“What happened?”
Deanna rolled her eyes and exhaled sharply. “They are totally impossible to live with. They don’t clean up behind themselves whatsoever and they use anything that you leave in the bathroom. Like literally…anything. So, I go to take a shower yesterday morning, right? I take my razor out of the medicine cabinet only to find that one of those slobs had already used it. And then had the audacity to put it back in the cabinet like I wasn’t gonna notice! There’s no telling what body part they even shaved with it!” Deanna shook her head as she sighed in frustration. “I was so grossed out that I threw my sponge away too, just in case.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Tell me about it,” she replied. “I left and just spent the night with Karl. I only came back today because I knew you’d be here.”
Deanna stood and grabbed a nightgown from her dresser, changed, and flipped off the light. I heard her bed creak as she climbed into it and lay down. A few minutes passed and my eyelids started getting heavier.
“You know what?” Deanna asked “What?” My voice already sounded dry and raspy as if I’d been asleep for hours.
“I think we have to be the lamest college students in history. It’s not even nine and we’re already in bed.” We burst out laughing and she got back up and turned on the light. “I know you’re tired, but we should go for a walk or something? I haven’t seen you in days.”
I was pretty tired, but I didn’t feel like telling her no. “Sure,” I replied, wearily sitting upright.
Deanna put her clothes back on and I grabbed my cell phone just in case AJ decided to call. We locked the door and paced down the hallway, stepping over an empty pizza box someone left on the ground. There were a few people lingering, but nothing like my first day. As soon as we passed Terrell’s door, it flung open and he appeared to be startled when he saw Deanna and me. He smiled and shut the door behind him, “Hey! Haven’t seen you in a minute,” he said, addressing me specifically.
I still wasn’t sure what his angle was, so I was noticeably guarded when I responded, “Hey.” He already had his shoes on, so he started walking with Deanna and me as we continued down the hall. She glanced at me quickly out the corner of her eye, but didn’t say anything. Apparently after helping me move my things in the other day, Terrell thought we were cool or something.
“Where’re ya’ll going?” He asked enthusiastically as if he’d been invited to join us.
When I didn’t respond, Deanna did. “Just for a walk. Where were you headed?”
“The store; my Doritos supply is getting terrifyingly low. Can’t have that.”
Deanna laughed, but I wasn’t amused. “Well, it was good seeing you again,” I blurted politely, hoping that he’d get the hint and go his own way.
“You too,” he replied, totally missing my hint. I rolled my eyes and sighed as I pushed the door to our building open and breathed in the refreshing night air. Terrell spotted one of his friends and stopped to talk, so I tried to quicken my pace in an effort to leave him behind. Unfortunately, he noticed the growing distance between us and cut his conversation short, jogging to catch up with Deanna and me. What was it going to take to make him go away?
With Terrell at our heels, we followed the sidewalk and soon made it a good distance away from the dorm. The road was only lit by the orange glowing streetlamps above. The atmosphere was heavy like a storm might roll in. Wind rushed through the trees, causing them to rustle in the background as the temperature dropped steadily. The strangest feeling came over me and I literally shivered as a chill ran down my spine. Apparently I was the only one sensing anything. Maybe it was just the change in the weather that made me uneasy.