Pomegranate

Meredith - 1

Meredith met Benji in the first week of freshman year when her hair color came from a CVS bottle called Scarlet Dragon and Benji was still two months away from removing his braces.

They lived down the hall from each other and first met at 1:40 am on the first Friday of the semester. Meredith had forgotten her keys and was locked out while her roommate was still in a party, and Benji was sexiled by his roommate, Robby, for an indeterminate amount of time. Their only refuge was the common room, a musty place with old blue couches facing a television where people sometimes played videogames together.

"I'm Meredith, by the way," she said, after a couple of minutes of silence. It seemed weird they were sitting two feet away from each other but wouldn't talk.

Benji blinked, looking up from the heavy history book propped open on his lap.

"Um, Benjamin."

"I don't think I ever met a Benjamin that went by Benjamin."

"Um," he hesitated. "I used to go by Benji, I guess? When I was young."

"Well, which one do you prefer?"

"Either way, I guess."

"Cool. Benji. Do you want to watch something?" She picked up the remote from the coffee table.

"I don't know—"

"Cool."

She turned on the TV and started going through the channels.

Meredith knew she could come across as a little intense. She wasn't blind to it. But it had already been a week, and aside from her roommate, Jessie, she still wasn't actually friends with anyone in college. And even Jessie seemed more preoccupied with joining the rowing team. Wasn't that what college was supposed to be about? Making lifelong connections, like the brochure said? She knew to be skeptical of the student diversity shown in the website pictures and about the quality of the dining hall food, but making friends seemed a given. Her mother had met her best friend and maid of honor in college. Her cousin was backpacking across Eastern Europe with her college roommate. Her closest friend from back home, Taylor, was attending Mount Holyoke and kept sending her Snapchats with a group of friends. Not to mention completely ignoring Meredith's messages.

So, Meredith wasn't ready to give up, not yet. And maybe Benji, who was reading an art history book on a Friday night, no judgment, could also use a friend.

She scrolled through channels until she landed on a rerun of Friends. Then, after another thought, she jumped to TLC. If she wanted Benji to keep talking to her, she had to pick something that would start a discussion. A connection. Friends wasn't the way to go.

Always reliable in providing scandalous content, TLC was playing Toddlers and Tiaras.

Benji glanced at the TV and grunted.

"Not a fan?" Meredith asked.

"My sister does pageants. It's painful enough to attend them."

"What do you want to watch, then?"

"N.....ational Geographic?" He elongated the sound, as if unsure if he was naming an actual channel.

It had only been a week of college, but if there was something Meredith could spot was someone pretending to be smarter than they were. Saying that would most definitely kill any chance at friendship with Benji, though.