Mirrored Cuts

Chapter 57

I started spending any free time I had in lounges, the office, libraries, basically, anywhere else but our room. I felt like an accessory. Accessory to what, I wasn't sure. But I felt like I was helping her hide something from Akul. John had offered to help me practice my speech, so I spend a lot of time going over ways I could make the training program better and then inserting it carefully into my speech, dropping it in to make a smooth convincing mechanism. I knew I shouldn't have been worried about what Ruby was writing but I often wondered if she was writing a slander speech, something that would put me in a really bad light. She could. Anyone who lives with a stranger for a year has dirt on them. She had had no problem sharing with Flint about John, which meant that she was willing to go that extra mile for nothing. What would she be willing to do for something she wanted?

Meanwhile, Lily and Carl broke up for the nineteenth time. We rolled our eyes while we patted her on the back. "It's okay" fell lackluster from our mouths to plunk upon her deaf ears. We could have been singing the Cotton-Eyed Joe for all she cared. Voices and warm bodies was all she needed at that point and we were certainly up to filling that task. Around 11 pm though, Ruby got a text. She quickly shot off a reply and told us she had to go. We let her. What else could we do? Barricade the door?

When she was out of the room, my curiosity overcame me. "Stay right here," I said to Lily.

"Don't leave me." Lily got up to follow me out.

"Okay, fine. Follow me." We tiptoed, spy style, to the study room window where I had once looked out in wonder at the students scurrying like ants.

Now, sidewalks looked like the anthills had been brushed away, leaving only bare concrete in its wake.

"That's Ruby!" I said, pointing at the figure below the window.

"Who's that?" Lily pointed to the guy beside her. "Akul?"

We pressed our faces up against the glass in unison. "It's Fothorn. Jacob Fothorn."

I left my face there for a moment, enjoying the feeling of the cool glass. Now we really were accessories to this. Did we have to tell Akul?

We watched them walk away from our dorm and I envied the way that she could just go off with Jacob, regardless of Akul. She listened to herself; that was for sure. I imagined the sound of her boots clacking against the sidewalk and dried to drown my thoughts. If I thought too much, I know what conclusion I would come to. Ruby was my roommate, but Akul had been living in our room for almost as much time as she had.

* * *

We waited outside the elections room for almost an hour and a half. The election process was a cascading one from most important to least. The Training Officer position was at the end. When I walked into the elections room, I was surprised to see the entire organization jockeying for position around the oval table. Granted, I knew our organization was small, but this was tiny. There were maybe ten? Twelve if we were pushing it. I swallowed, hoping my speech words hadn't gone down to my stomach. I could feel the acid begin to churn like a hungry shark, doing flip-flops to scare out some sustenance.

"Who's going first?" Sandy said.

Ruby and I made eye contact, trying to feel out the protocol.

"You can go," she said and left before I could respond.

"I guess I'm going," I said smiling as big as I could, hoping my lame joke would be sharp enough to chip away at the ice.

John gave me a half smile. Progress.

"For those of you who don't know me, I'm Andi. I'm running for Training Officer because I believe it is one of the foundational building blocks of EMS. If people don't advance, then we don't have any people. I've been learning everything I can about training through scenarios and drills. I've seen the plans for new member training and I understand the continuing education that needs to get done. As far as who I am, I'm organized, obviously dedicated and really ready to become involved in leadership in this organization. I want to make it an inclusive place for everyone. Does anyone have any questions?"