little nothings || a.b.

1.0

As the wind whistles through the window, I sit on my twin sized mattress in my small, quiet dorm room. I look over to the other bed across the room to find it empty. It's almost midnight and she still isn't back yet. I roll my eyes and continue studying for my huge final next month, after I take that, hopefully passing, I'll get to leave this place. 

Although, I'm not sure I can take another month of this havoc. 

Just a few months ago, my roommate, Dani, started going to parties almost every night. She's gotten into drugs and other things that could ruin her potential to have an amazing future. I want to leave every time she walks in the room in the early morning smelling like whiskey or rum, with an overlay of smoke on her clothes.

But guess who takes care of her? I do. I do, hoping that she'll get over this phase. 

Don't start it and you won't have to end it.

My focus changes to the door knob as I hear someone fiddling with the lock. I hear deep murmurs outside. Did she seriously bring someone? I quickly grab the covers and place them over my lower body to make definite that I won't be exposed in any way. The door opens and Dani walks, or should I say stumbles, in. Following behind her are two men. I look back at my book quickly and pretend not to see them. 

"Who's that?" One of the men's raspy voices booms. 

"Oh, that's just my roommate. Hey, Scarlet." Dani slurs with a small laugh. I give a small wave, awkward as ever, and go back to focusing on my studies. I cringe at how wasted and completely out of it all of these people are. It's terrible that people would do this to their bodies.

Clink.

My head snaps up as the second man strikes his lighter and brings a long cigarette up to his lips. "Could you not?" I snap in agitation. He raises an eyebrow and looks at me. At least I think he is looking at me, he's wearing sunglasses even though it's night and we're inside. It must be one of those 'cool' things. He pulls the cigarette out of his mouth as Dani and the other man go do something  in the bathroom. 

"Could I not what?" He asks smugly as with every word thick cloudy of grey smoke puff from his lips. I attempt to stifle a cough but fail miserably. He smiles, and his lip and nose ring shine in the lamp light. His hair is black, messy and looks dirty, making me wonder how often he showers. His arms are lined with ink, and his clothing ripped. The sight of him makes my blood run cold. I've never seen someone so intimidating. His demeanor shows cruelty and aggressiveness, but my blood boils at the sight of that cigarette in my dorm room. "

I'd respect if you would put that away." I say calmly. His expression is flat, he hums slightly and more smoke floods into the room. 

In the midst of my coughing, I look at him, "You are disgusting! How can you do that?" He walks over to Dani's bed and lies down with his arms behind his head, completely making himself at home. 

"I'm sorry, was I meant to be offended? Because the only thing offending me is your face." A cunning smile spreads across his lips as I flinch.

Ouch.

"The reason my face may be offending you is because your ugliness is rubbing off on my beauty." I fire back. 

The smile fades from his lips and his head snaps to me. I feel good getting the response I wanted from him, judging by his magnified expression. Unexpectedly, he bursts into deep, hearty laughter. Besides smoking, his perfect white teeth line below his lips. It would have been such a beautiful sound if he hadn't been such a jerk.

The bathroom door bursts open and Dani and the other man walk into the room. She looks at me with bloodshot eyes and chilling goosebumps spread across my body. "I see you've met Andy." She mumbles and the other mans hand trails down her back. I quickly look away from the scene. 

"She's a bit feisty." Andy says tersely. I try to hide a smile as he gets off the bed, the embers on the end of his cigarette illuminating a deep red-orange. 

"What did you say to her?" Dani asks. "Nothing important." He replies, and I sink back a bit into my pillow. Dani turns to me, "Sorry, Scarlet. Andy has a... unique personality." 

Believe me, I know.

"Alright, well I'm leaving." He says while reaching for the door making relief flow through my body, "Are you coming to the party this weekend?" Dani shrugs unserely, her eyes meeting her toes, "I'm not sure." Andy's lips form into a rude scowl, "Your ass better be." He mutters something I can't make out, and then he's gone, the door rattled shut. 

I turn to Dani as she exchanges her goodbyes to the other man. 

"This is Mark." She says, "Hello." I say while trying to act friendly. I'm not sure I want to meet any of Dani's other friends after meeting Andy. "I'll see you later." He says to Dani, she nods in response and he walks out the door, closing it a lot more respectfully than the last person. 

She looks at me and then at the floor, "Sorry." Her hand runs through her red hair and she heads towards the bathroom. "I'm going to shower. Try and get some sleep." The bathroom door closes quietly and my heart sinks.

She seems really down, and I'm not exactly sure what happened. I'll have to talk to her in the morning, when she's sober. Something weird had been going on lately, but I'm not sure what. I wish I could help. I close my textbook and switch off the lamp to get some sleep.