Let's play House

37

I cried like a mad woman as I wandered around the campus. Leo had used me and humiliated me in front of strangers and my roommates. I had hoped to come across the varsity shuttles and jump to just die. I prayed that it stayed night to hide my face from people and myself forever. How cold could one be to just hurt another and not be bothered by it?

I wanted to call my mother and cry, but I knew she was never a good listener. I could call my father; he would caress my tears and whisper everything I wanted to hear. He would call me an angel... a princess. But to do that, I would hurt him more than I was. My pain was his.

I stopped and clutched my chest in pain. I wished I could step outside my pain, toss it where it would never find another person, unless it was Leo and his friends. I hated him, despised him... My eyes darted around, surprised where I had wandered to. I had walked out of the school gate from Gate C, and I was only with one shoe. I had no recollection of how I lost the other. I panicked at my surroundings. Gate C area wasn't the safest place. I turned around to go back, only to realize that I didn't know where I had thrown my purse. Without my student ID, I couldn't swipe to get back inside the university. I was stranded in the middle of the night with no phone or identification.

Tears started to flow again. I felt like I was being punished for sins I had no idea of, even if I wasn't the most righteous human being. I believed I did deserve leniency.

Still, students in groups walked by, and that provided me with a temporary sense of security until I was in the dark alone again. I knew that just crying wouldn't get me out of there. I dried my tears and started to find a solution. I looked around, mostly were the cheap hostels for students who didn't get school accommodation or afford the other secure hostels at Gate A. Then I recalled the flyer Eric had given me for his weekend party. It had the name of his hostel. I started to walk with newfound hope, searching for Nova Hostels. I found it; it was the tallest building, although it seemed like one day it would be blown off by the wind. From the outside, I pressed all the buzzers, hoping one was the right Eric.

Most ignored me, but there was a girl who was sympathetic to me and came down to open the door for me.

"There are several Eriks who live here, which one are you looking for?" She asked as I walked in.

"He does Medicine... I guess," I said, and she glared at me like I was crazy.

"You mean the one who is this tall..." She lifted her hand, "Handsome and soft-spoken?" She asked.

I didn't know how to tell her that I didn't know this guy to know he was soft-spoken other than we just seemed to bump into each other randomly.

I nodded, hoping he was the one.

She smiled and asked me to follow her. The stairs were hectic, and I couldn't imagine doing this daily. I thought school hostels were bad; I was wrong.

We stopped at the eighth floor at a door written 8C. She knocked, and I waited to be rejected and spend the night outside. The door was opened, and Eric peeped from it. His eyes widened when he saw me and my current state.

He took a step forward and revealed his naked torso, "What happened?" He asked.

"See you around, girl," the girl said.

"Thanks," I whispered.

"Do you know what happened, Arianna?" Eric asked the girl.

She just shook her head and yawned. She seemed very exhausted. I watched her leave, and then Eric let me in. I stepped inside his room with no expectation whatsoever.

"The party is on Saturday," he stated while I was still shocked by how his room seemed organized and clean. I realized he shared his room with someone else who was not around.

"I had nowhere else to go," I informed him.

The concern he had initially masked his face, "How did you end up here?" He asked.

I sighed before narrating to him everything and waited to hear him laugh, saying he was right.

He stared at me softly, "Have a seat first," he requested. "Don't beat yourself too much; it is his loss," he comforted, though I didn't find meaning in his words, how Leo had lost anything. He won the election, has his girlfriend, he is not hurting like me and didn't have to walk around with one shoe like me.

"I am sorry I have to dump all of this on you after how I usually treat you," I said.

"Treat me?" He sounded surprised, "I have always considered our interactions as how friends taunt each other."

"When did we become friends?" I asked.

"From the first day we met," he said, putting his books away and sitting on his study table.

"Mmh...!" I sighed.

"I have ordered food; if you need a bath, the shower is hot," he offered.

Do I stink?

I shook my head, "I am okay." I had never been a shower enthusiast.

"Thanks again," I felt the need to assure him I was grateful.

"Do you drink?" He asked.

"I do," I lied. He could tell, but he pretended to believe me.

He pulled out a bottle of vodka from under the bed and party cups. I watched him pour the liquor into the cups. The moment I tasted the nasty liquid, I immediately spit it out. It tasted horrible.

"You don't have to drink it; I was only trying to help you relax. We can wait for the food instead."

I shook my head, "It tastes horrible, but I have to drink it."

He checked his phone, "I will go get the food," he said and left. His absence gave me the courage to be nosy. I stood and walked to his study table. It seemed like he was reading when I came. I searched his books and found nothing interesting.

His room was just flat, books and a bed, nothing interesting to discover.

He returned with the food. "Did you snoop?" He asked.

"Nope," I said.

"You are a bad liar."

"I hope someday to be a better one," I said, thinking of Leo. I still felt this urge to hurt him more than he did to me.

He placed the food on the table, and we started eating as I slowly tolerated the taste of the vodka until I was drunk enough. Eric offered me his roommate's bed while he chose to continue studying. I drifted deep into sleep, knowing this might be my last time in this university.