Theories of Insanity

19 | Oddities

19 | Oddities

Monday, December 11, 2017

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Insanity:

Letting the way other people handle conflict cause you to be actually angry with them. And then randomly accusing them of leeching your car.

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            It was a new week, which meant it was a fresh slate for roommate issues.

            For the past few days, Paige had been...off. I wasn't sure exactly what it was, or why she was upset, but she seemed to have been actively avoiding Ashley and me.

            I feel like haven't quite given an adequate introduction to Paige as a roommate. (1) She didn't usually cause problems around the apartment, but the fact remained that we had never gotten incredibly close. She didn't make me want to pull my hair out like Samantha and Madison did, but she wasn't a close friend like Ashley and Christina were, despite the fact that she did a lot of stuff with Christina, Ashley and me. She was quieter than Ashley and me, and vastly opinionated when it came to how conflicts in the apartment were handled.

            Paige was more on the same page (2) as Madison—she handled everything passive aggressively, never being willing to confront anyone to their faces. She hadn't agreed with my decision when I decided to have a three-hour long conversation with Samantha to sort out everything we were disagreeing on. She didn't like it when I complained to Ashley about Madison behind her back, either—so in all honesty, I wasn't sure what I was allowed to do in Paige's eyes. Direct confrontation was a no-no, but so was talking about it indirectly.

            Anyways.

            Paige had been ignoring me for almost a week at this point, and I wasn't feeling it. I was already—seemingly permanently—on edge with Madison, and I didn't need to feel that animosity towards anyone else in the apartment.

            "Hey, Paige?" I knocked on the door to her and Christina's bedroom Monday afternoon after I returned home from orchestra, leaving my violin in my bedroom before going to theirs, "Are you home?"

            A muffled voice could be heard from inside, so I let myself in.

            "Hey." I said again, closing the door behind me. Paige was sitting at her desk chair, working on a drawing. She was incredibly gifted artistically—which probably came in handy as a Graphic Design major.

            "Hi." She replied shortly, not bothering to look up.

            I sat down at Christina's desk chair across from her awkwardly, trying to make small talk before delving into the issues I wanted to discuss.

            "How's Sam?" I asked, referring to her boyfriend of almost two months.

            "He's fine." Paige replied before turning around in her chair to face me. "Can I help you with something?"

            I nodded.

            "Yeah, actually. I just...I feel like we've been off for the past week. I was wondering if I did anything to make you upset."

            Paige was silent for a moment.

            "And I know you don't like confrontation," I added, "So I'm not trying to make this a big deal. I've just felt a little strange lately."