Watch and Whisper

Chapter 1

Jenna

I closed my Molecular Biology book lightly and rubbed my eyes. I really needed a break. All the terms I had to memorize were running together. Worse, I felt the beginnings of a headache. Tossing the book on the bed, I got up and grabbed my bottle of Tylenol off my computer desk. I've never minded studying, until I'm faced with a hundred terms to memorize in a week. Granted, they were not all from Molecular Bio. There was no way I was going to memorize them all.
It was hard being an undergraduate at Duke University. Although all my high school teachers bragged about how smart I was, I felt dumb as a sheep compared to the people here. And why shouldn't I? Most students here already had a degree. Aside from the insanely expensive and overrated universities like Harvard and Yale, it was one of the best universities for what I wanted to study. From the moment I knew I wanted to major in Biology, I knew I had to choose wisely.
I spied my phone after I took the Tylenol and remembered that I was supposed to call my mom. I glanced at the clock. It was close to 11. She'd be asleep by now. I grabbed the phone off the desk and pressed the power button on my way downstairs. May as well see if she left a voice mail. She probably had, and cursed me for leaving my cell phone off. I could hear her now. "Jenna, what if something happened and I needed to reach you? We pay for your minutes because we'd like you to use them!" She always said that. A lot of good I could do her if something did happen. I was here in North Carolina and she was back home in Minnesota.
Truthfully, it was a bother when my phone rang while studying. I couldn't afford any distractions. I simply had to make good grades, or my scholarships would go bye-bye.
I went down the stairs, and as I was turning into the kitchen, a beep from the phone indicated I did indeed have a message. So I dialed my voicemail, pressed the speaker phone button, and laid my phone on the counter. Then I opened the fridge, peering inside for something that would help perk me up. I had to stay awake to memorize some more. I sighed, there wasn't really anything I wanted. My voicemail began to talk.
"You have two new messages." It said.
The first message was the one I knew I had, from my mother, complaining that my phone was off and that she missed me. She hoped I was doing well and she loved me. The second was from my father, almost a replica of my mom's message. That made me laugh. Truthfully though, they were nothing alike. They'd found that out when I was three and my sister was fourteen. That's when they'd divorced. Nineteen years ago. My mom had remarried but my dad never did.
I noticed the Almond Toffee creamer that my roommate, Jada, liked so well and I decided to have coffee. That might help. I closed the fridge, and grabbed the coffee canister. When the coffee was almost finished brewing, the smell brought Jada from her room. As she saw me, she flashed a smile. Dark red, bouncy spirals framed her pale, heart shaped face as she inhaled. "Hey Jenn, you make enough for two?" she asked, her bright green eyes hopeful. I nodded. "I always make more than I'll drink. Grab the creamer. I'll get the sugar." I said, opening the sugar canister. As I was getting the cups down out of the cabinet, I heard Jada sigh.
"Ugh, there's not enough creamer."
"I don’t need much. You can have most of it."
"Seriously, there isn't even enough for one. It's like, two drops. Why did I even put that back in the fridge? I'll just run to the cafe down the street. They sell awesome flavors."
"At this time of night? It's almost midnight, aren't they closed?"
"Nah, it's a 24hr cafe. You wanna come?"
I thought about it.
"Yeah, I'll study there a while if it's not too far to walk home. I need a change of scenery anyway. Those stupid terms..."
Jada laughed. "Yeah, I know it's hard at first, but it does get easier once you get used to it. I remember my first few weeks, I was so lost, but I found my own groove and you will too." she chuckled. I hoped she was right.
We had the same major, but she had just started her third year, and I had started my first. There were advantages to having a roommate that was farther into the same major, but her schedule consisted of day classes, whereas mine were evening classes. We rarely saw each other and I'd only known her a few weeks anyway.
 I'd looked for a roommate nearby instead of staying on campus, which I couldn't afford with my scholarships. I was glad I hadn't gotten someone who liked to party, or worse, a guy. I couldn't have dealt with a guy. Every guy I talked to reminded me in some way of my ex-boyfriend, Erik. It was getting easier, but not by much. That relationship had ended a year and a half ago. After he had left me, I ran into him with his new girlfriend, the one he had left me for, and it made it really hard to move on. The pain of seeing them together crushed me anew when I laid down every night to try and sleep. I knew I needed to get away, so I decided to go to college out of state. I looked into it, researched biology programs, and ended up choosing Duke. Jada had answered my craigslist ad for a roommate and we worked out the details. My parents would split my half of the rent, and I could keep what was left from my scholarships to pay for anything I needed. I had my own bedroom and bathroom and she had help with rent. She was pretty cool, but a bit boy crazy for my taste. Every other guy was "hot" to her. I thought that was a bit immature, but she was beautiful. Who's to say that if I looked like her, I wouldn't be the same?
 "Well, lets go, I guess we can walk, it's not very far." She said, and in a whirl of red spirals, she was headed for the door.
 "Okay let me get my books." I went up to my bedroom, grabbed my books, and bounded back down the stairs to follow her out the door.