The Argonauts - On hold

Three

The restlessness of the nearby newbies woke me in the middle of the night. They slammed doors shut coming in and out of rooms going to the company of one another and trying to forget the fact they had just left their families behind. In a way, I feel sorry for them. But I also love sleep, so that won out. I throw my covers off and slide my feet over the side of my bed and slip them into a pair of sneakers laying beside my bed. I stumble around in the darkness until my hand finds the small light switch in the corner of my room and I flick it on, illuminating the small room in which I live. I walk over to my closet and grab my leather jacket, then proceed to my front door. My keys are hanging where they always are: on a hook a foot away from my door in the short hallway that leads to the door. I grab them by the lanyard and unlock the door. I sleepily open the door and turn my head to look down the long hallway. Three girls are knocking on another's door with a terrified expression. "Hey!" I yell. They look at me and begin to run towards me. Why would they run towards me? "Wha-?" I begin to protest, but they embrace me with the warmest hug I have ever felt.

"We're scared." One of them say. Duh. "Can we stay with you tonight? It will only be for a night." She looks up at me with wide eyes.

"Uh- sorry, no." I say. I kind of feel bad as they break their embrace. "Wait," I say. I'm being stupid. "You can, as long as you promise not to make a single peep as soon as you step in the door. And you have to bring your own mattresses and sheets." Dumb dumb dumb, I think. Their faces light up immediately after the words leave my lips. They dash back towards their rooms to retrieve their bedding. I wait in the hallway, then turn and unlock my door. I hear loud footsteps down the hallway and turn my head to see the source. The girls had returned with their bedding in their hands, and their faces beaming. I can't help but smile, no matter how uneasy I feel about the night ahead. I watch their slender figures lug the masses of bedding along the narrow hallway, their heads peering out the side to see. I turn and walk in to my room, then hold the door as they hobble through the door. They begin to form a circle in front of my bed. I smile as they follow my instructions, not letting a word come out, yet they still made a lot of noise moving the bedding around. One girl knocks my nightstand and the small birthday gift I had placed on it hours earlier fell off and on to her mattress. She picks it up tenderly and looks at me inquisitively. I sigh, and tell her what it is.

"That's a birthday gift." I say, quite exhausted.

"Why haven't you opened it?" She asks.

"I only received it last night. I was too tired to open it. I intend on opening it tomorrow." I say.

"Why not open it now?" She asks, most likely hoping I will say yes.

"Fine," I say, taking the small package.

"Whatever it is, the person probably took a lot of care in wrapping it." Another girl says.

"What makes you think that?" I say as I begin to unravel the golden bow that sits on top of the red wrapping paper.

"Because," she says. "I found it kinda hard to get shiny red wrapping paper and a gold bow." She's right. It is hard. The one store that sells this, would take at least two weeks of working overtime to earn enough money to pay for it. No doubt there is meaning behind this gift. After the bow is unraveled and tossed aside, I open the top of the box and lay that next to the bow. I smile at the small necklace laying in the center of the white plush cushion inside of the box. The charm is a small, whimsical piece of silver holding a minuscule, red gem. The girls around me squealed in delight. I couldn't hold back the smile that crept along my face. One of the girls climbs on my bed and puts her chin on my shoulder. I shrug her off, but she remains on my bed, peering around my arm. I take the charm and add it to my charm bracelet on my wrist. It takes a bit of struggle, but eventually I prevail. The charm sparkles in the dim light of my room. I don't understand what it represents, but it is gorgeous. I get up, and walk across the room and turn off the light. The girls watch my wrist as the charm bounces up and down with my movement.

I reach the light switch and flick it off. The girls immediately stop talking as if the darkness is a queue that they need to sleep. On my way back to my bed I step on one of the girls by accident but she's sound asleep. How do they fall asleep that quickly? I think. But not even the mysteries of these little girls can keep me from curling up under my covers and falling asleep.

=-=

I wake up with the sun beaming into the inside of my room from the small circular window above my bed. The girls' sheets are still on my bed, but there are no girls sleeping in them. I hear a faint knock on my door, then faint whispering. I throw my feet over the side of my bed and stand, neck aching from being in an upright position. I trip over a pillow and stumble, but I don't fall. When I turn the knob, I hear a squeal and someone running down the hall. I open the door slightly and see the girls staring up at me. One of the girls looks really flustered. They immediately rush past me and inside my room. Not even a moment after the last girl scoots past me and into my room, a buff, terrifying man turns the corner and begins to charge towards my room. With no where to go, I run inside my room and close the door and moments later I hear him next to my door, panting in the most terrifying way possible. The girls and I huddle on my bed in the back of my small room. I begin to put my arm around two of the girls right before he begins to slam his fists down on my door.

"What the hell did you do?" I ask the girl to my right.

"He was eating food down in the breakfast room. We were getting some food for ourselves and he got really mad."

"Why the hell would he get mad over three girls getting breakfast?" I asked, my voice shaky from the noise I hear from the other side of the room.

"Because it was off his plate," she replied, regretfully. We then just sat in silence, the only noise being the pounds of a pissed-off man.