Eighteen #2
When I get down to the kitchen, I find a full plate of breakfast on the stove with a Post-it note next to it, which reads, Hands off this plate.
It’s for our girl, and is signed, Matt .
I grin because his little everyday thoughtfulness warms my heart.
Next to the plate, I find a thermos full of steaming coffee.
I cup my hands around it and stick my nose into the top, breathing in the aroma.
I move into the living room, noting the disgraceful condition of the house.
It’s 9:25, and obviously everyone else is still asleep.
Some of them are on the floor. Some, like Vince, are on the sofas, where he’s lying like a corpse with one limp arm dangling down.
Someone’s even passed out on the beer-pong table outside on the lawn.
God…what a disaster. The guys are going to have a lot of cleaning to do when they finally wake up.
With a pang of hurt, though, I realize that someone is missing… I don’t see Thomas anywhere. Did he leave already? Without saying anything to me? No, he wouldn’t have done that. Yes, he would, you moron. Of course he would have done that , the little voice inside my head responds.
I squat down in front of the couch where Vince is sprawled out and give his shoulder a firm shake. “Vince, wake up!”
“Mhghfg…” He mutters something incomprehensible before rolling over, still in the arms of the alcoholic version of Morpheus.
“Vince, open your eyes. I need to know where Thomas is.”
“I dunno. Now let me sleep, I’m begging you…”
“Are you sure? Is it possible that you heard him leave, or maybe he told you where he was going…?”
“Ah…” Vince swears, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “You’re a menace, Little Gem. I have an all-time hangover, and here you are tormenting me first thing in the morning with this shit. I don’t know where he is. If he’s not here, he probably went out.”
I check my cell phone, hoping to find at least one text to explain his absence, but there’s nothing. Vince gives me a pitying look. “Do you want my advice? Let him cool down for a little while. As soon as he calms down, everything will be fine. You’ll see.”
If he was intending to reassure me, he hasn’t remotely succeeded. In fact, the only thing his words have done is reawaken the anger that I pushed aside.
“Let me see if I have this right,” I snap. “I’m supposed to just wait until he calms down? I already spent a terrible night worrying about him, waiting for him to come back to me while he was out having fun! It doesn’t work that way!” I yell, not caring if I wake the others.
I stride away from Vince with determined steps, blood pounding in my temples as I head for the door.
“Where are you going now?” he asks wearily, still lying on the sofa with his head bent to keep looking at me.
“I’m moving out!” I leave the house, slamming the door behind me.
I walk down the path toward Howell Hall, flanked by red maples and aspens. Anger has my whole body trembling. The cold wind makes a mess of my hairstyle, strands sticking to the corner of my mouth.
About five minutes later, I heard Vince’s still-sleepy voice from behind me. “Hey, hey, slow down, come on!”
“What do you want?” It’s more of an accusation than a question, and I continue to walk briskly, arms folded tight.
He pulls alongside me, keeping pace. “I’ve got nothing to do, so I thought I’d keep you company.”
I give him a sideways look. He’s wearing the same clothes as yesterday, now much dirtier and more malodorous. His hair is disheveled and wild, his blue eyes still swollen and red from lack of sleep.
“I don’t need company. Just go back to the house and sleep. Or bathe. Whatever you think is more important.”
“Are you insinuating that I stink?” He lifts his right arm and brings his nose close to his armpit. “Shit. Yeah, I stink,” he confirms, his face twisting into a grimace of disgust. But then he gives a shrug, as though it doesn’t really bother him all that much. “So where are we going?”
“ I’m going to Howell,” I grump through gritted teeth.
“You’re moving in there?”
I nod, staring straight ahead.
“Dope. That dorm is full of next-level pussy. I have a feeling I’ll be visiting you frequently, Little Gem.” He rubs his hands together gleefully.
I don’t even bother answering; I’m in no mood to indulge his idiocy.
When we arrive in front of the building, a girl is waiting for us, tapping her foot with a listless air. She has a cup of coffee in one hand, some papers clenched under her arm, and a set of keys dangling from the fingers of her free hand.
“Hey!” I move toward her with a smile, trying to show her nothing but serenity. “Are you Athena?”
“Cute…” Vince whispers in my ear, earning himself an elbow to the ribs.
“In the flesh,” says the girl with electric blue eyes in front of me as she brushes her honey-colored bangs away from her face.
“I’m Vanessa; it’s so nice to meet you.”
“Little Gem, you drag me out of bed, I sacrifice my morning for you, and you don’t even bother to introduce me?” Vince interrupts, pushing aside my hand and inserting his own to shake with Athena.
“I’m Vince; it’s a pleasure.” A sideways smile forms on his face, creating a dimple in his right cheek.
Athena scrutinizes him without interest and frowns, not remotely impressed by his attempt at flirting.
She pulls her hand out of his grasp. But Vince doesn’t seem demoralized by her rejection.
On the contrary, it seems to wind him up even further.
So much so that he gives her a cheeky smile, and the moment she turns to lead us away, he follows close behind her.
“Cute and tough. I think I’ve just fallen in love,” he whispers to me again, his eyes locked on our guide’s backside, for which he receives another elbow in his side.
“Ow! Thomas is a bad influence on you; violence is your first instinct now!” He rubs his side with a grimace while I feel a pang in my heart at the mere mention of Thomas’s name. Vince seems to understand this, because he puts an arm around my shoulders as if to console me.
“So the building has four floors,” Athena breaks in as she moves toward the elevators and presses the call button. “The apartments are occupied only by second-year or international students, no freshmen.”
The elevator doors open, and the three of us walk in.
Vince just stares at Athena, but she pointedly ignores him.
She pushes the second-floor button, takes a sip of her coffee, and continues talking.
“You can use the laundry for free, but you need to buy all your own laundry supplies. Newspapers are left outside the door every morning, and your mail will be delivered to you at Arnold Service Center.” She doesn’t stop talking until we get to the second floor.
She’s the first out, leading the way to apartment F22.
She puts the key into the lock and lets us into what will be, from now on, my new residence. “And here we are; welcome to your little home.” She smiles at me without the slightest bit of enthusiasm. I wonder how many times she’s had to repeat this same spiel.
I pause to look around at the dove-gray walls that surround me, the slightly worn flowered sofa, the wooden table with a bowl of fruit already in the center, and I feel an immediate sense of ease.
“As you can see, the living room is pretty small but welcoming. The bathroom is in the back,” she informs me, pointing to a door. “Bedroom is that way.” She gestures at another door to my right. “And here we have the kitchenette, small but practical.”
“Damn…” I whisper, turning around slowly. My eyes land on a television affixed to the wall. “Does that work?” I point to it a little hesitantly, remembering the one in the freshman dorm that was completely useless.
“Of course it works. Now, if you don’t mind, can I get you to sign these forms?
” She hands me the stack of papers she’d been holding under her arm.
“The first one is registering you for a mailbox; the second is confirming you got the keys. The RAs are two other girls and me; you can get our numbers down in the secretary’s office or from this instruction packet.
If you need anything, just call, we’ll be happy to help you. ”
The way she says it, I find it hard to believe that she would be “happy” to do anything. I nod and grab the pen she hands me. I put the papers down on the table and begin to quietly read through them before signing.
A few minutes pass before, suddenly, I hear Athena’s wearied voice snap, “You know there’s other stuff to look at, right?”
I turn quickly to see her and Vince facing each other.
“You’re cute,” Vince answers, winking at her with that cheeky grin that he refuses to put away. His arms are crossed over his chest, and he has the confident air of someone who likes what he sees and isn’t afraid to show it.
“Yes, I’m aware,” she answers, raising her chin. She’s just as confident as he is, if not more so. “But that doesn’t give you the right to keep your slimy creeper eyes glued to my ass.”
“I wasn’t…” he babbles, caught off guard.
“Ah-ah,” she admonishes him, pointing her index finger at his face. “Don’t try to deny it; I know it’s true.”
“Well, in my defense, that ass really was made to be stared at,” Vince says with a cocky grin.
“Vince!” I leap up, red-faced, while Athena irritably gathers up the papers from the table and shoulder-checks him out of her way.
Before she walks out the door, she stops and pulls a flyer from the pocket of her white skinny jeans.
She hands it to me without much conviction.
“There’s a party tonight on the top floor.
Nothing big, pretty quiet in fact. You’re invited, if you want to come. ”
“Oh, thank you for that, but I have to work tonight. I don’t think—”
I don’t have time to finish my sentence before Vince snatches the flyer from my hand and answers for me. “We’ll be there.”
Both Athena and I glare at him.
“You don’t even live in this building,” she says.
“And how do you know that?”
“I’ve never seen you here.”
“You’re seeing me here right now.”
Athena raises her hands in surrender, shaking her head and sighing. “Do what you want; I don’t care. Have a great day.” Her gaze drifts over Vince’s body and she adds, “And for God’s sake, take a shower. You smell like a distillery.”
When we’re alone, I slap his shoulder with the back of my hand. “Wanna tell me what’s going on in your head?”
“Right this minute? Are you sure you want to know?” He gives me an exaggeratedly innocent grin.
“You’re a pig!” I exclaim, trying to hold back laughter.
“Oh, but look at that; is that a smile I see on your little mouth?” He pinches my cheek gently with his thumb and forefinger.
I try not to smile to avoid giving him the satisfaction, but in the end, I break.
“Well, Little Gem, it’s time for me to pack it in,” he says, glancing around. “This isn’t so bad. Compared to my place, you’re living in a palace,” he jokes, moving to leave. But before he can turn the door handle, I stop him.
“I’m sorry, where do you think you’re going?”
“To sort myself out; I’ve got to get rid of this hangover,” he answers casually, stretching his arms behind his back.
I shake my head no at him. “You insisted on coming here with me, you embarrassed me in front of that girl, and you accepted an invitation to a party on my behalf without my consent. You’re nuts if you think I’m going to let you off the hook that easily,” I say, looking down at my wristwatch.
He crosses his arms over his chest, frowning. “What do you have in mind?”
“I’m expecting you back here at twelve o’clock sharp,” I answer.
***
After meeting with my reading group, I put Vince to work for an hour, forcing him to help me move. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, because I really wanted to settle into my new apartment with Thomas. But apparently, I don’t always get the things I want.
When we finish, I thank Vince for his help by offering to buy him lunch and then set him free.
I take another shower before deciding to go down to the newspaper’s office.
I spend a few hours wading through news articles and opinion pieces about the police’s abuse of power, occasionally pausing to peek at my phone.
I pretend I’m checking the time but, actually, I’m hoping to see a text from Thomas. A vain hope.
At the stroke of six, I transfer all the material I’ve found onto a USB stick and leave the editorial office for the Marsy, where I begin my shift.
Sometimes, I’m afraid that I’m going to end up losing my mind between all these commitments, but I have to admit that I like always having something to do.
It keeps me busy and my mind occupied. And right now, I need that to avoid thinking about him .