(Cast of Characters)
The Roommates: Ruby and Jane
The Friends: Celia (Ruby’s childhood best friend),
Jack (Jane’s friend as of the first day of their English class)
[Celia; September 12, the library]
Ruby plops down on the beanbag next to me, her sigh of exasperation perfectly timed with the cushion’s sounds of protest. I look up from the same page I’ve been staring at for the past 20 minutes and turn to her.
“You’ve got that much work, huh?”
“Hmm? Well yes…but no…it’s Jane.”
“Again? Damn, it’s been weeks, Ruby. Has she really not warmed up to you?”
“No! I swear she acts like I’m the cockroach that crawled out from the floorboards and onto her clothes just to ruin her day. She hates me, Celia.”
I take one last glance at my reading before closing my laptop and setting it aside. There’s no point keeping it open in the hopes of returning to it when Jane’s the topic of conversation.
“I mean she won’t even say ‘hi.’ How hard is that? And how are we supposed to get to know each other and live together for an entire year without even a hello once in a while?”
“You don’t have to get to know your roommate. You can just exist at the same time in the same place and not actually, you know…talk to each other.”
“That is not how my college experience should be. I was promised a built-in-best-friend roommate! Not someone who hates my guts!”
“Well hey, I’m still your friend, even if we’re not roommates. I’m sorry, Ruby. Just try not to let her get to you this much, ‘kay?”
I lean my head on Ruby’s shoulder, but I can tell she hardly heard me. Her attention is focused elsewhere – on Jane, it’s always on Jane. Jane Warner’s parasitic venom has infected my poor, innocent friend and the semester just started. I take a few strands of Ruby’s box-dyed-red hair and twist them around my fingers, wondering which Jane moment Ruby’s currently hooked on. If I know her at all, she’s probably replaying move-in day, when they first met. I can practically quote that day from memory.
[Move-in day; Ruby and Jane’s Dorm room]
After what feels like an eternity and a half, Ruby’s feet finally hit the landing of the sixth floor of her home for the next year, Cosby Dormitory. She quickly glimpses 604’s shimmering digits on the second door to her left. She’d been imagining this moment for months – opening the door to her new refuge and new best friend – but then her suitcase catches on the worn carpet, propelling her body forward into door 604. A door that was left partially open, leaving Ruby no choice but to end up face down on the floor. I did not sign up for a meet-and-greet with dormitory carpet. She counts three loose threads before someone clears their throat.
“Um I’m sorry but, who are you exactly?”
Ruby takes a breath to gather herself and then pops to her feet.
“I’m Ruby! I’m–”
“In the wrong room.”
“What? No? Isn’t this room 604?”
“Yes, which happens to be my room, so presumably, not yours.”
“Oh! You must be my roommate then!”
Ruby looks hopefully into her new roommate’s eyes, finding nothing there but exasperation.
“This can not be happening right now. I was promised a single,” she mutters.
The Most Unenthusiastic Roommate Ever whips out an iPhone from her back pocket and goes to war with her keyboard. Well that’s rude! Ruby watches as she type-walks her way over to an already made bed, overflowing with stuffed animals. I bet she stole those from children just to see them cry. Ruby glances over to the other side of the room. There’s literally another bed here, how did she convince herself they let her have a single? The silence in the room becomes a suffocating weight on Ruby’s shoulders, who still stands at the threshold. She glances again at her roommate.
“You never told me your name.”
Roommate looks up slowly from her phone. “Jane.”
Prying that one word from her, Ruby officially gives up on building a friendship for the day and turns to her bags.
Jane watches this unwanted intruder, named Ruby apparently, pick her suitcase off the floor and carry it to the other side of the room. With Ruby’s back to her, Jane can pass judgement in peace. Ruby’s hair cascades to around the middle of her back, and true to her name, is dyed a bright red. She brushes a few of these ruby strands behind her ear, revealing her side profile. For someone already on my nerves, she’s not bad to look at. Jane thinks. But it doesn’t matter, once I talk to the Student Housing Office, I won’t have to deal with her again.
[Jack; October 27, English class]
“Jane? Yo, Jane, are you listening to me?”
“What, Jack?”
“Jeez, I was just trying to make sure you heard me, you can put the fangs away.”
Jane scrubs at her face with one hand. “Nothing, it’s just my…roommate.”
“Her? What’d she do this time?”
“I was just thinking about when she barged into my room – when we first met.”
“Well, you don’t need to give that disaster any more thought. Did you hear what I said about the party?”
“Party…?”
Clearly not. “Yeah, the Halloween party Alpha Omega Sigma Beta is hosting on Friday. I thought you’d want to go with me, I can talk to Noah about getting us in for free.”
“Oh. Yeah sure, sure. What time?”
“I’ll swing by yours around 10:15?”
“So specific. Sounds good, and don’t worry about coming up to my room, I’ll meet you outside.”
“Hiding something from me, are you?”
“Haha, very funny. I’ve got Calc soon but I’ll talk to you later!”
Before I could respond, Jane waved quickly and jogged down the hallway. I shook my head in mock exasperation. It was becoming harder to hold the girl’s attention these days.
[Ruby; October 31st, Alpha Omega Sigma Beta house]
“This cannot be happening,” is the first thought going through my head when Jane steps into my line of sight. She stares at me as I stand in my poor excuse for a witch costume – Celia told me about this party this morning so give me a break, okay? I was supposed to be enjoying my little “I’m not like other girls because I’m wearing pants” moment, but then she showed up and now I just feel silly. Instead of feeling hot and sexy, which I was a few minutes ago, my confidence took the first train out of here as soon as Jane’s eyes found me. In front of her, I’m just a girl in a witch hat, which is very much not cool. And she looks really good because of course she does. Based on her own all-black ensemble, and headband with a small black hat attached, she also went for a wicked witch. And it’s working for her, which is really, really annoying, and why the first words out of my mouth happen before I can think better of them.
“Are you kidding me right now?!”
Jane blinks at me. “I’m sorry?”
“I can’t go anywhere without running into you, and I’m just trying to enjoy my time here. You think I want to keep running into you? I wanted a roommate that I could spend time with, and when that didn’t happen, I wanted to escape my dorm and have some fun, but apparently that can’t happen either.”
“Hi to you too, Ruby. Jane looks me up and down. “Nice costume, by the way.”
As she continues to look at me, my arms start to tingle. Which is definitely a symptom of anger and not something else, and I’m definitely not a little bit tipsy right now.
“You know what? I’m not letting your snide comments get to me. I am SO over you, Jane. Not that I was under you…or want you under me…you know what I mean! I don’t care what you think.” Okay, maybe I had more to drink than I thought.
Now it’s my turn to stare as I wait for Jane to respond. It feels like three lifetimes have passed before she does. One side of her lips curl up.
“Geez, Ruby, learn to take a compliment. You look cute in your costume, that’s all.”
Jane takes a step closer, and I begin to worry that we might have to share breath.
“And what if I care what you think?”
“You- wait, what?”
“God, you can be so frustrating.”
Then she leans in, and our lips meet for the first time.
