PERFECT PLACES

Jonathan (4)

I woke up the morning after the party at 7:04 AM and I jumped out of bed. I walked over to the sink and filled up a glass with cold water and gulped it down. I walked down the hall to the shower at a normal pace. I saw a girl in the hall, who was probably from my floor, and I smiled as she passed. She gave me a weird look, which is understandable because she probably thought I was some stranger coming to shower on her floor. I didn't mind.

I found a tissue to blow my nose. By the time I got in the shower, the water was hot and it felt amazing on my skin. I had a slight headache, probably from being dehydrated from drinking a lot last night, but I didn't feel hungover. I got out of the shower after about four minutes and I quickly dried off. I walked back down the hall and I saw the same girl again coming back from the bathroom. She smiled at me this time.

I picked out some nice clothes - a spotted collared shirt and some jeans - then I hopped over to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and got out two eggs, marble cheese, milk, and butter. I unwrapped the bread and put two pieces in the toaster. I opened one of the top cupboards and took out a bowl. Then I grabbed both eggs and individually cracked them into the bowl. Then I poured some milk into the bowl. Then I opened the second drawer, the one below the cutlery, and got out the cheese grater. Then I opened the unopened block of marble cheese and started grating it into the bowl. I wanted to make cheesy scrambled eggs.

After adding butter to a pan I found in the bottom drawer and pouring the eggs, I stayed standing in the kitchen and continuously stirred the pan while hopping back and forth on my heels. When the eggs were done cooking, I went over to the window and opened it to let some cool air in because I didn't want it to get hot.

Before I sat down to eat I walked into my bedroom and grabbed my portable speaker and put it on the coffee table. I thought it would be nice to listen to The National while I ate. Their music was depressing, but for a day like today, it was the most uplifting music I could have listened to. I played the part of the album Trouble Will Find Me while I ate delicious scrambled eggs and toast and drank a glass of milk. I found a new favourite song from the album, Pink Rabbits. I couldn't wait to tell Jess about it.

As soon as I was done eating I rushed to the bathroom again to brush my teeth and gel my hair. This took about four minutes. Then, returning to my room, I quickly checked that the stove was off (quick touch of all four burners and inside of the oven door), turned off the lights, and left the apartment. I locked the door and quickly turned the knob all the way to the right and all the way to the left. Then I took the stairs down to the first floor - I was on the fourth - because it was faster than taking the elevator. When I got to the bottom of the stairs I started walking fast and pushed the doors open without a second thought. As I hurried across the front lawn outside of my residence, I realized that I had gotten ready in less than half an hour.

I had only talked to Jess for five minutes last night and I was already sure that she was going to change my life significantly. She was my chance to immerse myself in the college experience and truly lift off into the sky to start my own marvelous story in this new place. As I moved across the lawn, it felt like I was almost flying. I almost didn't care who saw me and I almost started skipping to go faster. I was in love with her, I think, I'll admit it.

Soon I was at the front entrance of the Union residences. It was a huge building with four giant wings, each one housing about three hundred students. As a whole, it was the largest residence on campus. The building made a giant X when you looked at it from Google Maps, with a middle square cut out for the inside rooms to have windows overlooking a garden.

I didn't know which wing was Union 4. I'd never actually been inside the building before. I haven't been in any residences besides my own since getting here. Actually, I haven't even been to any other floors in my own building and I also haven't been in anyone else's room. There is even a hallway on my floor that I have only been down once, when I arrived early and looked around with my parents. Since they left that first day, I haven't had any reason to go down that hallway because it is far away from my room and is just a dead-end containing rooms belonging to people I don't know. It was depressing to think about, really, that I didn't even know the names on those doors, and it was even more depressing to think about the names I did know on doors near mine (Peter, Emily, Melissa, Jose). I could not match them to the person living there. It was really, really depressing that I had been here for a month and didn't know anyone by even their name and their face. Except Cole, of course, but that doesn't count.