The Doppler Effect [h.s]

Chapter 2

As the days rolled by, I was getting more and more familiar with the breathtakingly beautiful campus and the surrounding areas. Classes were hard and quite demanding, but luckily I had friends to copy off of and the internet.

Tonight though, would be a night spent on binge eating and watching Netflix without Marnie. A couple of her friends had stolen her for a night out on the town, and as much as I hated to admit it, I was feeling lonely.

What to watch, what to watch, I thought as I scrolled through the many categories of Netflix. I finally settled on "The Exorcist" before rearranging myself snugly into my bed. A classic, I thought to myself as I started the movie.

Halfway through the film I heard a pounding of aggressive knocks on my door and almost fell off my bed.

"C'mon!" I yelled angrily. I looked at the small gray clock on the dresser next to me and cursed even louder. Who knocks at 1:30 in the morning? I slowly moved off the bed and reached for the pepper spray inside of my open purse.

As I timidly opened the door, an ambush of brown curls invaded my sight while two large hands reached for my face. I screamed loudly before spraying the intruder anywhere I could manage with the pepper spray and darting to the bed and throwing anything I could get my hands on at him, which unfortunately, were mostly pillows and open bags of food.

Low moans of anguish spewed from the strangers mouth as he begged for me to stop. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the stranger was in fact a very tall man, probably around 6 feet tall. I hesitated a moment before yanking the lamp off of the bedside table and hitting him on the temple, knocking him out.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," I whispered before hopping over him and reaching for my cell phone to call for campus security.

A barely audible "Marnie," came from the intruder and I hesitantly stopped dialing.

He knows Marnie?

I set the phone down before grabbing the lamp again and slowly made my way over to the man lying on my dorm floor. I nudged his shoulder with my toe to see if he was conscious, and luckily, he was coming to.

"H-hey, how d-do you know M-Marnie?" I asked wearily.

His face scrunched up in pain before opening his now-red eyes to glare at me. "She's my bloody girlfriend! I didn't know she had a psycho roommate with pepper spray!" He shouted before rubbing his eyes in pain.

I raised the lamp defensively before full on exploding in rage. "Dude! You were pounding on my door at 1:30 in the morning and then went on to attack me! I think I had my rights," I yelled back.

He groaned before closing his eyes again. "Attack? I thought you were Marnie so I was going in for a hug!"

I lowered the lamp in dismay before giving him a horrified look.

Great job, Nova, I thought wearily. The only friend you manage to make and you almost kill her boyfriend.

I dropped the lamp before going to the bathroom for a wet washcloth and some aspirin. As I made my way into the room again, I found the man sitting on my bed examining the room around him. I stopped before him and handed him the washcloth.

"Here, dab your eyes with it, it'll help," I said softly.

He stared up at me with a cold look in his eyes for a minute before reaching for the wet washcloth and following my orders. I set the aspirin down beside him and fished out a water bottle from my purse to go along with it.

"Hey look, I'm sorry for spraying you with pepper spray and throwing food at you," I said solemnly.

He glared at me before setting the washcloth down. "Don't forget, you also beat me with a lamp," he replied dryly before getting up and opening the bottle of water.

"I was only defending myself, okay?" I said before looking down at my hands. "And I already said I was sorry," I childishly added.

He grunted before downing the rest of the water and crushing the plastic bottle in between his large hands.

"Look, I don't need your stupid apologies, because honestly, I don't care." He bitterly stated before turning towards me. He gave me an unfriendly look before handing me the now-dry washcloth. He made his way over to the door and paused before growling, "Tell Marnie that I dropped by."

And with that, he left with a shuddering slam.