Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Mondays at the university were always busy. Emily had classes for most of the day. She usually spent the afternoon studying and planning out her schedule for the rest of the week. She had plenty of loose ends to tie up before the semester was officially over. But most of her classes were done, as well as her examinations and assignments. So this afternoon, she was studying her bank account and a spreadsheet of all of her projected expenses for the coming months. It wasn’t looking good.
She needed a summer job. If she didn’t get something soon, she would plow through her savings next year and be living on bread and water by next Christmas. She didn’t want to lose everything she’d saved over years of working for Joanna. It made sense for her to find a part-time job she could keep over the course of the year while still studying. That way, she would only have to dip into her savings in an emergency.
She locked up the dorm room and went downstairs to the student lounge. Notices were pinned up all over the board—pet grooming, lost dogs, found cats, roommate requests, dorm parties and job advertisements were all mixed together in a conglomeration of colourful flyers.
Besides the job, she might have to find a new place to live, since the school year was over. She’d have to talk to Madi about next year. They hadn’t discussed what they would do for living arrangements. It would suit Emily to stay where she was, but she didn’t want a new roommate. It’d taken her six months to grow accustomed to the one she had. Still, if Madi wanted to move on, Emily would have no choice.
She grabbed a few roommate requests and then tore off a strip of paper with a phone number of a café looking for baristas. She’d never worked as a barista, but she had made coffee for Joanna hundreds of times. How different could it be? She called the café and made an appointment for an interview the next day. Then she called two of the roommate advertisements. Neither one answered, so she left messages.
Her dorm room was cluttered and messy. Madi wasn’t much for neatness. Her clothes were strewn about the place. There was coffee all over the bench where it’d spilled when she was brewing a pot that morning, and her dirty dishes were stacked in a pile waiting to be washed in the communal kitchen area.
With a sigh, Emily tidied up. She couldn’t stand it when the room was so messy. It was hard to think about anything else when she was surrounded by chaos. But other than the messiness, she’d enjoyed the semester with Madi. They got along well, even though Madi was eighteen years old and Emily was twenty-three. Emily often felt those extra years—she could see where Madi lacked some maturity. But they had fun together, and Madi helped her embrace the fact that she was still young.
Emily had spent the past five years with mostly senior citizens as friends, so it was good to be around some people closer to her age. And she was doing her best to embrace every part of the college lifestyle.
The door opened, and Madi waltzed in. She flung her book bag onto the floor.
“What are you doing?”
“Cleaning up,” Emily said.
Madi grimaced. “Ugh. I hate cleaning. Mum always did that at home.”
“I can tell,” Emily said with a smile.
“Sorry. I’m not really into housework.”
“It’s fine,” Emily replied. She hated to act like the house mother, but she’d been holding it in all semester. “Maybe you could try working on a few habits, like putting your dirty dishes in the kitchen. Or even washing them after you eat. We don’t want to get cockroaches or mice in our rooms, do we?”
Madi looked horrified. “What? Ew! No!”
“Okay, well, it’s something to think about.”
“Yes, Mum.”
Emily rolled her eyes. “I’m just saying…”
“Fine, I hear you. No more food scraps in the bedrooms.”
“What are you doing next year?” Emily asked.
Madi changed out of her jeans and into a long skirt. “What do you mean? I’m still studying forensic science…”
“Yes, but for accommodation. Are you planning on staying here?”
She shrugged. “I guess so. I haven’t really thought about it. But I’d like to stay here. What about you?”
“I will, if you’re okay with that.”
Madi grinned. “Yes, please. You know I love you. And guess what?”
“What?” Emily asked as she wiped up the coffee mess.
“We’ve been invited to a party tonight over at the boys’ dorm.”
“A party? I don’t know…”
Madi groaned as she brushed her hair. “You never want to party. But you’ve finished exams. The semester is over. Come on, you’ve got to have some fun. YOLO.”
“YOLO?” Emily laughed.
“You only live once.”
“Ha! That’s a good one. Okay, you’ve convinced me. I’ll come with you to the party. But everyone’s going to think I’m old.”
Madi shook her head. “You are so silly about that. No one has a clue how old you are, nor do they care. You’re only a few years older than me and the same age as some of the fourth years and post-grad students.”
“That’s true, I guess,” Emily mused. “When do we leave?”
The party in the dorm room across the way from their own was very loud. Emily followed Madi up the staircase to the top level. There were students everywhere. Music blasted from several of the dorm rooms, mixing in the common areas into one big glob of noise. There were beer kegs and tables with bags of chips and other easy snacks. She hadn’t been to a party like this in years. It brought back her high school days.
“Where are we going?” she shouted above the sound of raucous laughter.
Someone was holding a dance-off in one of the rooms. She could see their silly antics from where she stood.
“I’m looking for Connor. He said he would be here.”
“Who’s Connor?”
Madi smiled coyly. “He’s someone I’m hoping will be my boyfriend very soon.”
“He likes you?”
She pursed her lips. “Um… I’m working on it.”
Just then, a young man tapped Madi on the shoulder. He was very tall, looming over her. He had an athletic build and was a little sunburned with freckles across his nose and floppy blond hair.
“Hi, Connor,” Madi said, leaning into him and holding on to his arm. “This is my roommate, Emily.”
“Hi,” he said. “Hey, you wanna get a beer?”
“Sure,” Madi replied. “Come on.” She beckoned to Emily.
Emily trailed after her, suddenly feeling very out of place. She wanted to be snuggled up on the couch with Aaron, not at a frat party with a bunch of beer-drinking boys. But she was determined to join in, and this was all part of it. She took the beer offered to her by Connor and downed a swig of it, then grimaced. If only there was wine instead, and maybe a good baked camembert with crusty French bread. She’d lived with Joanna far too long to be able to fully enjoy a keg party. And she chuckled at the realisation.