-Sunday 11:13 am-
Almost three full days on the road makes me never wanna drive again. My butt is numb, my foot keeps cramping, and my back would arch for a pillowtop mattress. 🧁
I follow the street signs that lead me to the college campus and the bright smiles of the faculty to my dorm hall and eventually to my new room. A1-Hall; Second floor, right hallway, room 269.
Two beds.
"Great ", I breathe sarcastically.
I take a quick look around and then stare out the window.
"I hope he's quiet", I whisper yawn. A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over me so I crawled onto the springy mattress, peaceful blackness consuming me within seconds.
-2:05pm-
The dorm room's door hit the wall with a tremendous bash.
I shot up at the sound and glared at whatever interrupted my nap.
"What the hel-", I paused when I saw legs carrying a bunch of boxes. With a sigh, I relaxed into my covers, grabbed my phone and partially watched my roommate struggle to carry in all their stuff. When they were done, I heard them deeply sigh into their desk chair. But soon after, I could feel their eyes on me so I decided to acknowledge their presence.
I put my phone down and threw my legs over the side of the bed. But as soon as I lift my head I cringed. My roommate...is a girl?
"Hey, my name's Landan", she spoke with a lazy tomboyish tone. She stradled the chair and swung her feet back and forth like a child.
Trying to wrap my head around this, I hesitantly say, "Trystn".
"Heh, You should see your face. Why are you looking at me like that?", she laughs.
"Aren't you ah...", I drag.
"Girl?", she fills in quickly.
"Yeah..", I tilt my head, clearly asking for an explanation.
"Yeah. The people working in the housing department are terrible. If your name sounds like a guy, you could get roomed with a guy. My brother is having the same problem", she went on. "I knew they-"
"Right...So you're staying here with me?", I interrupted. Not caring about anything else she had to say past answering my question.
"Yeah... Unless the RA kicks me out. I'm not moving again", she hummed, putting on her shoes.
'She's a weird background character. Can't quite put my finger on why though. Are the people here really this comfortable with strangers?'
"You're not uncomfortable living in a small room with a random boy?", I ask, now thinking about potential future squabbles.
"Nah, I have a twin brother. No one can be as annoying as him", she pauses and squints slightly. "Where's home?"
"A farm in rural California", I responded.
She smiled ,"Long way from home, country boy. Come on, let's go to the store so you can see some more of the city."
