everything I didn't say

two

My phone buzzing wakes me up in the middle of the night. 

I get up, expecting it to be my mom, since she hasn't called back since I let her a voicemail five days ago. I answer it. "Hello?" I say into the receiver.

"Leah? It's Julie."

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Hey, can I come over to your place?" I look at my phone. Why the hell is she calling to come over at three in the morning? "Why?" I yawn.

"My fucked up roommate has her friends in our room and they're all shit faced and one tried to feel me up while I was in there." She explains. I rub my eyes but don't give an answer. "Please. It's literally a hell hole in there and it's your place or the sidewalk outside." 

"Yeah, sure." I say. "Thanks, Leah, you're a life saver." 

I hang up and text her the address. I walk to the front door and unlock it so she can get in. I'm not sure where she is going to sleep. There is the extra bedroom, but it's completely empty. There is the couch, but I don't have any pillow or blankets for her. I should tell her to bring one but she's probably on her way already. I go to the kitchen and I open the pantry door and leave a plate and glass on the sink in the kitchen in case she's thirsty or hungry and wakes up before I do. I then go back to my room and shut my door. I fall back asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow.

***

When I wake up, I see Julie sprawled across the floor. She doesn't have a pillow or a blanket, she could've taken one off of my bed if she needed to. I rise out of bed and head to the shower. After I finish and I'm dressed and done getting ready, I go back to my bedroom. It's empty. I walk to the living room and Julie is sitting straight up on the couch. I hear the TV on. 

"Sorry," she says, turning it off. "I got bored waiting for you."

"It's fine." I smile. "And you could've used a pillow or blanket off of my bed last night, you know?" I head towards the kitchen and she follows me.

"You were asleep when I got here, I didn't want to bother you." She says lightly. "Do you want some breakfast?" I ask, reaching for a pan. She nods hungrily. "Do you need to take a shower?" She smiles halfway. "If you don't mind," 

"Not at all." I direct her to the bathroom and go back to the kitchen to make breakfast. 

Julie comes out just in time when breakfast is done and I'm putting the food onto two seperate plates. Her hair hangs over one shoulder and glistens from the wetness.

"Your shower is a whole lot nicer than the public showers on campus." She smiles, sitting down. I'm so glad to be living off campus in an apartment rather than in a dorm. I do not do public showers, especially not in a co ed building. Julie makes some small talk. 

"How is Jared?" I ask when she runs out of topics to talk about. Her face literally lights up at the mention of his name. "Great, I just miss him." She says.

"How far away is he?" I take a sip of my coffee. "Only about an hour at most. I know, he isn't far at all, this is just the longest we've gone without seeing each other." She gleams.

I laugh to myself. I've never been in a serious relationship before, so who am I to say anything?

"What about you, do you have a boyfriend?" She smiles at me and I laugh.

"No."

"That's surprising. You're really pretty."

"Thanks." I smile at her.

"How long have you been dating Jared?" I change the subject.

She bites her lip, thinking. She counts in her head. "Ten months." She smiles. She talks a bit more about him and I take a bite of my bacon.

***

My first two weeks of college have gone by fast. I'm enjoying my classes, and I do my work and turn it in on time. I would say I'm doing pretty well so far.

My favorite class is introduction to creative writing. The professor is a younger one, so he's cool. We get to write about a new topic almost everyday. Each assignment has no restrictions and we are free to write what we want, and nobody sees them but my professor and myself. And luckily, I feel completely comfortable writing for him. On our first day, we had to write a page about ourselves and he told me he thought I had a lot of potential, and he senses I don't like talking about myself. I like him.

It's Thursday night, and I just finished today's assignment: what is the change you wish to see in the world? I close my composition book, proud of my work. I turn off the light and check my phone. Even though it's only 10:30, I'm dead tired. I go straight to bed and eventually fall asleep.

When my alarm goes off, I drag myself out of bed. It's cold in my room this morning, colder than usual. I get up and think to myself that I'm really glad I decided to take a shower last night, I have no effort to do it this morning. I get into the kitchen and pull out a glass. I fill it up with some orange juice before heading back to my room. I pass the living room and glance in. I see something move on the couch and it startles me and I shriek, causing the glass in my hand to slip and fall to the floor. My bare feet are then soaked by the juice. 

Blankets unravel from the couch and Julie's face comes into view. The blankets are from my bed, explaining the unusual coldness. 

"Shit, Julie. You scared me." I say. She rubs her head. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry." She looks around. We both laugh.

She jumps off the couch and sets the blankets down. "Fuck, I have to get ready." She rushes past me, presumably to the bathroom, before I can even ask her why the hell she was sleeping on my couch without me even knowing. I look at my soaked feet. I go into the kitchen and clean them off, cleaning the juice off the floor as well. I go to my bedroom.

I put on some makeup, style my hair, and put some nice jeans and a shirt on. Julie walks out of the bathroom, fully pampered from head to toes. Her long blonde hair hangs off her head in a ponytail. Her long legs stride themselves into the kitchen with me.

She looks over at the mess of the couch. "Want me to pick it up?" She asks. 

"Yeah, uh about that.." I start. She looks up from her feet. "I'm sorry." She apologizes.

"It's fine, I'm not mad, but what the hell?" I laugh and pour myself a new glass of orange juice. Hopefully one that I won't drop this time. 

"She fucking pulled out a switch knife in the room and I got scared shitless and left, came here." She shrugs as if it's nothing. "How'd you get in?" I'm sure I locked the door.

"Spare key outside your door." She pulls it out of her pocket. I wave a dismissive hand. "Keep it, with that roommate of yours, I feel like you'll be back here a lot." She nods. "I need a new dorm. Damn I wish the doubles weren't all taken." She sits down.

"If you really don't want to live in a triple occupancy room why don't you just switch halls? I don't think every doubles room on campus is taken." I say, joining her at the table. 

"I don't know anyone in any other hall, all my friends are in Hendrick." She says it like that's actually a valid reason to stay in there. "I'm not in Hendrick." I state the obvious.

"Yeah," she slouches in her seat but then her face lights up like she's had an idea. "Doesn't this apartment have two bedrooms?" Holy shit, I've never even thought about that.

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