One-Shots of My O.C.'s Lives

College Roomies

Mitch sighed as he walked down the eerie hallways of the University, his backpack slung over his shoulder. 'So this is what it's like when you forget to bring food for lunch,' he thought miserably. It sucks being hungry. His stomach seemed to agree as it growled,demanding food as the college student slipped into a hallway with a vending machine. He let his bag drop to the floor, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and grabbing a five. 'But what to get...' Mitch pondered, looking at the small variety of food. Then he shrugged and went for a small package of donuts.
"Mmm..." He sighed happily, sitting down in the middle of the hallway and opening the package, eagerly grabbing one and setting the rest to the side. He took a bite, his mouth watering at the taste, and he greedily wolfed the rest down. He took another donut, this time taking his time with it, and happily nibbled on it when he heard a crinkling sound next to him. Confused, he glanced down at the other donuts, seeing nothing out of place. He shrugged it off, finishing the sweet and grabbing another, continuing to gorge on the food.
When there were at most four donuts left, Mitch was reaching for another one when he heard the wrapper rustle again. He looked down in time to see something moving, which made him frown in disgust. 'Ugh, have I been sharing food with a rat?' He thought irritably. He snatched the package and the remaining donuts when he heard a small squeak that represented a high pitched yelp. Now suspicious, he rotated the package in his hands until he spotted a small shadowed figure, and he froze, widening his eyes in surprise as his eyes made out what it was.
A small girl turned slowly to look up at him, widening her eyes in fear. She had dark brown hair, red brown eyes that glinted in what little light there was, and was wearing a blue jacket over a black shirt, and grey shorts. However, her clothes were tattered and a little dirty, her elbow-long hair disheveled. Mitch stared at the girl with ultimate bewilderment, his mouth even hanging open a little as he slowly blinked, flabbergasted.
The small teenager whimpered, backing away from him and retreating to the back of the wrapper, which snapped Mitch out of his disbelief. He set the small package back down on the floor, gently to not jerk the diminutive creature. Then he grabbed all of his remaining donuts, setting three down in his lap and broke of a piece of the other. He slowly lowered the broken piece down, gently holding it at the entrance of the package. The girl glanced up at him with hesitation, her gaze darting between him and the piece of food. He shifted his grip on it to where the piece was more vulnerable, and then the girl slowly edged over to his hand. He held his breath as the tiny teenager... -like thing, actually climbed on to his hand, grabbing the fracture of the donut from his thumb and index finger's grasp and nibbling on it greedily. Hardly daring to breathe, he kept his hand still as the curious little human like creature ate, not wanting to scare her off. His eyes briefly scanned her body frame, noticing how thin and fragile she looked.
As soon as she finished, she looked up at Mitch with mild curiosity, still looking a bit scared of him but perhaps trying to hide it. Then with out warning she leaped off of his palm, running away and darting into the shadows, out of his vision. He stared dumbly after her before taking a sharp breath so deep that it hurt his heart.
'What the heck was that?'

***************

When he woke up in his bed, it was to his alarm clock. He glowered at it grumpily, bringing his hand hard down on the stop button.
"... Stupid thing." He groused drowsily, sitting up slowly. He hated waking up early. At least it was Friday, and next week was a break from school. He sighed in relief before grabbing his shirt and pulling it over his bare chest, climbing out of bed before grabbing jeans and slipping them on over his boxers. He had a quick breakfast of eggs and a pancake, as well as a quick glass of milk before putting his red and black checkered hoodie on, grabbing his things for school. He had slung his backpack over his shoulder when he heard something lightly drop with a crinkle, and he looked down to see his donuts' wrapper from last night.
He stared at it for a few minutes before slowly bending over and picking it up, twirling it around between his fingers. 'I thought it was just a dream...' He shook his head forcefully. 'No, it had to be a dream. Those types of... things just aren't real... Right?' He set the wrapper on his clock table (end table) before quickly leaving the dorm to go to school.
Normally, he was an adept student, but today he just could not focus. When his algebra teacher asked him the answer to 5 • a + 5 • b divided by 5, one of the most simplest questions that no one should ever get wrong, he screwed it up by absently mumbling, "5..." Everyone had giggled at him, and he ended up apologizing and admitting that he just had a lot on his mind, which the teachers understood since he was their best student. By the end of the day, Mitch was exhausted for no reason, and very disappointed in himself. As he started making his way out of the building to go home, he heard Alex, an acquaintance of his, exclaim, "Wow, a mouse! I thought the exterminator got 'em all!" He ignored the comment until a familiar squeak made him stop and look. He had heard that sound before. He knew that sound...
He tensed when he saw why. Struggling in Alex's grip was the tiny girl from last night, squirming desperately to escape the human's iron grip.
"Dood, what are you doing!?" Mitch snapped, crouching down and prying the tiny girl out of his hands. Alex stared at him in confusion.
"Eh?" He asked as an idea quickly formed in Mitch's mind.
"It-it's for that Anatomy presentation we gotta do, you know? Where we're supposed to use an animal to draw a diagram of it? I thought I lost it, and here you are poking and prodding it like some toy!" He said sharply, clutching the tiny girl to his chest. He felt her stop shifting around in his hand, listening in on his words as Alex held his hands up in a placate gesture.
"Sorry bro, I didn't know." He apologized. Mitch glared at him one more time before getting back up, not bothering to move his backpack to its normal place over his shoulder as he left the building. He glanced around before placing the tiny creature in his jacket's pocket, then started walking home.
He tiredly made it to his dorm room, weakly pushing the door open before letting it slam shut. He felt the girl flinch at the noise, but he was too tired to apologize. Instead, he dropped his backpack at his feet, steeping over it before splaying himself over his couch, on his back, staring up at the ceiling. His eyelids grew heavy, and before he knew it he fell asleep.

***************

Mitch's mind felt foggy as he stirred awake, tempted to sleep a little longer. After all, he had no homework. He had already finished that stupid Anatomy presentation and turned it in, so he was free for a week. He yawned a little, his eyes still closed as he shifted a little. Then he heard something yelp as something landed on his forehead, and he snapped his eyes open despite his tired state, seeing a girl staring down at him in his peripheral vision. It was the girl that he had saved yesterday, the one that he shared a donut with, that was about the size of his palm.
She immediately noticed he was awake and blushed in embarrassment, scrambling back a little onto his bangs. He started sitting up a little, reaching up to his head and gently scooping her off of him before fully sitting up, stifling a yawn. He realized that she was shivering a little, which was barely visible as she tried to hide it. He grabbed his soft fleece jacket and unzipped it, gently cradling the girl almost directly against his chest. She let out a brief spasmodic quiver, briefly sighing audibly before shifting on his hand to lean against him.
"Geez, you really are cold." He mumbled sleepily, hugging her gently by folding his jacket over her. He felt her shiver again, burrowing comfortably in the soft fleece as she pressed against Mitch for warmth. He smiled a little, zipping his jacket up partway before slowly laying back against the arm rest and absent-mindedly turning on the tv, keeping it at a low volume to not startle the tiny creature in his possession. But what was she anyhow? Was she even human?
He realized after about an hour that the girl had stilled in the folds of his layers, asleep. He turned the tv on mute, opening his jacket up and peeking down to see her. She was hugging a small section of his shirt that she had gathered up in her arms, the side of her head resting comfortably against it like a pillow. She was on her side, her small thin body curved a little in a cat like position, and her chest lightly pressing against him everytime she took a quiet faint breath. The scene before his eyes made Mitch's gaze soften, looking affectionately down at her. She had been terrified when Alex had picked her up, obviously against her will, but she wasn't reacting the same way with Mitch. Instead, here she was, embracing the far more larger male's contact, although she had been scared of him when he had first met her.
'Apparently a little food goes a long way.' Mitch decided, letting his jacket cover the tiny girl again. He let his head rest against the arm rest, sighing softly in the quiet air.
He laid there for about another hour when he felt the girl stir, so he shook his head to wake himself out of his partial doze, sitting up a little and opening up his jacket to see her sitting up partially while rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand and letting out a small innocent yawn.
"Hey sleepy head." He murmured softly. She glanced up at him with her huge brown puppy eyes. As she stifled another yawn, he gently pet the top of her head, and she immediately stiffened. He realized what he was doing, and started pulling back. "S-sorry I just-" he stopped when she grabbed the tip of his ring finger, making him freeze. Then he slowly let his hand go back, gently patting her on the head as she let go and closed her eyes, nuzzling his hand.
"Mm..." She mumbled incoherently, making Mitch still for a few seconds. She talked... Sorta. But still, the fact had made Mitch stop stroking her head. Her voice was quiet, and seemed to flow, like water over rocks. He snapped out of his surprise, and went back to his gentle strokes.
"... My name's Mitch." He said quietly after a few minutes. The small girl blinked up at him, stifling a yawn.
"... Samantha." She replied in a low tone. He smiled softly at her, letting his index finger rest on her head.
"... Do you live at the college?" He asked. She shrugged, rubbing her head against his finger.
"Whatever shelter I can find." She murmured. He stared down at her with sympathy and concern.
"So you don't have a home?" He questioned. Again, Samantha shrugged nonchalantly.
"At least you were kind enough to share a little food with me. I hadn't had any in almost a week." She admitted. Mitch stared at her In shock.
"A week?" He echoed in disbelief. She nodded, shifting her weight from side to side.
"Uhm... Yeah." She confirmed in almost a whisper. Give or take." He set his jaw, giving the tiny girl a firm stare.
"How about you stay here? With me." She widened her eyes in surprise.
"Y-you-r-really? You-you'd let me stay?" Samantha asked incredulously. Mitch smiled at her, nodding.
"Yeah, we could like be college roommates... Which reminds me, do you actually go to school?"