"It's not that crucial, mom, I can handle it.", I tell my ever present mother as she rattles off reason after reason as to why I shouldn't stay on campus.
"Mom-" I sigh, "No, mom I-", I switch the cordless phone from one ear to the other as I pick a box out the trunk of my car resting it on my hip.
"Auden, honey stop interrupting me please," she cuts me off, "all I am trying to say is to be careful and call at least twice a week to let me know you're okay. Alright?" She finishes.
"Yes, I can agree to that." I huff in response rolling my eyes, although she can't see.
"Thank you for cooperating, well I'll let you go now, have fun. I love you!"
"I love you more, mom. Bye." With that I end our phone call and look up at the grey, cloud heavy sky and allow the feeling of freedom to wash over me.
••••••••••••••
As I enter the girls dormitories with another box on my hip, a pretty girl slightly bumps me and I apologize to which she does the same. She has twice as many boxes in her hands as I do and is capable of carrying her load better than I am.
I stand corrected as a box slips from her grip and lands with a thud to the dusty wooden floor.
"Oh, let me help you with that," I offer and set my item down to assist her.
"Thanks, man," she smiles up at me. Her shoulder length hair is shiny and the tiny freckles that litter her face give her a soft, innocent look. Except for the septum ring that dazzled in the light as we both got to our feet.
The air is somewhat awkward as I readjust the box precariously onto her arms.
"I'm Auden, by the way," I inform her, hoping she introduces herself as well.
"Wow, that's such an intricate name," she gushes. "Sorry, I bet you get that a lot."
"Ironically, no," I laugh. "Most people just think it's a mispronunciation of 'Autumn', so you kind of learn to roll with it, but thank you so much."
Laughing she says, "I feel you, but I don't feel you, ya know? Anyway, I'm Ydstmenia."
Without noticing, a confused look flashed across my face and I could feel my cheeks heat.
"I'm sorry, could you pronounce it again?" I flush.
She tosses her head back and laughs, "No, no it's totally cool, people always butcher my name, but it's pronounced, EATS-MEN-EE-UH, in that order."
"Eats-men-ee-uh?" I pathetically attempt.
"Exactly," she continues to laugh, "well I'll see you around as you continue to practice that, okay?"
"Deal," I give her a final smile before I enter my room.
The room is about 13x20 in feet and the walls are a hideous beige-y blue color. There's a quaint window on the left side of the room allowing some sunlight to light up the drab atmosphere. Two elevated twin beds sit on opposite sides of the wall, both empty. It smells like mildew since no one has been here for a while, I make a mental note to invest in a couple of candles the next time I make a run to the store. The floors are wooden just like the rest of the house and there isn't as much dust as I expected there to be.
Setting my box down on the left sided bed, I exit the room and go back to my Altima to retrieve more boxes. I kind of wish my mother would have dropped me off, but she's so busy as it is what with her catering business finally taking off the slightest bit. It was a little bittersweet to not have the nostalgic parent-student college send off.
I finish transporting all the boxes to my room in the next 30 minutes, my back aching, me literally feeling like an old woman.
I'm lying on the bare bed resting my nearly broken spine, when I hear the creaky door open and a see a girl stumble in with colorful organization crates.
"Ohmygosh, hi!" She shouts as soon as she spots me, sitting up from my exhausted state.
"Are you my roommate? You must be my roommate, wow, it's so nice to meet you, I'm Casey, gosh, this is so cool!" She rambles on.
"Um, hi", I begin, "I'm Auden, it's nice to meet you, too."
She takes me by surprise when she actually hugs me before setting her crate down.
"I'm just gonna go get the rest of my stuff, care to join? Maybe we can get to know each other a little more!" She excitedly offers at me with a one thousand watt smile.
"Erm..." I stutter, "well, I was just-"
Catching my unease with her offer she says,"Oh, no matter, you're right, rest you look absolutely whipped!" She interrupts my awful attempt at an excuse.
As she exits the room with a bounce in her step, I lie back down and close my eyes. Oh, boy was I in for a ride.
••••••••••••••••••••••
In the past couple hours I've known Casey, she's successfully decorated her right side of the room with pinboards, twinkle lights, and posters and pictures of her friends. Along with that she's told me all about her dog, boyfriend Stephen and how much she misses her hometown.
I try to retain as much information as possible without getting lost in all the details and nod my head and ask small questions inbetween her extravagant intakes of air.
Casey hasn't asked me a single question to which I'm quite glad, because I didn't want to divulge into all the details of her existence on earth, the way she has.
"Well, I'm starving, do you want to grab a bite at one of the restaurants around here?" Casey offers.
"Sure", I quickly oblige. Honestly, I'm glad she offered to get food first my stomach was beginning to turn in on itself with hunger.
"Awesome, let me just take a look at myself first", she states before turning to the mirror she attached to the wall along with the thousands of other items that found themselves pinned, taped, and plastered to the wall.
Casey's long blonde hair rested against her black sweatshirt in loose waves. Tying her hair into a bun, she rolls her jeans up twice before slipping on some silver Toms amongst the large array of shoes lying on the floor.
I consider giving myself a look over as well and step before the mirror to assess the damage. My thick curly hair was restrained in a side bun, stray pieces rimming my light tan skin. The eyeliner I had applied to my eyes earlier in the day had smeared a little but I swiped it away with my ring finger.
Lacing up my Converse I turn to Casey who places her hand on my hair.
"I am in absolute love with your hair, Auden." She says her eyes concentrated on the strands she plays with.
"Thank you," I tell her feeling a small boost of confidence from within. If only she knew about all the brushes, combs, and pins that I've lost and broken in an attempt to combat my hair into a decent style.
Laughing at my thoughts, we head out the door in search of food.
•••••••••••••••••••
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-j.w✨
KAMU SEDANG MEMBACA
Finding Space
Fiksi Penggemar"Don't act like you don't want me," Zayn says slowly backing us into a wall. "You like when I talk to you like this: controlling you. I see it in the way your breathing", he whispers, "changes", he runs his finger down my throat, setting my body ab...
