What Happened After

Chapter 2

"I'm thrilled that you're not a total weirdo." 

Chapter 2.

     “Hey hey hey, I hear footsteps!” a sing-song voice called as I approached room 227. A small girl with a bright red pixie cut peeked her head out of the doorway and shrieked at me. I jumped, startled. “Are you Rayn?!” she called.

     “That’s me. Anna?”

     “Yes! Welcome! I’ll be honest with you, I’m thrilled that you’re not a total weirdo. I mean, not that I can see so far.” I had to laugh at her lack of a filter.

     “Well I’m happy that you’re not a total weirdo either, then,” I replied easily. My mom cleared her throat from beside me, still holding a giant Rubbermaid container with some clothes in it. “Oh, right! Anna, this is my mom. Mom—Anna.”

     “Hello hello, you can set that right in here” Anna said as she moved out of the doorway to let my mom through. She then stuck her hand out to my dad, but instead of in a handshake manner, it was in the form of a high five. He slapped his hand against hers in a slow, half-hearted fashion.  

     “Pleased to meet you, Anna. I’m sure you and Rainbow here will get along well.”

     “Your parents call you Rainbow? That’s adorable!” Anna shouted as she hugged me. I shot a quick glare at the both of them. “Oh, we’re going to have the best time this year. Orientation events kick off tonight at five, and there’s a freshman dance or something later this weekend. Sounds lame if you ask me, but if you wanted to go—“

     “Oh no no, that’s fine. I’ll probably spend the weekend getting settled, you know, unpacking, exploring the city…” By this point I had begun moving my boxes from the moving cart to my side of the room. My mom was sitting on my bed, wrestling with the sheets she had just unpacked, and my dad was busy installing an extra rod in my closet. Anna had retreated to her own side, picking up where she left off and hanging up some photos from home. All the same, she was still chatting away. I wondered where her own parents were, and how long she had been here alone. After a while, I asked her this.

     “Oh, I got here late last night. My ma got the dates wrong and we ended up arriving a day early. The front desk buzzed us in but it took some arguing to get ‘em to let me in the actual room. Mom and dad left the dorm last night after I got most of my stuff unpacked and I think they left to go back to Boston this morning.” Huh. So Anna’s been completely alone since last night? That’s odd. My parents would never leave me alone so soon, for fear of my safety. Then again, Anna has probably never been in a life-threatening car accident with two fatalities. It makes sense, how protective my parents are of me, but in all honesty, I didn’t think they would leave me until they were sure I was okay, which could have taken the entire school year. Anna kept on talking. “So where are you guys from?”

     “A town in central Oregon. Essentially, the middle of nowhere.”

     “Ah, Oregon. I went there once on a road trip with my brother. Portland?”

     “I’ve actually only been to Portland once in my life. We don’t get out much.”

     “Well, if you’re ever in need of ‘getting out,’ I’m your girl. I was pretty much raised in Berkeley, so I know all the hot spots. I’ve only actually lived in Boston for like, three years, but whatever. And if you ever want to get out in Boston some time, let me know and I can…”

     Anna talked a lot. A few hours into setting up my room, my parents had left to grab lunch and bring Anna and I back something to eat, and  I learning all about the history of my roommate’s life. She was born in Palo Alto, but spent most of her time from ages five to fourteen in Berkeley with her older brother, Tim. When she was fifteen, her parents moved her to Boston and she had to leave Tim, leaving them both heartbroken. Every summer since, she’s travelled across the country alone in order to visit him. She didn’t say why her Tim was on the outs with her parents, just that they hadn’t gotten along in years. When she told her parents that she had been accepted at Berkeley and would be moving out here, they did all they could to stop her, but eventually, gave in. They raised Anna with the intention of letting her be ‘spiritually free,’ and wanted her to be able to express herself in any way she chose. Berkeley, apparently, was the best way to do that.

     As Anna spoke to me, she started reminding me more and more of Lauren. They were both free spirits, and super artistic to boot. Anna had hung up all her photos and few paintings she had done herself. They were all super bold, with a plethora of colors and patterns which I knew had to have some sort of deeper meaning that I would probably never understand. They were beautiful, though. I decided that one day I would have to have her make one for me. Anna was also crazy opinionated, just like Lauren. She would say absolutely anything that came to her mind, like the fact that my mom has “kind of a Wilma Flintstone Hairstyle” and that my dad “looks a bit like Dr. McSteamy.” Both were true, in some respects, though I had never thought of them.

     Looking at Anna, yet seeing Lauren, was killing me. Obviously I had spent the entire summer with Lauren’s face in my head, but I figured that when I moved to Berkeley, all that would stop and I would forget about both Lauren and Kaleb. That was not the case.

     One night here and the two of them were already consuming me again.

~~~~~~~~~~

     “Alright babe,” my mom said the next afternoon at the car. She and my dad were heading back up north today, and I knew this would be a difficult goodbye for them. “Promise promise promise me that you’ll call me at least once a week, and anytime you need anything, okay? Anything at all.”

     “I will, mom. Promise promise promise,” I assured her, moving in to hug her tight. My dad swiftly moved in, making it a group hug. I looked around, embarrassed, but sunk back into my dad’s embrace anyway, knowing I wouldn’t be seeing either of my parents until at least Thanksgiving.

     “Have a safe trip home!” I called, shutting the car door behind my mom. As they pulled out of the parking lot, I noticed her wiping a few tears from her eyes. It took everything in me to keep myself together. I was not going to cry too. I waved one last time, then turned around to head back to my dorm.

     Once inside, I flopped down on my bed and Anna gently asked, “Parents gone?”

     “Yeah,” I mumbled from my face-down position on the bed.

     “Good!” she cried, startling me again. “We can finally go out like real college students now and I won’t feel bad about corrupting you! Come on Rayn, one last adventure before school starts for real!”

     I froze. Her words were so familiar, and brought me back to that night. “Get in, Raaayyynn!” Lo had called from that stupid green Bronco. “One last adventure before we’re official high school graduates!” In my head, I saw Ruesso drumming his hands against the roof of the car, and Kale sulking in the backseat. I breathed deeply through my nose—in, out, in, out—until I was calmed down. I caught Anna staring at me with concern from her spot on her own bed. “Rayn? You okay?”

     “Yeah,” I said, sitting up. “I just, um, I’m gonna stay in tonight. Might take a walk around campus, get all familiarized and such.”

     “Okayyy,” she said slowly. “Just, call me if you need anything, alright?” We had exchanged cell numbers that afternoon.

     “Yeah, yeah. No problem. Have fun tonight, yeah?”

     “Awww yeeeeeah!” she shrieked, hopping off her bed. She began ransacking her closet for, I assumed, the perfect outfit for the evening. As concerned as she was initially, she seemed okay now. I was so glad Anna didn’t judge my craziness, and even though I knew she was curious about me, I felt that she would wait patiently for me to be ready to tell her all about it. I liked Anna already. I knew we would become great friends.

     Because in my mind, even if in a different form, God had given me back my best friend.