"the black haired girl"

ii

when william finally arrived back at his college dorm, he knocked on the door, expecting his roommate to answer. sure enough, he did.

his dorm mate was a young man named henry. "will? you're back early," henry greeted after opening the door.

"yeah," william shrugged. henry stepped out of the way and let william pass, and he shut the door behind him.

"why are you back so soon? did something happen?" henry questioned, following william back into their dorm. it was a small, almost square space, but there was still room for everything essential. there was a small hall-like area leading from the door to the room itself; to the right of the door was their closet space, and on the left was a bathroom. in the big space of the dorm, there were two beds along the left and right walls. directly in front of the beds, there were two desks, always cluttered with papers, and utensils, and more. the room was basically split down the middle, with everything on the left being william's, and the right, henry's.

their arrangements weren't meant to symbolize anything about their relationship, however. at the time, the two were the best friends one would ever come across.

in the furthest wall from the entrance, behind their beds, was a large window. it was big enough that, during the day, they normally kept the overhead lights off because there was no need for them. in addition to that, it had a windowsill wide, and low enough to sit or display things on. outside of it was a view of the large forrest that spread far and wide behind their college.

lastly, their dorm had a small tv. because the entrance hall to their dorm was all the way to one side, there was still a big wall that was covered mostly in posters and pictures of the two boys' mutual interests. though, before it, on a small table, is where their tiny tv sat.

william walked over to his bed, replying to henry: "i wish something happened. but nothing did, and that's why i'm back." he sat down, and untied his shoes. they were purple converse; purple had always been a favorite color of william's, despite it being largely associated with females.

"oh, well that sucks." henry went over to his desk, where he was before william came back, and sat down. he picked up a pencil, and he proceeded on with a sketch he was working on. "so," he continued without looking up, "clubbing wasn't everything you thought it would be?"

"no. everyone there already had someone to talk to, it was kinda lonely, despite all the screaming," william answered. he sat with his legs criss crossed atop his bed; he slouched over and placed his right elbow on his knee, so his hand could hold up his head.

"you didn't talk to anyone?" henry knew william wasn't the most social person in the world, but in a place like that, he hadn't expected william to come back without speaking to absolutely anybody. "no one caught your eye? like, no chicks or anything?"

with that, william's mind immediately fluttered back to the stunning black haired girl. he remembered how gorgeous she was, even underneath all those lights. he felt a slight rush of blood to his cheeks.

when william didn't answer right away, henry looked up. he noticed william's expression, and the way he was looking down. he was zoned out. henry had all the answers he needed, but confirmation would've been nice. he spoke: "who was she?" william snapped out of it.

"what?" he looked back up, blushing more out of embarrassment. "i, i didn't say anything!" henry found his hasty defense amusing.

"exactly," he said, pointing at william with his pencil, "you were thinking about her." henry resumed looking back down at his sketch.

william sighed in defeat. henry was always quick to pick up on the smallest details of a person- stutters in speech, facial expressions, and everything like that. and, because of it, william knew he could never lie to henry.