Spectral Sightings (Tucker x Specs)

1

Tucker had been interested in film and photography ever since he had stumbled upon spirits, and was utterly fascinated that they could be used to capture them. His parents had seemed concerned about his morbid fascination with spirits, but they more or less supported his decision to pursue both film and photography in college. Tucker had all of his stuff packed and he was finally out of the house and free to pursue his passion outside the confines of his parents' nervous hoverings, moving into a dorm room. On his first trip up, he read the three other names on the door. The first thing he thought was that he hoped they weren’t annoying and that he was the first one there so he could lay claim to the biggest room. He had gotten the door open, never getting that feeling that he was no longer alone. Tucker went to the room he wanted, relieved to see that it was empty, setting his stuff on and around the bed in front of the closet. The room as it was, was a bit bland. Two beds that were elevated to fit a small chest of drawers underneath them. At the foot of the beds were wooden desks with chairs that he thinks are made out of plastic. His desk was smaller than he had imagined, but it was big enough for his computer, and there was room in his drawers for his photo portfolios, or memory disks, or whatever else he needed the space for. The walls were white and in desperate need of something to be on them.

After a few trips down to his 1995 red Saturn, an old car he inherited from his dad, he got all of his stuff into his room. With the last of his stuff in his room, Tucker dug through his bags, searching for his movie posters that he had packed specifically for this reason. It was a hard decision, but the one that he chose to put on the ceiling above his bed was Poltergeist (1982). He felt like it should be the one that he wakes up and sees first every morning due to, well, poltergeists being the reason for his majors. For his other posters, his Star Wars would go along with his Tourist Trapped on the wall beside his bed. His others stayed hidden away in the closet to be interchanged as he pleases.

Tucker made an attempt to fold his clothes, but it was a poor one, so he just shoved them into the drawers, which he didn’t really mind. His cameras and filming equipment were a different story than his clothes. He had to be more careful with them. He couldn’t just haphazardly throw them into their place like his clothes. He methodically stored memory disks and batteries for his cameras. He would probably need to label each drawer for what was in the drawer and for what camera, but he figured that he would do that later, if ever.

Later that day, two of his roommates, who introduced themselves as Kai and Samuel, arrived and took the other room there. They introduced themselves to Tucker, Tucker returning the self introduction out of courtesy. Kai was a short, athletic guy with short red hair, and somehow managed to radiate both doucheness and kindness at the same time as he spoke, like he knew he was better than everyone else, but was being humble about it. Samuel was the complete opposite. He was tall, wiry, his dark hair reaching his ears, and he seemed to lack confidence. Tucker understood that the two of them were friends and that they seemed to feed off each other’s personalities.

Tucker’s third and final roommate showed up on the last possible day to move in. Tucker was standing in the kitchen as he heated a hot pocket when the roommate first arrived. The guy was short and thin, the clothes he wore seeming ill fit on his frame, and glasses that Tucker noticed the guy pushing back up on the bridge of his nose. When the guy was done, he awkwardly walked out of what was their bedroom, head turning towards the room as if to briefly debate going back in to hide.

“Tucker.” Tucker introduced suddenly, making the guy's head snap towards him in surprise.

“What?” He asked.

“My name.” Tucker clarified. “It’s Tucker.”

“Oh, I’m Spencer, but I’d prefer it if you’d call me Specs.”