Roommates

Parties & Picnics

Four
Early September

The first week of classes, as well as my job at the Dojo, seems to drag on and fly by all at once. The days seemed long, but it felt like the weekend arrived again in no time at all. I spend most of Saturday assisting Amar in beginner and intermediate classes of varying martial arts disciplines, and I don't get off work until Chris is getting ready to leave for her closing shift.

As soon as I get home, I bring some clothes with me into the bathroom and take a quick shower. The mirror is fogged and the air humid when I enter the bathroom; I'm guessing Eric is also closing tonight and getting ready for work. After my shower, I pull on jeans and a black t-shirt before returning to my room for my socks and shoes, waving a goodbye to Eric as he pulls on his jacket and leaves for work.

So far, Eric and I haven't had any disagreements, but we haven't really 'connected' either. He seems pretty closed off and aloof, as am I, so we're probably unlikely to get to know each other very well.

Tris is a different story. It isn't like she's so open that she spills out her life story; in fact, I know virtually nothing about her past, just as she knows virtually nothing about mine. Somehow, though, our silences are always comfortable and our conversations never dull. I never have to rack my brain for something to say. It works out well, really, as Eric and Chris almost invariably work the same schedule. We even discovered partway through the week that we both run every morning, so now we run together. I enjoy having someone to run with, and Tris has shown me some better, more interesting routes to run, mostly through parks or along the lake shore.

My phone vibrates as I sit down on the couch, and I pull it out of my pocket to see that I have a text from Zeke, asking what I'm up to tonight. After a few quick texts back and forth we decide to go to a party; Zeke tells me to be at his place at 9:30 just as I hear the front door slam shut. When I look up, I do a double-take. Tris is soaked from head to toe. "Caught in a rainstorm when I was halfway home," she explains quickly as she toes off her shoes by the door and crosses to Eric's room, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. It's early September and still warm outside, even with the flash rainstorm she found herself in, but the dorm building is all air conditioned.

"I'll make you some hot chocolate," I say, noticing the goosebumps covering her arms. I wish I could offer her tea, but I have never thought to buy any and I haven't seen any in Eric's part of the cabinet.

Tris nods and flashes an appreciative smile. "Thanks, Four," she says, as she disappears into Eric's room. As the water boils, I hear the bathroom door shut and the shower turn on. I mix up two hot chocolates and leave hers on the counter, bringing mine into the living room and sipping it as I sit on the couch waiting for the PS4 to start up.

I'm engrossed in a car racing game when Tris curls up at the other end of the couch, her legs pulled under her, both hands wrapped around her mug of chocolate. When I finish the race I was on, I turn to her. "Won't Eric let you take his car to work so you don't get caught in storms like this?" I ask her, frowning. "I mean, I know the club he and Chris work for pays for them to Uber to and from work, since they often drink while there."

Tris shrugs. "We work different hours. He wouldn't have his car during the day if I took it."

If it were Christina walking home by herself no matter the weather, I would let her borrow my truck. Eric probably didn't even go anywhere. But I don't say anything about it. After a few minutes of silence I remember my plans for tonight. "I'm going out to a party tonight with my friends," I tell her. "You wanna come?"

Tris bites her lip, thinking about her answer, I guess, and I quickly turn back to the television and start another race. I keep my eyes on the tv when she answers, "OK, sure, I'll go. Thanks, Four."