Learning to Fall

2: Meet the Roommate

Finding the dormitories that I would be staying in was a lot easier than looking for Mike's.

This time, I went straight to the dorm building and went to the office to get my key. The secretary at the senior academy wasn't nearly as sweet as the one at the elementary academy. Her name plate said her name was Hannah Oliver. She was a thin woman with platinum blonde hair, a pointed chin, and cold grey eyes hidden behind thick framed glasses. She was less than friendly when she directed me where to go. I didn't even ask her for information about my roommate because, there was no other way to say it, I was afraid.

So I took the elevator up to the tenth floor--the last floor--and searched the room numbers until I found mine. Room 1001. It was all the way at the end of the hallway, away from the other rooms on the floor. I found this curious, but stuck my key into the door anyway.

I could vaguely hear the sounds of someone strumming what sounded like a guitar from inside. When I opened the door, the sound hit me full on. And so did the person that was making the sound.

I stood facing a boy. Not a young boy like Mike. A man. Or at least, not quite. He was a young man, probably my age. And he was extremely handsome.

He was sitting on his bed, which was underneath the only window in the room. He stopped playing when I entered and looked up to see who had come into the room. I'm sure my confused expression was mirrored on his face. But he recovered first and smiled warmly at me as he took in my appearance.

"Did you need help finding something?" he asked, setting his guitar down and turning his body towards me. I simply gazed at him, not knowing what was going on.

"Is-is this the boys' dormitory?" I asked in a quiet voice. He shook his head.

"No, there's only one building. That's why there's ten floors. It's mixed, but separated by room number. Odd number rooms are the boys' rooms. Even numbers are for girls," he answered. "Are you on this floor?" he asked in a kind and friendly voice. I blinked at him. What was I supposed to say? No, I'm in this room.

There must have been some mistake. I couldn't be sharing a room with a boy.

"I-uh-I-" I stuttered. He got up and took the paper that the secretary had given to me from my hand. I was acutely aware of his subtle cologne as it enveloped me. I looked up at him; he was about two heads taller than I was.

"Wait, this says that you're in this room..." he mumbled. "You're name is Renee Dubois?" he asked, looking up at me with startling deep brown eyes. I nodded silently. He studied my face to discern if I was lying or not. Once he realized I wasn't lying, he let out a small sigh.

"I was supposed to have this room to myself, so I don't know what's going on..." he told me. Again, I stayed silent. "I know, we'll go down and ask Hannah what the situation is," he said. I stepped aside to let him pass and then followed him to the elevator.

"I'm Aiden, by the way," he said as the doors closed. I felt extremely awkward all of a sudden, which was interesting, since I was already feeling very awkward.

To think, I might have to share a room with a boy, and a very good looking boy, at that. It was absurd.

"I'm Renee. Obviously..." I replied. I felt him smile at me, but I didn't return it. I knew if I did, it would be fake. And I hadn't smiled a real smile since the incident. And I knew it wouldn't be a while until I did.

The doors opened to the main level and we walked into the office. Ms. Oliver looked from Aiden to me, an annoyed expression on her face.

"Yes, what can I help you with?" she asked pointedly.