3. The returns

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

And I stayed.

I owed too much to my parents and I had put in too much work to get to where I was then.

And this is why I was lying im my large bed waiting for the first noise of the alarm clock. I had spent all the preavious night thinking about this situation.

I live with the person that I am scared of. I live with the person that I hate and do not respect.

Admittedly, the unexpected meeting at the elevator ended with Dominic explaining our minor tardiness for lunch. He had given the rector a story about unpacking things together, so the rector let go of droning on about it, taking us out for a shared afternoon snack to discuss our responsibilities as starosts. All this time, however, I couldn't concentrate. All I kept thinking about was getting my things as quickly as possible and going home later today without a word of explanation.

But then I did a deeper and more intricate analysis, both financially and overall, and concluded that returning was not the best idea at the moment. For two simple reasons - first, it was already late afternoon, so I wouldn't have time to book a bus ticket, and I didn't have the money for Uber. 

Therefore, willingly, unwillingly - I stayed.

When I was returning with the rest of my things from Meghan and Michael around 9 pm, the dorm hallways were empty.

Meghan and Michael were my best friends from the High School. Leaving aside the natural differences due to the different anatomy of the two genders - they were identical: dark hair, black eyes and tall athletic figures. I've always doubted whether they are definitely dizygotic twins. Maybe because Michel was always more ladylike than Meghan. Or maybe because Meghan wasn't very girly.

Our friendship was strenghtened by a complementary rather large convergence of characters, a similar approach to life and professed values. What definitely set us apart was our appearance. They, with their athletic bodies, fair complexions and sharp eyes, looked like they were lifelike off the covers of Sports Illustrated. I, on the other hand, with a pile of unkempt hair, a pale face and perpetually blacked-out eyes, looked like I was from the cover of, but at most, "Walking Dead."

The silhouette was the thing that differed us the most – they had always been captains of the basketball team, and I had absolutely and categorically nothing to do with sports. It was a completely foreign subject to me, because even in gym class I rarely exercised, due to my unregulated allergies and the beginnings of asthma.

It's important to mention that our friendship had been lasting only for four years, since the moment when I joined their class in the Junior High School, but, to be honest, I felt like I was their lost triplet sister. Well, Mr. and Mrs. Hopper liked me very much, so they would have probably been happy to take me in. Especially Mrs. Hopper, who for a time saw me as her future daughter-in-law.

So, right after the meeting with the rector I headed for their segment for a small integration and in the process I took the rest of my luggage from them. Due to the fact that I arrived on campus practically at dawn and by bus, I was able only to take a backpack and one poor suitcase with me. The rest of my fortune was brought by Meghan and Michael because their father rented a van to deliver all their stuff...

As soon as I got off the elevator on the twelfth floor of my beloved bourgeois dormitory, I remembered Waller's party. I couldn't simply enter the apartment because he clearly let me know that I wasn't invited and needed there. In my own dormitory. However, I was so exhausted that I actually didn't care if he threw me out of my own room, humiliating me in the process in front of his wonderful friends, who also treated me like a freaking insect.

So I moved swiftly down the dimly lit corridor, the length of which, fading with every step, separated me from the black door leading into the very center of Hades. On my back was a large traveling sack, in my right hand was the arm of the suitcase, which I dragged lazily behind me, and with my left arm I embraced a sizable flower.

I walked to the door, but heard only silence. I was surprised cause it was quite early for the end of the Waller Vip Party. Or maybe they heard me coming and were waiting to scare me or something.... Anything can be expected from a wilderness of primordial intellect. However, it was all the same to me whether, going in there, I would get hit with some rude text from the mouth of one of these idiots again, or maybe some expensive brand-name sneakers for a change, so I confidently put my card to the reader and grabbed the door handle, but all I saw was.... darkness.

I carefully entered the apartment searching in the dark for a light switch, fearing in the process of stepping on someone's drunken face or other more sensitive body part. I had heard a lot of interesting stories about parties in the Waller's residence.

The last thing I wanted then was to trudge to my room amidst the victims of this conflagration.

I was pleased when I felt the desired shape in my hand. I blinked several times to support the rods striving to accommodate my eyes to such bright light as quickly as possible. Only after a moment did I realize that the knob I grabbed was for adjusting the intensity of the light.

Clever.

I didn't dwell on the electrics any longer, however, as I focused my gaze on the interior, or rather the... the empty living room?

Apparently, Dominic hadn't come back after our common meal with the rector because his untouched belongings stood in the middle of the living room.

So, it's gonna be a nice evening.

I didn't even try to hide my happiness caused by the awareness that I had a chance to take a normal shower. However, it probably took me about twenty minutes to learn how to use the shower panel, which contains roughly thirty buttons and dials.

Of course, I could have used the bath but it was strange to me that it stood in the middle of the bathroom and I wasn't really sure if my ability of locking these complicated doors was good enough. I didn't want drunk Waller to see me naked lounging in the bathtub.

It was for sure the worst and the most disgusting vision I had ever had in my head.

After preliminarily cleaning up the room, I went to bed, but I didn't get a wink of sleep. I felt sick, strange and alone. Already walking out of Meghan and Michel's apartment, something prickled in my chest at the sight of the two and their new roommates sipping Carlsberg together at the kitchen table.

Exactly. Why didn't we have the kitchen? It was the last thought I had before falling asleep. I woke up at 5 am.

I extremely needed water what was quite starnge cause I had only had two beers yesterday. So I reached lazily for the bottle of water standing by my bed. I drank greedily, feeling indescribable relief with each sip, when on the fifth pull, my sick imagination, or self-preservation instinct - it's hard to tell - prompted me that I didn't put that water here.

My God, he poisoned me. He did it, for sure...

I spit the water blindly, wanting to get rid of it from my mouth as quickly as possible, and by the time I realized that it was water put down for my flower, I was already on my way out. However, my escape was effectively prevented by the glass door of my room.

Sitting on the floor and massaging my throbbing forehead with one hand and my tailbone with the other, I began to wonder.... At the beginning, of course, whether it is possible to break my ass, and in the second place, whether my dear roommate could hear my impressive start and is now eavesdropping at the door.

It was already beginning to dawn when I very quietly leaned the top of my head out of my bedroom. He wasn't there. The door to his room was pulled open showing the entire interior, so I was sure I was alone.

The first thought that appeared in my head was that he had gotten drunk and then climbing the stairs to the very top, in the dark, he dusted himself off against one of them and died a tragic death, blowing his head off. I smiled to myself at this sight and it made my heart grow warmer. Christ, who have I become because of this man.... I am good by nature and until a dozen hours ago I wouldn't have wished death on anyone, probably not even him.

But the yesterday's situation had changed a lot.

Tired from the exertion I made at dawn, I decided to lie back in bed and nap a while longer, and as my head pulsed mercilessly, I fell asleep quickly.

I was awakened by the sound of the door.

„Holy shit..." I heard an amazed voice.

„Silent" growled another one, well known to me.

„Bro, what to do to live in this luxury?"

„Change your surname."

„Dom, you think your father would like to have another kid?" he asked with hope.

„What?"

„I'm ready to be adopted. Now."

„You're fucked up."

„Relax, honey..." After this sentence I realized who the voice belonged to.

„Shut the fuck up." groaned Dominic, and I knew by the tone of his voice that his night was hard.

„Don't complain, because no one poured vodka into your mouth..." he snorted and threw himself on the couch. „You'd better tell me who this ass you live with is..." he muttered.

„Shut up!"

„You think she's still in the room? It's the lunch time..."

Lunch time?! So waht time was it?! How long had I been sleeping? I looked at the clock. Nice. I missed the second lunch. I wonder if they've even crossed me out of these dinners yet. However, I can't just walk out of here now and face those retards in the living room.

„Tell me who she is."

„Leave me alone" He hissed and impetuously opened what was probably a bottle of water, judging by the characteristic hiss. „By the way, I don't really need you now. Go."

„Nope."

„Get the fuck out. Have your segment."

„No way. Show me your new bitch."

„You're gonna miss the lunch."

„I'm ready sacrifice. Food isn't everything..." he sighed.

„Really? Thought it's your main reason to live. You can eat everything that-"

„Tell me."

„No."

„Bro, tell me. Now."

„Get the fuck out!" he growled, throwing a pillow at him, which stopped at my door.

„Dom, put the brakes on your primal reflexes, because I'm beginning to suspect that you got an apartment with that portly woman. She also already aimed at me with some slipper yesterday..." he added with disgust, then muttered again. „Well, speak at last.... Blonde? A brunette?"

„No."

„Ginger pussy?"

„No."

Probably this amazing conversation would have dragged on forever if it hadn't.... if my phone hadn't rang, which I don't even know when I left on the living room bench.

Tyyyryyyryyyryy...

„Fuck, shit what is this?!" he hollered like a fool, probably breaking off on his feet. „Signals from beyond worlds?"

„Shut the fuck up and turn this fucking phone off!" shouted Dominic even louder, probably wanting to drown out this extraterrestrial signal.

„What the hell?! It's not mine."

Tyyyryyyryyyryy - Tyyyryyyryyyryy – Tyyyryyyryyyryy...

Well, if it is my mother, I fell sorry for them because the phone is going to ring forever. I didn't really like this vision.

„God, why isn't it shouting?!"

„You mean me or the phone, Dom? Bro, maybe-"

He couldn't finish his speech beacause Dominic interrupted him.

„Gordon! Turn it off now!"

„Dom, maybe just pick... Who?!"

And at that moment, I emerged.

In my red reindeer pajamas.

„Holy shit." He looked as if he had at least seen a corpse.

Yes, Shane. Nice to see you too.

„I mean...Well...Good morning, Lauren..."

Nice.

Shane Degas, Waller's best friend, the golden child of the richest lawyer in all of Pennsylvania and a worthy deputy to Waller in that mutual adoration circle of theirs that brings together the entire elite of high school retards. And now, as you can see, in college too.

„Hi" I said automatically and grabbed the phone.

I immediately saw that Michael had called. Great. That means I'm probably already crossed out of lunches.

I turned on my heel and took a quick step to my room, leaving Shane alone with his shock.

After changing into some more outgoing clothes, I began to embrace my hair, which was quite a challenge. Long, frizzy and very shaggy, it resembled hair more than the well-groomed waves from the shampoo commercials that I used to buy on a regular basis. Well, once I become a chemist, I will create a shampoo specifically for women like me to love their hair de novo.

But before that happens, I have to face today's problems. I sighed over my hard life and continued to fight an uneven battle with hair, an empty stomach and an unwanted flatmate - now with the gratis of Shane included.

After a while, I heard voices in the living room again. They spoke quietly, but not enough for me not to understand.

„You asshole... You didn't say a word about this chance..."

„What do you mean?" said with clear incomprehension Dominic.

„What? She's the only chick you haven't slept with, so now's your chance to.... get that last peak." He sighed.

„And you have the last fucking chance to leave before-"

„Dom, relax... I know you want it."

„Get the fuck out! It's the last warning."

„Bro, why so agressive? Nerves are bad for your beauty"

Just Shane. I had always been surprised that they hadn't killed each other yet, given that their friendship is quite intimate and had been since childhood.

Then I heard a cursing, the slamming of a plastic bottle, the sound of a sliding door, and moments later a stream of pouring water in the bathroom.

I didn't hear Shane leave, so the living room was unlikely to be empty, so I continued to stay out of the room just in case.

Shane, just like Dominic, was one of the children who, right out of college, were assured a start in a life full of money, luxuries and ever-present hypocrisy. He was rich, handsome and certainly more fun (in his own peculiar way) than Dominic. Unlike Waller, he had brown hair, an endearing sincere smile and big gray eyes. Moreover, Shane wasn't as boorish as Dominic, so maybe that's what gave me the courage to finally come out of hiding. In addition, Waller hadn't left the bathroom yet, so I figured there would be no better time to evacuate quickly and efficiently, especially since my hunger was getting bad.

With a quick step, I walked to the door. However, this wasn't the right decision, because as soon as I pushed back the glass pane, I saw Dominic coming out of the bathroom.

Naturally, he didn't even look at me. He just wore his fresh black shirt pushing back his light hair from his forehead, from which droplets of water dripped, soaking his collar and the floor in the process. I had always been surprised by the fact that it takes guys only five minutes to shower and make themselves into a goddess. Or maybe it's just due to his innate personal charm and good genes? His whole family was so perfect that it was almost unnatural.

„We can go." He said coolly to Shane, walking over to the dresser to get his new black iPhone.

Suddenly, I smelled an odd odor.

„Dom, you didn't tell me you have such specimens on the square..." stated an exasperated Shane, emerging from the corner.

„What specimens?" Waller furrowed his eyebrows, clearly engrossed in clasping his unique gold Rolex on his right wrist „What's this odor?" he added only after a moment, lifting his gaze and stopping it on the amused Shanen.

„Take a whiff..." He sighed exasperatedly, handing him some smoky wrappers.

„Fuck, where do you have it from?" He growled, pushing his hand away impetuously as he tried to put a weed in his mouth.

„From the corner."

„What corner?"

Because as you can see for Dominic, the situation was not so clear.

„It tastes oddly" Shane commented after a while, letting out the fifth puff from his mouth.

„You idiot, it's not a weed!" Waller shouted, shifting his gaze from the aforementioned angle to Shane and snatching the thing from him in a second.

„What?..." I saw how into the gray eyes, terror begins to creep in, and his breathing dangerously accelerates.

Too much.

„It's dypsis lutescens" allowed myself to interject.

They looked at me, apparently unaware that I had been witnessing this intelligent conversation all along.

„Dypsis...Fuck, what?"

„My plant for botany classes."

„God, Dom, call the ambulance... I'm dying, I feel it... Fuck, I'm too young..."

„You will-"

He didn't let me finish, just leaned against the headrest of the couch, cringing as if he was already in the last stage of tuberculosis, to say the least.

„Look!" He caught Dominic's hand and put it on his neck. „Something is growing here... A scoop... Huge scoop... I cant't breathe... Fuck, Dom..."

I stood there and began to wonder if he really needed a doctor. A psychiatrist, for example.

„In your case it is rather already metastasized..." I concluded.

„Heard her?! I have metastatic ... Poison... into my throat..."

„Rather into the brain." hissed Dominic.

„I meant lung cancer" I elaborated.

Seeing that this show would go on indefinitely, I decided to end it. With a quick step, I walked over to the bench and grabbed the glass bidon standing on it. Then, in one swift motion, I splashed its contents straight into Shane's almost dead face.

„Fuck! What is it?!" he screamed, keeping his eyes closed.

„Hydrogen oxide. With the common name of water." I put the bidon back on the bench.

Bearing witness to my immense mercy, even before leaving I brought our guest a towel from the bathroom, and then, no longer feeling like listening to the litany of curses and mutual accusations, I carried the flower to my room as a precaution and left the gentlemen alone, setting off in the direction of the cafeteria. On the way I still deluded myself that maybe the dinner was not over and the nice lady cook would share at least the leftovers with me.

I dreamed of chicken in ginger sauce or spaghetti bolognese. The latter option was less likely, because being on a gluten-free diet, I could probably count on, at most, rice instead of pasta, but still the thought of food made my heart warmer. However, the return to reality turned out to be more painful than I could have anticipated, as I wasn't even allowed into the building where the cafeteria was located.

Since we have breakfast and lunch provided by the university at the now-closed cafeteria, all that's left is for me to embrace dinner on my own.

So I headed, towards the nearest store, which was located an hour away from the university. This wasn't a problem for me, however, because I really liked walking, especially one in solitude.

Generally, I the most often needed only my own company.

My parents worked a lot - my mother was a chemist by training and worked in a large corporation before I was born. After giving birth, she decided to take care of me, and when I went to kindergarten, she got employed in a pharmacy.

With my father I had a rather... official relations.

He was an accountant at a big company and spent most of his time at work. He had held an important position in the ministry for five years, so his salary increased slightly, but at the expense of his absence from home. Generall, I didn't see him more than I saw him, but thanks to a slightly higher salary, I was able to start school at West Junior High School in Allentown, where I lived in a

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net