Can I Ask You a Question?

1

I got an idea that I couldn't get out of my head and had to put it in motion. I looked over the roommate board and searched for anything. ANYTHING I could take. I was getting kicked out of my dorm, but thankfully, I didn't get suspended from my university. I started to rush back to my dorm room, and my Nike sneakers squeaked on the floor as I rounded the corner and ran into my room.

"Natalie, please, please, can I use your printer?" I asked, maneuvering around my scattered piles and some already packed boxes.

Natalie was the reason I was getting kicked out. She had the brilliant idea of putting a mini bar underneath my bed and various other substances that we were not allowed to have that I didn't know were hidden there as well. The thin, lanky girl sat up straight in bed after I startled her awake. Fuck. It was two p.m., lazy bones.

"Oh fuck- yeah, whatever. Maybe you should knock next time, considering you no longer live here."

"I'm still packing..." I trailed off, giving her a nasty look. I wasn't proud of that, but I had a horrible day. On the way here, I hooked Natalie's printer up to my phone and printed off a flyer I had designed in thirty seconds.

'Desperate girl looking for roommate or roommates off campus. Quiet, clean, and no trouble.'
I put my phone number at the bottom to cut them into little strips people could tear away. I would try not to obsessively check each day to see if someone had taken one, but of course, I knew I would, being me.

The worst thing about this whole situation is that I would have to drive all the way back home each night after classes so I would have somewhere to sleep. Then it hit me, my idiot brother.

I pulled out my phone and stepped into the hallway to give him a call. He answered only after two rings.

"What nerd?"

"Seriously, Clifford? That was the best you came up with to answer me?" I scoffed, and he only snorted out a laugh. Ick.

"I need somewhere to stay. Do you think you could sneak me into your dorm?" I asked, biting my nails and bouncing from side to side on the balls of my feet.

"You don't want to go home that bad, huh?" he asked, and I could tell he was speaking to his roommate because the speaker was muffled.

"Yes, we can harbor you for a night or two." He sighed into the phone.

"Yes! Thank you a million times! I owe you."

"Can you bring dinner, please?" he asked, making a funny noise. It was more like a whimper, which made me laugh.

"Fine. Send me your orders."

I tried to get as many boxes as possible simultaneously, but it did not work out how I had hoped. I was carrying my two huge boxes, but then I wasn't anymore. I had to drag them all the way across the quad with the McDonald's sitting on top of them. If I had been smarter, I would have used DoorDash to get it to their place. Eventually, I did make it. I called my brother and his roommate, Cal, down to do my heavy lifting.

Every time I introduced Cal Bronam, I loved saying his full name, whether it came out as Cal Bronam, Caleb Bronam, or, on occasion, Cal Bro, because it was hilarious to me. He was a super sweet guy.

Each time I saw him, he was always wearing his letterman jacket with a baseball or basketball shirt or jersey underneath. Tonight, he was wearing red and black striped pajama pants with a grey wife beater-style shirt underneath.