I don’t know what I’m hoping to get out of this experience. Maybe it’s only a break from the routine. Maybe it’s the start of a new life. One thing is certain, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
I’m not insane, and I’m ready for something new.
Later, after I’ve had a sandwich and a shower and changed into shorts and a tee, I navigate over to a streaming service to find a Harry Potter film. It’s dark, the colors and music are calming, and it’s my go-to when I’m too keyed up to drift off on my own.
Harry, the Weasleys, and the Diggorys all put their hands on an old shoe, and I’m asleep before they even make it to the Quidditch World Cup.
4
Reanna
“Have you found Jesus?”An earnest young woman with braids and a crocheted poncho holds a pamphlet directly in my path.
I’m pushing a canvas bin containing my suitcase, all my toiletries, and everything I expect to need for a semester on campus across the quadrangle in the direction of the girls’ dorm, where Rick placed me.
“I didn’t know he was lost,” I quip, and her eyes narrow as she turns away with a scoff. I call after her, “Jesus would’ve laughed at that.”
I continue rolling, pushing the bin to Amanda Egret dorm. It’s an ancient building with soaring ceilings and dark-marble floors. I’m pretty sure it’s a hundred years old, especially when I board the rickety elevator taking me to the tenth floor.
No breakdowns, and I actually have a brass key in my hand to unlock the door as I wheel the squeaky bin down the black-marble hall. I’m in Room 1013, but when I arrive at what I’m pretty sure is the place, I’m startled to find the door wide open.
“Sorry, is this Room 1013?” I hesitate, pretty sure it is.
“Are you Reanna?” A petite girl with platinum-blonde hair turns from hanging posters on the wall to approach me with her hand outstretched. “I’m Ali!”
She says it likeAh-lee, the boxer, and I shake her hand carefully, still frozen in the doorway. “I’m Reanna, and I… I wasn’t supposed to have a roommate.”
Now that I’m saying it, it seems pretty wasteful when you consider the size of this room. It only has two beds, but it could easily fit four. A bathroom is between this room and another, technically making it a suite.
“Reanna! That’s such a pretty name.” She puts a hand on her chest. “And I know, it’s a last-minute switch for me, too. Surprise!” She does a little cheery, jazz-hands movement.
I don’t like surprises. “What happened?”
“Not sure exactly.” Turning away, she goes back to hanging a poster of a young male singer-turned-actor on the wall. “It seems my assigned roommate found somebody she liked better… And she has the connections and the money to get me bumped to your room. Sorry I’m the turd in your punchbowl.”
My shoulders drop, and I push the large bin into the room to start unloading. I’m ready to call Natasha and let Rick have it. A roommate is going to make my job infinitely more complicated, and it was already a gamble.
Still, dressed in jeans and a fuzzy pink sweater, Ali is a beam of sunshine in the clouds darkening my mood. “I’m from Savannah, so not too far from home. Where are you from?”
She finishes taping the last poster and turns, dropping on her bed and facing me expectantly. This is exactly why I don’t need a roommate. A semester is a long time to keep details straight, and I’ve never been a great liar.
So I draw on my childhood experience. “Odesa.”
I lift my suitcase out along with a plastic kit holding my toiletries. Placing both on the desk, I return to the bin to dig out sheets, so I can get my bed made and start stacking stuff on it.
“As in Texas?” Her brow is furrowed, and she sits on her perfectly made Hello Kitty comforter.
“As in Ukraine. I’m a transfer student.”
“Oh!” she gasps, cupping both hands over her mouth. “I’m so sorry! Were you like in the fighting?”
Her blue eyes are so big, and now I don’t have the heart to tell her I lived there ages ago, when I was a child. “No, not where we were. My family sent me here just in case, for safety.”
“That’s so scary.” Her voice is a soft whisper, and I’m sorry I went there.
“It’s really okay. I promise. We’re all good. Really.”
“Okay.” She nods, lowering her hands. “I guess you won’t have any family visits, then?”