Scarlett
Around noon the next day, I'm freshly showered and placing some books on my haphazardly put together bookshelf.
Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Color Purple, Fifty Shades of Grey, The Invisible Man, The Outsiders, all classics in their own way.
I'm lowkey a book aficionado. There's something about immersing yourself into someone else's life that makes reading appealing to me. It's an escape from the mundane happenings of my life. For a while, even it's just 30 minutes, I get to live out someone else's life experiences and trust me when I say that I would rather be anyone besides myself.
There's a commotion out in the hallway, and it sounds like it's coming from outside my door. I stop my current task and start making my way to the door.
What in the fu..
My roommate Juliette or who I hope is Juliette comes barreling into the room narrowly missing me and disrupting the tranquility of the room. She has a face full of freckles, fiery curly hair, and emeralds for eyes that are wide with surprise.
"Oh my god. I'm so sorry; I didn't know you'd be here already. I tried to get here early so I could move all my things in without disturbing anyone. Looks like I'm too late for that." As she's talking a slew of Hispanic guys come in, bringing various sized boxes into the room.
Juliette looks around the room with a look of disgust on her face "Hmm it's small but it'll have to do I guess...Riccardo! Careful with that box my Hermes purses are in there. They cost more than your house."
So now it begins. White people talking crazy because we have an orange apparition in office.
I sigh and stick my hand out to her. "Hey Juliette, I'm Scarlett nice to meet you."
Lies.
Instead of taking my hand she pulls me into a bear hug, which is hugely unexpected and extremely uncomfortable. The girl towers over my short stature. I'm 5'3" on a good day, and she's like 5'8". I don't even know this girl, and she's already touching me. I hate being touched. She holds onto me, obviously not sensing my discomfort.
Lord if you can hear me, please make this girl let go of me before I have to yank her skinny butt off. Amen.
"Scarlett I'm so excited to meet you. This year is going to be a blast. Although you weren't my first choice for a roommate, I actually tried to switch roommates, but they wouldn't let me." She giggles and pulls away from me. "I wanted to room with either my bestie Lauryn or Heather, but those bitches are rooming together, and Lee is the RA, so she gets a single. There was no one else really, so I got you."
"Umm thank you?" I'm taken aback by her brutal honesty, and I know here and now that I don't like this bitch. First impressions are everything to me and she just ruined hers.
"Yea." She giggles and begins inspecting me at arm's length. "Wow, you're really pretty for a black girl."
Wait.. this bitch did not just...what kind of shit. This hoe is bold as fuck.
"I'm pretty for any girl, no need to include my race." I try to sound as calm and unaffected as possible, but she's really working my nerves, and it's only been maybe 3 minutes tops. How would I survive nine months with her?
"Yea whatever. You're really cute. Your lips are so full, are those fillers?" She begins touching my lips. "Wow, they're soft."
"Yea um no all natural here sis." I take her hand away from my face and make a mental note to scrub them.
"And your booty, wow, it's like Nicki's. I wish mine was like that. I try to do squats, but all it's done is make it a little plumper you know. Daddy says I could get butt shots if I get at least a C in all my classes this year." She turns around and pokes out what could be considered a butt in some cultures.
Lord give me the strength from beating her ass. You know that I'm not usually this violent, but I can't deal with this shit for nine months.
"You know I think you and I are going to be great friends. You're going to be my first black friend."
I just give her a tight-lipped smile and hope that she stops talking before I punch her in the jaw.
"By the way, I think black lives really do matter, and I loved Get Out. It was so spooky,"
Spooky?
She continues on, spewing ignorance. "What cops do to unarmed black brothas is so crazy. Rest in Peace, Mike Brown. Oh and fuck da police." She giggles again and pulls me into another hug. "I'm so freaking excited to be here." Juliette sounds like a pageant girl, vying for a crown...and a black card.
"Mhmm," is my only reply. Just before she could unleash another round of stupidity and ignorance, one of the movers she brought drops a box.
"What the fuck Julio, do you know how much that box is worth?! God be careful, or you and your little hombres aren't getting paid." She huffs and snatches the box out of his hands.
"Vete a la mierda puta." Fuck off, bitch. Julio mumbles under his breath. I laugh. I'm practically fluent in Spanish thanks to my best friend being Mexican and having a lot of free time. Juliette squints her eyes and huffs again but doesn't say anything. Julio and I share a smile and he continues to move her crap in.
Three hours later and the movers are gone but, Juliette still isn't done. Her side looks like a nuclear bomb went off and left pink and glitter in its wake. Everything's pink or sparkly or both. She even added a canopy over her bed and a blown up selfie of her in a pink sparkly frame is looming over her bed. It feels like her eyes follow your every move. It's really fucking scary. She brought a TV, mini fridge and microwave with her, so that's virtually the only perk of being her roommate. Her closet is full of colorful designer clothes, shoes, and bags and the contents are basically spilling out. It contrasts mine which is full of muted colors but not as full as her's. She honestly had to bring her entire wardrobe with her. Her side makes my side of the room look depressing. I just happen to like black and white and the whole minimalist aesthetic.
Juliette is hanging up some photos on her corkboard over her desk and rambling on about something stupid. Most photos are of her, but a few are of her and equally as beautiful skinny white girls. I don't have any photos up on my side. There is no personalization on my side at all actually. It looks like another generic dorm room people see in Target ads, probably because that's where I bought everything from.
Juliette's side, in all honesty, makes my side look kinda boring and it shows the stark differences in our personalities, but it's whatever. It's just another temporary place, so there's no need to go all out.
I sigh and check the time for the hundredth time. It's only three, and there is nothing for me to do. Move in day is officially tomorrow so, besides a few early birds, such as myself, no one's here. Juliette keeps rambling on to herself, and it is taking everything in me, not to strangle her. I jump up and grab my keys before I lose it. Before I could reach the door, I hear Juliette say "Where are you going, Carlotta?"
"It's Scarlett, and I'm just going to go explore. Don't worry about me. " I say walking out the door.
"Okay well have fun!" She calls after me.
~*~
I've always loved the feeling of the wind in my face. I'd been driving around Boston for a while before I stumble on a little park that overlooked Massachusetts Bay. I love it here. I always lived in the middle of states, so I never got to experience oceans, but now here I am. Living on the edge of the Atlantic. Although it might sound cliche, at this moment, I feel like anything is possible.
This new place, new me idea just might become a reality.
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Hey, guys! Once again thanks for reading. The story is probably going to be slow like this for the first few chapters but once everything is established the good stuff will start happening. Just hang in there!
