Challenge | Adam Banks

THREE

After Dean Buckley finally wrapped up the assembly, Delanie and Mabel made sure that they were two of the first people out of the room. The brunette sighed a breath of relief as they entered the courtyard, the fresh air filling her lungs with a satisfyingly clean feeling. There was nothing she loved more than being out in open air, especially after being cooped up in a packed space. Mabel, who was more of a hermit than an outdoorsy type, shielded her eyes from the sun as she read her schedule and dorm assignment sheet. She frowned as she tried to read the bright paper in her hands, "I think I'm in room 113. You?"

Delanie pulled her own, identical paper from her back pocket. Squinting, she could just make out the crinkled numbers. "115," she read, before turning to the blonde at her side, "That should be just next door to you, right?"

A grin appeared on the blonde's face, "It would've been cooler to be roommates, but neighbors isn't too bad of a settlement."

"Agreed," Delanie said happily, giving her new friend a high five. Take that, Jett, she thought, I can make friends just as easily as you can.

Together, the pair made their way towards the dorms, getting lost only once or twice. When they reached the inside of the dormitory building, they hurried down the hall, their eyes scanning each room number attentively. Of course, 113 came first, causing Mabel to stop in her tracks, almost forcing Delanie to bump into her. "Woah," she remarked as she stepped to the side, "give me some warning next time."

Mabel chuckled, "Sorry. This is me, though, so that means yours has gotta be the next one." Sure enough, their masterful detective work had proved to be correct, and room 115 was, in fact, next door to 113. Delanie retrieved her key and, after waving goodbye to her friend, stepped inside. Relatively speaking, the room wasn't very big, but it also wouldn't be a problem. It was fairly plain as she supposed that administration expected students to want to decorate their rooms themselves. Interior design wasn't something Delanie had even thought about, let alone planned for. All she really brought was a wardrobe, her toothbrush, and some books.

Thus, that didn't leave much to unpack. By the time her roommate arrived, she had already claimed the leftmost bed and the corresponding half of the closet. She was just putting the only pair of heels she owned on the closet floor when she heard the door open. Glancing over her shoulder, she was met with a shy smile and bright green eyes. Delanie fully turned as the girl put her bags down, holding her hand out in introduction once she finished. As soon as Delanie's hand connected with her, the girl spoke in a soft tone, "I'm Julie Gaffney."

Delanie smiled, shaking the girl's hand. "I'm Delanie Park. It's nice to meet you," she introduced. Once the formalities had ended, an awkward silence shifted into the room. Delanie cleared her throat, "Um, I hope you don't mind, I kind of just started unpacking as soon as I got here. If you want to switch sides or anything just let me know."

Julie immediately shook her head, "No no, this is fine! I don't mind either way!" Julie turned to begin unpacking, but this time, rather than letting another silence set in, she began a new conversation. "So, are you from around here? I figured anyone who lived nearby would just commute from home rather than stay in the dorms."

Delanie shook her head before realizing that the blonde wasn't looking at her. "We live a few hours from here. Not too far, but also not close enough to be convenient," she explained before returning the question, "What about you? I take it you aren't from Minnesota?"

"Maine, actually," Julie answered, holding up an obscure, poorly made Bangor, Maine t-shirt as she did so. The shirt made Delanie laugh. It was one of those shirts that you'd never actually wear outside, but Delanie figured it was probably more of a reminder of home than an actual piece of the blonde's wardrobe.

To keep conversation flowing, Julie brought up another question, "By the way, did you say your last name is Park?"

Here we go, Delanie thought, suppressing a sigh. "Uh, yeah," she coughed out after a short bought of silence.

"So that makes Jett Park-"

"My brother, yes," Delanie interrupted impatiently, accidentally knocking her stack of books over as she spun around. "Damn," she whispered quietly as she began rearranging the novels.

Catching her roommates sudden tone change, Julie cringed at herself. She had known this girl for five minutes and had already found a way to offend her. "Sorry for, um, asking," she apologized quietly, her face burning as she folded a shirt that had become unruly in transit.

Delanie shook her head as she stood back up, resting her collection of books on the bedside table. "No, it's alright. I need to get used to that question," she chuckled softly. That much was true. It was no secret that she hated being compared to her older brother, but it's not like she was going to skate through high school without the correlation being made. She cleared her throat, "So how do you know who Jett is anyway?"

Julie immediately perked up, "Oh, well he's one of the most popular guys on the varsity hockey team! Everyone knows who he and Rick Riley are, and if you're going to be on the junior varsity team like me, you definitely know who they are." As she explained, Delanie's stomach dropped. She sure was having a day for luck. First the scene with Nigel in the auditorium, now she finds out that her roommate is a hockey player. Not only that, but a hockey player that seems to already adore her brother. She completely blanked on something to reply to Julie with, and instead just found herself grinding her teeth uncomfortably.

All that left her mouth was a rather plain, "Oh." Julie glanced to her left, catching just a glimpse of her roommate's bitter expression before the brunette turned away. The blonde's stomach turned nervously as she realized that she must've said something that upset the girl across from her -- again. "Is everything okay?" Julie asked nervously, her hands gripping tightly to the pair of pants she had been refolding.

Delanie nodded solemnly, not turning back to face the girl. "Yeah, just," she found herself gritting her teeth again, trying to erase the discomfort that she felt. Over dramatic, the rational voice in her head said, it's just a lousy sport. What's your complex? She let out a ragged breath, "Just not a hockey fan, is all."

Julie's eyes dropped back to her luggage as an uncomfortable quiet filled the air. At first, she had been rather excited to meet someone new. But she had never been around anyone who didn't like hockey before. Between the Jett conversation and now this, it was clear the her roommate had a rather bitter contempt for the one thing that Julie loved most. Now she wasn't sure exactly how well they'd get along. "I see," she said softly. The conversation ended there.

The pair remained in their shared room for the rest of the evening, though not much talking occurred. It became clear right away that both girls were fairly introverted, or at least were comfortable being independent. There were a couple of conversations, a few jokes here and there, but for the most part, they did their own things. Julie finished unpacking and arranging her side of the room while Delanie focused her attention on one of the novels she had brought with her. After a couple of hours, the stillness of the room became comfortable.

Maybe they wouldn't be best friends, but things could also be a lot worse. One thing was for certain: the coming year wouldn't be anything like Delanie expected it to be.