left."
"...thanks." He said, shyly.
"Of course, you done in the bathroom?"
He nodded.

The bathroom was messy. I cleared the steamy mirror off with my sleeve and looked at myself. My hair was dishevelled, but I didn't care. After such a busy day, I felt this rush of calm. I cleaned up the mess that Miles had left behind and then took care of myself. I put on some fluffy pajama bottoms and a black t-shirt. I decided to put two French braids through my hair.

Miles was lying in the bed reading.
"Oh are you taking the bed tonight?" I asked.
He looked over at me and laughed.
"What?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest.
"What's on your pants?" He asked squinting.
"Nothing." I said quickly, walking over to the fridge.
I grabbed an apple and when I turned back around he was sitting up, grabbing his glasses for a closer examination.
"They're pigeons okay!"
He laughed again, lying back down. I just stood there.
He must be bipolar. He was being nice at the party right?

There was suddenly a knock at the door. "Miles Fonte? It's Mrs. Rojas, night security."
Miles scrabbled out from under the covers.
"Miles what- " I started to say. He shushed me. "Get your pigeon covered ass under the bed right now!" Miles hissed.
I didn't hesitate to slip under the bed along with an old banana peel and some girls thong. Great.

Miles put on a pleasant voice when he opened the door. "Good evening, what can I do for you Mrs. Rojas?"
"I got a complaint from one of your neighbors saying there was a loud tapping noise coming from your room, I came to see if you were aware."
Whoops.
"Well geez, I haven't heard any tapping noise." He put on this high pitched voice of innocence, I bit my lip holding back a laugh. "But I did have earbuds in, I'm sorry to have caused any interruptions."
I saw Mrs. Rojas feet move about the dorm. I held my breath, like that would do anything.
"Where's your roommate?" She asked.
"Don't have one...I guess I wasn't assigned one this year."
"Huh, well I'd say that was a mistake. I'll give the office a call tomorrow to let them know you have room for someone, a dorm on campus is in high demands right now."
"Oh ok, sounds good!" He replied.
She was almost out the door when she turned and said. "And listen for that tapping noise again...it could be plumbing problems and we'd rather find out sooner rather than later!"
"Of course Mrs. Rojas, goodnight!" He shut the door before she could say anything else.

When I knew the coast was clear, I let out a little snort.
"You shut up." He laughed.
"Sounds good Mrs Rojas, I love you Mrs Rojas." I imitated his voice.
"Get out from under the bed!"
I pulled myself out and said, "in all seriousness," he looked over at me, "I wanna give you something in return for letting me stay here."
"April no, you don't have to- "
I lifted my hand, "no I insist."
I pulled out the unknown thong from behind my back and placed it in his hands. "Here, something to wear around the dorm when I'm gone."
He dropped it and started dying of laughter. I couldn't hide the smile on my face.
"Hmm, yes I should really clean under the bed, you're covered in dust." He said.
"Yeah so since I did all the dirty work, don't you think I deserve the bed?"
He lifted his hands. "Yeah, fair is fair."
I hopped on the bed.

Miles scratched his head. "Hey, how is the apartment search going?"
"Aw, you want me out already?" I joked.
"No, trust me I don't." He opened the fridge "but if they assign me a new roommate..."
"I'll get out, don't worry."
"No that's not it either I just...I hope you find a place before then so you're not stranded."
Good point.
"Yeah, thank you." I got up and grabbed my laptop and searched for apartments for over an hour. I started getting nervous since there was nothing in my price range. I eventually shut my laptop because it became too depressing. I looked over to Miles asleep on the couch. He still had his glasses on.
I went over and gently took them off, placing them on the table. I brushed his hair back, finally getting to read his tattoo behind his ear. Annalise. An ex-girlfriend perhaps, or who are we kidding, a current girlfriend? It was a beautiful name. I fell asleep thinking about it.
____________