Illicit Affairs

one. the new me

I really thought that college would be different. That I would have a chance to reinvent myself. That suddenly, I would turn into a new and improved person.

Except, here I am, staying in my dorm room and studying rather than going outside and meeting new people.

My room is comfortable, cozy, and me, at least on my side of it. Items crowd my shelves and I have an outdoor view of the campus, where the window is conveniently right above my desk. The place is a bit smaller than my large room at home, but I don't mind it.

Here, I still have space for a small bookshelf with all of my favorite books. My bed is comfortable, and is covered by my favorite fluffy light blue blanket. I even have a matching rug that's currently on the dark hardwood floor.

The closet to my right is small, but does its job. I don't have a large collection of clothes, as I find great comfort in rotating through the same few flannel shirts.

Right now, I'm even wearing my trusted red flannel with a basic white shirt underneath. Nothing about me has changed since I arrived to college, not even my style.

I look at one of my old concert posters on the light pale brown painted wall. The image takes me back to one of my best memories where I went to a concert for my favorite artist with my favorite friend Spencer.

My side of the room represents me. It's pleasant.

When I look at my roommate's side of the room, I almost shudder.

There is no window on her side of the room. It relies on the fluorescent lightbulbs to illuminate the dark area. There's barely anything on the shelves or her nightstand. It's as if she isn't even here.

Her bed covers and accents are all black. Her complimentary bookshelf is empty. The walls are bare and her clothes are even fewer than mine.

For the shirts and pants and such that she does have, it's all either dark colors or just plain black.

There's no rug or anything extra to the room that makes it her.

I've started wondering if that's just her personality. Basic and one dimensional.

I sigh, looking back down at my schoolwork. I'll have to leave at night, knowing how my disastrous roommate is.

You see, the first week of college, she was a saint. She was quiet and kept to herself. Rarely socialized with me or anyone, and so I thought that I wouldn't have to deal with the typical problems of having a roommate.

That was what I thought at the time.

All it took was one week of getting comfortable with me and then she showed her true colors.

Each evening, she brings along someone to spend the night with. She doesn't even have the decency to tell me that she'll be disrupting me, no, that's something I've just figured out on my own.

She never attends class and I am convinced that she'll fail at getting her major. She's extremely rude to me and all of my friends that hang out with me.

She always has something to say. I can't stand her.

I've never told her that though. Now that it's been almost a month of living with her, I certainly don't plan to.

I'm horrible at confronting people and that's not a skill I plan on getting better at. Except, I'll have to at some point because I plan on becoming a lawyer, and that's sort of their thing.

Whatever.

When my roommate walks in with her next date for the night, she sees me and all she says is, "Celeste."

Her long dark brown hair falls past her shoulders, and she's wearing her usual black leather jacket. Underneath, she has a random rock band shirt and long black jeans.

She's just so obnoxious.

And I hate her eyes. Don't even get me started on that.

It's as if her eyes are staring into your soul. Literally. I don't even know how to explain it. I've never seen brown eyes quite as vibrant or captivating as hers.

It's just so fucking obnoxious.

"Aria," I finally say back.

It's typical for people to say words like, 'hi' or 'how are you,' to greet people but she never does. It's always just my name or nothing.

For tonight, her victim is some girl that I've seen a few times in the hallways of the main building. She's on the taller side and has a scrunched face, which is part of her look naturally. Her empty gray eyes just reflect how completely and utterly soul-less she is.

I mean, she's obviously dumb if she's here right now.

Aria starts to stare at me intensely and I'm grateful for that.

Why?

Because with her stare, she's telling me to get the fuck out which is a nice warning for me, even though I already know what to do. I pull on a light cardigan, because I know that the typical Pennsylvania weather outside is starting to get colder. I gather my items and walk outside to another building.

I'm on my way to Cole's dorm, but at that moment, I receive a text from Spencer who tells me that his roommate is gone.

I eagerly start walking to the building where his room is located at instead.

I take any chance I can get to spend the night with Spencer rather than my idiotic fake boyfriend. Anything is better than that.

I almost start to think that spending the night in my dorm with Aria around is better, but I quickly put that belief away. It sounds crazy.

I continue walking.

I hope you enjoy this story!