Dreaming Together

Chapter 1

Oh, the joys of living with someone you can't stand. Lena woke up to another typical morning with Max, her roommate from hell. As she stumbled out of bed, she heard the sound of pots and pans clanging in the kitchen. 

"Great", it was Max's turn to cook again. Lena groaned as she made her way to the kitchen, bracing herself for another argument over who gets to use the stove.

But little did she know, the real drama was yet to come. As she opened the fridge to grab some milk, she noticed her favorite chocolates were missing. She searched high and low, but they were nowhere to be found. That was until she saw it on her classmate's Instagram story. Lena was fuming. How dare he gift her chocolates to someone else without asking? He could've returned it back if he didn't want them.

In a fit of rage, Lena stormed into the kitchen and snatched Max's plate away, hurling it at him as she let out a string of slurs. Max, of course, had a witty comeback ready, but Lena was in no mood to hear it. She grabbed her bag and stormed out of the apartment, locking the door behind her as she left for class.

As Lena walked to class with her best friend, she couldn't help but vent about Max. "He's such a problem," Lena said. "Last week, he took down all of my posters from the wall and told me that personal artwork should stay in our personal rooms, not the hall. And, he's always so condescending. The only thing we talk about is stocks and plans, it's like he doesn't care about anything else. And he's always so uptight - I can't even play my piano at night because his alarm goes off at five in the morning, and God forbid I leave a mess in the kitchen because he'll be ready for an argument." Lena shook her head in frustration. It seemed like no matter what she did, Max found something to complain about.

"I know Max can be a douche sometimes," Jenna said, nodding as the wind rustled through her hair. "But you have your own faults too — Like how you always leave your things all over the place and steal his chocolates before every date. And don't forget about the time you went a little overboard with treating his friends at that party and ended up spilling a drink on one of their shirts. "Max can be a little uptight sometimes, but you have to admit, he's always there for you," Jenna reminded Lena. Like the time your maniac parents came to visit and you forgot to get rid of that wine bottle in your room. Max was quick to pretend being drunk, saying the bottle belonged to him. I mean, I know he never drinks, but he really sold it. Your parents bought it with you off the hook." Lena had to laugh at the memory. "And what about the time he paid your rent when you went a little crazy with your money and spent all your savings on that fancy opera trip? You have to admit, he's been pretty understanding and forgiving." Lena couldn't argue with that.

"He might have done some nice things for me, but that doesn't excuse his behavior, Jenna", she argued. "I spilled a drink on his friend because he touched me and called me a name in front of everyone? And Max looked the other way? Thinking I'd still walk back home with him? I cried all night. He definitely deserved to stay locked out of the house, on the street that night - the best decision I ever made. He hasn't apologized to me till date for that. And it's not just that incident, he's always so condescending and inflexible. It's like he thinks he's always right and he doesn't care about anyone else's feelings or boundaries. I just can't deal with it anymore."

"I had no idea this was the reason Max was cancelled from that presentation last month," Jenna said, looking surprised. "What do you mean, cancelled? I thought there was just some kind of fallout between the participants from the Boston University exchange program" exclaimed Lena.

"Yes, there was," Jenna replied. "Max got into a tussle with one of the participants and ended up getting debarred from the event. The news came just the next morning after the party. But I was so out of it that I couldn't connect the reason until now. Partly because the details were kept strictly confidential. You know how Harvard never likes to disclose anything that goes against its image. All I know is that Max got into some kind of trouble with someone influential, and it's really affected his summer internship opportunities. It's just a mess."