Second Chances

Chapter Ten

When Evelyn entered the room, her roommate had her phone to her ear and was hunched over a bin. The door to her closet was open and a few shirts dangled from hangers. Evelyn passed by her roommate and walked to her side of the room. When she reached the desk, she pulled the chair away and sat down on it.

Looking through her phone, she had received three messages from Ava and one from her mom. She swiped on the conversation with her mom first.

Mom: Made it home. Hope you're having fun (but not too much fun) up there!

Evelyn chuckled. Classic mom.

Evelyn: Glad you made it home! I haven't done too much. Unpacked and then went down for dinner. I met my suitemates and they seemed nice! Can't really say the same for my roommate though.

Evelyn flipped the conversation to Ava's.

Ava: Made it home now.

Ava: Have you met your roommate yet?

Ava: What's the food like there?

Evelyn: Glad you made it home! I have met my roommate and she's... something else. I'll give you a call in like 10 minutes.

Evelyn set the phone down on the desk and walked over to her closet. She pulled out the bin with her toiletries and dragged it toward her bed. She then unclipped the lid of the bin and tossed it on the ground beside the bin. Her soap and shampoo were at the top of the bin, but she remembered that inside one of the grocery bags was her reusable water bottle. She looked through each bag until she finally found it.

When she found her bottle, she grabbed it and put it on top of her desk. She then grabbed the lid for the bin and closed it. Instead of dragging it across the floor like before, she picked it up and placed it at the bottom of her closet. Before she slid the closet door shut, she grabbed her workout shirt and a pair of bike shorts.

Evelyn carried the clothes over to her side of the room and then looked over at her roommate's side of the room. Her roommate had her back turned towards Evelyn and was still on the phone. Evelyn unbuttoned her pants and slid them down her legs. Fucking skinny jeans she cursed as she nearly toppled over while releasing her ankle from the pants clasp.

She put on her shorts quickly and tied the drawstring tight. She then slipped her top off and changed into the breathable fabric of her workout shirt. The shirt clung a little tighter to her body than she wanted, but she liked its ability to disguise sweat.

After she changed, she put her running shoes on and laced them tightly. She ensured they were double knotted to avoid them coming undone. No need to make myself easy to catch, she thought. Evelyn then put her hair up into a ponytail. As she flicked her hair back and forth, the tips of her hair tickled her neck.

Her phone vibrated on the desk. A new message from Ava appeared. Evelyn scrolled across the screen and opened the conversation.

Ava: I'm around, so feel free to call whenever.

Evelyn closed the conversation then placed her phone in her pocket. She then grabbed her room key and student card and tucked them into the zippered pocket of her shorts. Despite being empty, the water bottle felt like a nuisance. Evelyn left it on the desk with the thought of filling it when she returned.

As Evelyn made her way down the hallway, she heard chatter and giggles coming from the rooms around her. Must be nice, she thought as she considered her situation with her roommate. When she reached the elevator, a girl with long blonde hair stepped out of it. She had a plate of food and a cup in her hand. She smiled when she passed by Evelyn. Why couldn't that be my roommate?

The elevator ride was short and uninterrupted. As Evelyn made her way outside, she stretched her legs. She brought her foot up and held it in place. A sharp pain spread across her thigh. She immediately released her leg and rubbed her thigh. Once the pain in her thigh subsided, she unlocked her phone and opened the running app. She put in her location and then mapped out a course that claimed to take her through the campus in a large loop. Little symbols that were blue and red were scattered throughout her route. I wonder what those could be, she thought. She clicked 'start route' on her phone and started to jog along the sidewalk.

As she jogged, she noticed that running in a city was not like running in her hometown. Instead of running in a long continuous line with only an occasional driveway breaking the path, she had to contend with stopping at stop signs, crossing into bike lanes, and waiting for the pedestrian crossing signals at traffic lights. It disturbed her pace and caused her to slow down to a walk instead of a jog each time she approached a light.

When she got to the first stoplight, she stopped walking and waited for the walk signal to show. The minute the pedestrian signal flashed, she started crossing the road. She felt watched as she walked past the four lanes of traffic.

Once she finished crossing the road, she looked toward the residence to her right. The lights from the building blanketed the sky in a pink haze. It was unlike anything Evelyn had ever seen before. A faint hum of music came from the rooms, together forming an orchestra of individuality. I should have lived there.

She turned her attention back to the traffic light and noticed it was her turn to walk. As she crossed the road to the other sidewalk, she entered the edge of the campus. Buildings surrounded the path as she picked up her pace into a jog.

As she winded through the campus, she was in awe of the old architectural stylings of some of the buildings and confused by the design of some of the more modern buildings–she never understood the appeal of so much glass. It created a contrasting atmosphere between the new and the old. She looked upon two vastly different buildings. One side felt rich with history and knowledge while the other felt hopeful and environmentally conscious. She was fascinated that a location could create such a narrative.

There was one particular building that caught her eye. She looked down on her map and identified it as the Matisse Arts & Humanities faculty building. The exterior of the building had light grey coloured bricks and white window sills. Lights shone towards the building to show off the ivy and moss growing up the left side of it. A single spotlight sat at the top of the building and highlighted a large brass bell. Has anyone rang that bell before? she wondered.

She walked past the building and followed the path. She came across a street light with a blue phone and the number for campus police. When she looked down at her app, she realized the phone was what the blue symbols on her path meant. They were all over the campus in presumably areas that were more prone to assaults. Not sure how to feel about that.

Evelyn continued walking the path until she ended up toward a series of residences. She looked down at her phone and identified them as Hemingway, Hawthorne, and Salinger Hall. Each residence was named after a famous author. It was another reason why Evelyn was so invested in attending the university.

As she looked towards the buildings, she noticed how nearly every room had lights on. She could hear some muted music coming from a couple of the rooms on the lower level as she passed by them. It sounded like a party was happening inside the lounge on the first floor at Hemingway Hall. How are people already comfortable enough to party? Evelyn thought. These people were all strangers less than 24 hours ago.

She looked back down at her map and saw that she was close to her residence. Only another 10 minutes of walking and she'd be there. While she wasn't quite ready to deal with her roommate, she knew she couldn't avoid her forever. Maybe she was just having a bad day? Evelyn considered. She didn't want to believe that she would actually be stuck with someone like that for the entire year.