35. Maya
Knock, knock.
Maya finished the sentence she was reading, then shifted her eyes from the textbook resting on her lap to the door. “Come in.”
“Hey.” Her roommate peeked around the door. “You wanna order in for dinner?”
It was only five o’clock, but outside her window, it was pitch black and small flecks of snow fell steadily in the soft glow of the street light. She had no desire to leave the house, in fact, she had little desire to leave her bedroom over the past month save for class and the gym.
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
“Thai today?”
She froze as a feeling of deja vu washed over her. Only it wasn’t her old office and Reed wasn’t in the room laughing at their inside joke.
“What?” her roommate asked self-consciously from the doorway.
“Nothing.” Maya shook her head to clear the fog. “It’s nothing. Can we do Chinese instead?”
“Yeah, whatever,” she agreed. “Veggie lo mein and an egg roll for you?”
“Yeah, I’ll Venmo you my share.”
“Cool.” She turned and shut the door to her room leaving Maya alone again.
She looked at the page she had bookmarked with her finger and stared at it for a moment and another and another…
Shit.
She closed the book and laid it flat on her stomach. These weren’t the usual post-vacation, winter blues that eased as the temperatures began to rise. She looked up at the ceiling like it was a blank screen for her to project the memories now running through her mind. Last summer and winter break in Atlanta had been some of the greatest times in her life with her family, friends, and the addition of Reed. The memories were so warm, happy, and vibrant. A sharp contrast to her current situation in Philadelphia. It was no wonder she kept revisiting them.