Goddess of Room 124

Chapter 1

The next day, Liam didn't lose his job, and he was able to carry in boxes of books that Noah was unable to lift. Noah stood behind that cash register, stamping new books with the appropriate stickers. Every time Liam would pass through the doorway, Noah would look up, hoping it was the girl on the hunt for a new book to add to her collection. He was sure that with the amount of boxes still sitting on the sidewalk, clearly labeled "NEW BOOKS", would lure her in to take a quick peek at the new paperbacks. She never peered inside though. In fact, that last time he saw her, when she was sitting on the park bench, was the very last time he would ever see her again. Days passed and Noah would remain behind the register, watching the door. If he wasn't up front, the chime of the bell above the door would send him flying toward it. He was always sadly tricked.

Noah did not go into any deep depression or endure any mood swings, but a tiny piece of his heart this goddess took was now lost out in the world somewhere. A part of him was sad that she stopped coming to the bookstore. Maybe she found a nicer bookstore, with more books to keep her coming back, he thought. It sparked jealousy for the next person that gets to know that little information about the girl. It was all he knew about her though. The other part of him was angry at himself for never learning her name. If only I wasn't so shy, he said to himself, I bet she has a beautiful name.

A week later, after another day of work, he stared at the empty park bench while walking home. He imagined her sitting there with the last book she bought, munching on something from her brown bag. He could see her twirling her finger in her hair, but completely absorbed by the book's words. The image disappeared as suddenly as it formed. He sighed and hurried around the corner. His fingers were already looped around his keys in his pocket when he was coming closer to the sandy brown apartment complex. Just another corner and he could cross the parking lot. He wasn't expecting a full house of vehicles in the parking lot that cool afternoon since summer break meant people home for vacation. He was hoping he could cut through the lot easily, like he did every night after work, but before he could even step a foot on to the asphalt, he turned the corner and was blinded by lights of the patriotic array. Now, it's not every day that you come home and find multiple police cars and an ambulance sitting in the parking lot; however, Noah had seen this sight before.

A year and a half ago, the police were called for domestic violence in room 208, a few doors down from Noah's apartment. Someone finally called after countless nights of screaming and crying heard throughout the building. A boyfriend was arrested for beating his pregnant girlfriend after she came home each night without a job. The deadbeat was too lazy to go out and get a job himself, but he wasn't lazy enough to keep his hands to himself. He remembers peeking out his door in time to see two husky policemen hauling the boyfriend toward the stairs. He was thrashing around, but there was no possible way he would peel away from the two men. Noah caught a glance of his face before he was brought downstairs. He would never forget how much anger he saw in the man's eyes. Weeks after, the girlfriend moved away and room 208 was rented out by a nice couple with a cat who still seemed to cause a disturbance among residents. Now, yelling for the cat to shut up was the only commotion echoing through the two story building.

Something about this collection of emergency vehicles had Noah on edge though. There were way too many policemen around to say that this was a normal, routine call. He also noticed the amount of people outside, either peering down from the second floor or standing outside the barrier of cars. In the distance, Noah could see the back of Liam's head and thick neck. He ran over.

"Liam," he breathed, out of breath already by just a quick jog, "w-what's going on?"

Liam was looking forward; his large arms crossed against his bare chest. It seems that the commotion woke him from another nap through his shift at work. His face was visually tired, but also very grave and troubled. He didn't look at Noah's face when he spoke.

"They found a girl dead in room 124."

Noah went from winded to not breathing at all. A goddess had fallen off the face of the earth and now danced in the stars. Noah was sure that he and this girl never crossed paths; however, he felt that she had some significance in his life. There was a buzzing in his ears and he felt his stomach flop upside down. The people standing with them were talking quietly amongst themselves. An older woman was crying and so was a small child. A man was talking loud enough for Liam and Noah to hear.

"I wonder when they'll tell her parents," he said to the woman next to him, assumed to be his wife, "I heard she was only a sophomore in college."

"She was so beautiful and bright," the woman replied, "what a shame. I feel so terrible for her family."

Liam sighed and looked at Noah, "I'm going back to bed. I'll see you in the morning." Noah nodded and watched his roommate walk away. Soon after, Noah followed. The police and the ambulance pulled out moments later and the people scattered back to their apartments.

The next morning, Noah turned on the television in time to catch the story on the news. Her face was on his TV screen. The picture was forever burned into his mind. She was smiling back at his distraught face when the remote fell from his fingers to the floor. From her dark long hair to her rosy, pink lips, he felt that she was standing in front of him, handing him money for a book. Her name was Sophia Grey, she was 19, and she was the goddess that was taken away.

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Author's Notes: Well, there you have it. I suppose if you question on why it took so long to name Noah, while I was writing, I still didn't have a name for our shy hero.

Now finally to the end point of the chapter, it's weird to visualize later chapters that would like to include. But, of course, I did not make an outline before I started writing because I wanted to see how a chapter would play off. Whether or not I'll create an outline will be up to whether or not I want to keep writing. I'm never good with scheduling, especially when I decided it would be a "great" time to start writing a month before my senior year starts. But, who knows. We'll see.

If you have read through this all, thank you very much for allowing me to take some of your precious time.