Experiment X

Chapter 2: Roomate

 I woke up in the middle of the night, heaving and sweating. I just had a nightmare, and even though it’s something that usually happens to me, the fear never leaves my side making it my only friend. Somewhere in the squinting darkness, I heard a bit of shuffling and then a light blinded me for a moment before a form emerged from it.

   For a minute there, I thought I was going to be abducted by aliens, or better yet; fallen angels. But it was only Amanda. Apparently, I woke her up with all my tussling and turning in my sheets. She made herself comfortable on the edge of the bed.

   “Are you okay?” she asked quietly, rubbing her eyes.

   I nodded, putting my defenses back up. This was one of the many faults of having a roommate.  It’s in situations like these where I’m encouraged to ‘open up’ and stuff, it’s like a social queue. One I was not intending to follow. That nod symbolized more than just an answer; it was in itself a question I would never be able to answer. Was I truly okay?

   Nevertheless, I plastered a smirk on my lips and got out of bed. “You should go back to sleep, we have classes early tomorrow,” I said, trying to keep my voice emotionless. Honestly, it was too early for that.

   She laughed silently, even though I noticed her eyes widen at my statement. “It is tomorrow,” she said while shrugging her coat off. There was another fault right there; it was freezing in the dorms.

   We both looked out of the window for a few minutes, admiring the beautiful colors of a predawn sky. I sighed slowly, feeling sleep begin to creep back, and when I turned around to check on Amanda, she was already asleep.

                                                                                                                                                                          

Finally, classes were dismissed. What a rough first day. But it wasn’t just the learning part, or the meeting new students/teachers that got me on edge, no, it was the fact that I had the sensation of being watched all day long. It was as if a pair of eyes were burning a hole in my back.

   Yet as I walked out of the building and into the fresh autumn air, the feeling came back, though much stronger this time as though the eyes are right under my nose. Being the immensely paranoid person that I am, I stopped and scanned the vicinity, searching for something out of the ordinary but everything seemed…normal. Too normal.

   There were the people studying on the first day, the older grades that haven’t seen each other all summer long catching up, the coffee freaks, and then the clubs and sororities doing the advertising in search for fresh new pledges. It was just like high school, I suppose, just a little bigger and little more magnified.

   Just as I was about to turn and head for my dorm, I spotted a boy leaning on his motorcycle. He had his sunglasses perched halfway up the bridge of his nose. I looked away, trying not to let it show that I was over calculating things but he smirked and turned to his motorcycle and drove away, leaving me yet again, without answers.

I closed the door, locking it behind me as I thought some more about the boy, and my recent nightmares. Somehow, it all seemed to be connected, but I couldn’t seem to prove the link.

   Suddenly, a noise erupted from Amanda’s closet and I reflexively picked up the bat I put near the door and walked on slowly, counting my heartbeats and waiting to bash someone’s head in. Just as I arrived near the large wooden doors of the closet, the noise stopped and that just made the paranoia scale tip a little more.

   I kicked open the doors and Amanda peeked out from behind the rack of clothes, a frightened look on her face. I sighed and wet my lips, dropping the bat and turning on my heel so that the next few words wouldn’t sting as much.

   “I’m sorry for scaring you,” I said simply, and heard her sniffle.

   “It’s okay. I thought you were some kind of serial killer…I was so scared,” she said in an almost baby voice.

   I rolled my eyes and shrugged, “Well, you’re lucky I wasn’t.” I took off my jacket and looked back at her. “Why were you locked up in the closet anyways?” I asked, a little skeptically now.

   Amanda is the kind of girl who liked clothes, I understand that much, but why did she find the need to close the door of her closet when there was no one home but her? Anyone would find this a bit strange.

   She didn’t miss a beat. She perked up, a smile replacing the frightened frown and her eye brows shot up. “Well, since it’s the first day, I was thinking I could go to the Kappa Fey Nu sorority and get to know the other girls cause they’re having this, like, tea party. It sounds so cool!” she said, and then a confused look came upon her face.

   “Oh, I’m sorry. I forget the other thing. There’s a big party tonight, I got asked out by this super-hot guy…” she kept talking but I zoned out, thinking about that.

   A social gathering that big could do me some good. Not that I’m a party person, but I might find the boy from earlier. I mean, who would miss a campus-inclusive party? Certainly not me.

   And just then, the eyes came back to burn a hole in my back.

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Picture on the right : Amanda