There is Everything for You Here

Chapter 3

I started simple: unpacking. I was totally capable of unpacking. If I was going to be here for a while, then I might as well get comfortable. Or at least as close to comfortable I could get. It felt foreign putting my clothes away in a new dresser, but I kept reassuring myself it was for the best. Wasn't it?

I put in as much care as possible into folding my clothes, fingering the soft fabrics, flattening the lines out with my palms. There was something about the meticulous detail that was calming to me. The fact I didn't have to concentrate too hard was also a big plus. Luckily, all my clothes fit in the drawers too, so I felt pretty good that for once I had not overpacked.

I remembered as a child my mother would always scold me for packing too much on our family vacations, always trying to sneak in an extra stuffed animal into my backpack. Although this was not a vacation. If only she could see me now. I tried not to think about my lying to her. 

Instead, I finished putting away my clothes and made a mental note to ask about the laundry facilities here. Taking out the fat stack of books I had brought with me, I set them up on my nightstand, lining up the edges neatly one way, and then the other, before lining them up the other way again. There, that felt better.

My first therapy session wasn't until later that night, so I had some time to kill. I sat down tenderly on my new bed, unsure of what to do next. The bedding was nice and soft, with a nice red floral pattern. 

I flattened out all the wrinkles and fluffed the two pillows I had brought with me. Stifling a yawn, I tried to keep my eyes open as I suddenly had the urge to just lie down and go to sleep. The day had already taken a lot out of me, and it was only 5:00pm.

At that moment a young girl with dark curly hair came tumbling in, and I practically jumped off the bed in surprise, as if I had been caught doing something I shouldn't have. She had all the energy of a hurricane in light blue overalls. 

Going over to her side of the room, she started rummaging through her drawers with determination. I stood awkwardly at the side, looking around, wondering if she was going to notice me standing there. I debated on whether to say anything, until I finally worked up the courage to speak.

"Hi," I said nervously. "I'm Stella." The girl jerked around in my direction, suddenly realizing she was not alone.

"Jesus," she laughed, clutching her chest. "Hey!" she called over her shoulder and finished rummaging through her drawer, pulling a phone charger out. "I'm Klara," she straightened back up and took a few steps towards me. Up close I could see that she was wearing some interesting earrings – pink ceramic dinosaurs wearing tutus, with what looked like actual tulle fabric. 

She beamed at me, resting her hands on her hips. "I guess you're my new roommate! We are going to have so much fun," she exclaimed. Fun?  I tried not to raise my eyebrows at her statement. It seemed odd that she would be so happy considering where we were.

"Great," I smiled weakly. She seemed nice enough, and if she was my roommate, I should at least try to make friends with her. She smiled at me for a few more seconds before looking away and nodding to herself.

"I'm so glad you're here. My last roommate was a total bore. I've been dying for some company around here." She flopped down on her bed, plugging her phone into the frayed charger. At least that was a good sign – this place would for sure suck if I had a roommate who hated me.

"Oh, that's great to hear!" I tried to fake enthusiasm, even though I would much rather curl up into a ball somewhere far away. Klara concentrated hard on her phone, tapping away with her long nails, painted alternating colours of red and green. I tried to make myself busy as well, rearranging the few trinkets I had brought with me around on the top of my dresser, ordering items by height, then weight, and then settled on colour.