In Lydia's opinion, the best kept secret at her college is the archery room. At the end of a hallway in the basement of the rec center, it is easily passed over by gym goers. The archery club only uses it twice a week, and the doors, though kept closed, remained unlocked otherwise. It is spacious with wood-toned marley floors and one long wall lined with mirrors. All in all, it is the perfect space to stretch and rehearse.
She loves her school, lest anyone think otherwise, but sometimes she wishes the nearest dance studio was less than a forty-minute bus ride away, not accounting for traffic.
It's only her second year, but Lydia is already taking junior and senior-level classes, thanks to advanced credit from high school. She relishes the intellectual challenge, and genuinely enjoys learning the advanced content. However, it also means she can't afford to travel for dance classes. So, she vows to make up for it by visiting the rec center twice instead of once a week.
Or, it was until Thursday of week two in the first semester of her second year. Lydia is completing her warm-up routine when a figure, decked in a garish combination of blue and orange, barges through the doors in the noisiest way possible.
"This place isn't booked, right?" the second guy asks.
"No," Lydia and the eyesore answer. Lydia fixes him with a glare, not that he seems to notice.
"There's nothing on today," Lydia affirms. Because she doubts just two guys alone would have booked the place at such short notice.
"Yes, see, we saw the schedule, Scott," guy #1 says. "It's free all of today."
Lydia turns away and returns to her routine. It is not as if she has never had to share the space before. The room was relatively unused, yes, but she was not the only one privy to its usual emptiness. She's been joined by other individuals, usually doing yoga, a workout routine, or some stretching like herself.
The difference is, those people do whatever they do quietly.
These guys however, use a portable speaker. Whichever company is making the one they have should be making headlines like Apple, because Lydia has never found one of those small things to be so loud.
The one called Scott at least has the decency to insist they take up the far corner of the room from Lydia. It's the other guy - lanky, baseball cap, orange sweater - who turns up their music without a second thought.
Lydia tries her best to ignore them, but it is hard when a. their music is so loud and rowdy, b. Orange Sweater's said article of clothing is so bright, and worn over a faded blue T-shirt (orange and blue? Not a good combination), and c. they are actually pretty good dancers, she'll give them that. She has never done hip hop or other street styles, but she can appreciate it. And Orange Sweater had some really good body rolls. Not that she noticed.
It happens again next week, both times Lydia is at the center. And the week after that. Lydia doesn't shy away from glaring at them, but they somehow never take the hint. It's getting on her nerves.
She imagines giving Orange Sweater a piece of her mind. After the first day, he starts showing up earlier than his friend Scott does. Lydia had to restrain herself from groaning out loud the first time that happened, but the thing is, he is well-behaved when he is on his own. He sits in the corner, looking at his phone, sometimes air drumming to whatever tune is in his head. But he doesn't make a sound. Not even when he pushes the doors open, or trek across the floor to his designated corner.
Ever so often, Lydia finds him watching her. She thinks she does anyway, she's never been able to catch his eyes in the mirror. Well, if he's trying to get a reaction from her, she refuses to give it to him.
