Out There

1. Andy

“There is no such thing as a soulmate…and who would want there to be? I don’t want half of a shared soul. I want my own damn soul.” -Rachel Cohn

Alone in her room on a Tuesday night, Anderson Cooper hit the final submit button on the purchase of her new stilettos.

Her face lit up with the confirmation screen, flashing a wide smile in her dark room. A small squeal passed through her lips and she clapped her hands together. Online shopping always gave her an adrenaline rush.

Satisfied with the highlighter yellow heels that would match her dress Friday night, she stowed her laptop on her black oak nightstand before slipping under the covers. Excitement pulsed through her veins as she imagined the party. At the end of every school year, the students convened together at a party they titled "Glow" to celebrate the end of another semester.

Trying to get situated, she almost didn’t notice her phone vibrating next to her Mac. Andy contemplated answering it, knowing that it was likely just Greg, reminding her of their test in Marketing at 8 AM.

Sighing, Andy tugged the charger cord until the phone slid from her nightstand onto the bed. Lazily sliding her finger to unlock her phone, she noticed that it was indeed Greg. She rolled her eyes at his message, giggling because of his childish use of “Z” and cloud emoji’s. It wasn’t hard to fall asleep after that.

In the morning she awoke slowly, as always. In the haze between being asleep and awake, getting out of bed seemed like her most daunting challenge. Andy’s alarm had rung twice and her roommate Kari had been begging her to turn it off.

She tugged off the covers and sat up with her feet dangling off the bed. The cold floor was an uncomfortable, jarring sensation for the bottom of her feet. A great appearance was vital to Andy, so getting ready took her longer than Miss USA.

She had a daily routine with little variation. Pee. Brush teeth. Curl hair. Foundation. Mascara. Eyeliner and shadow. Lip liner and lipstick. Picking out an outfit was the finishing touch on her list. It took time to find something to wear in her enormous collection of clothes, but she always looked like it was something she had thrown together in a pinch.

Andy didn’t do “bum.” She was always put together perfectly. There were never days that she slept in a pair of bunny pajamas or awoke with makeup smeared down her face. Well, there were a few times where that had happened after excessive partying.

She spent most of her time on her appearance. She reasoned it was because no matter what else there is about you: your appearance will always be noticed before anything else. People were drawn to the way she presented herself— stylish, the girl to be, and without a worry in the world.

She shuffled through her closet, narrowing down several options before she picked a winner. Before slipping on her knee-high brown boots, she let herself out of the bedroom and into the quiet of the common room.

Her heels echoed across the floor as she grabbed herself a water bottle for class and made sure that her keys fell neatly into the Michael Kors bag on the crook of her leather-clad elbow.

She had a feeling this test was going to kick her ass. Greg had been attempting to help her study for it all week, but try as she might, she couldn’t remember even half of the vocabulary for her marketing final.

The warm air gripped her in a tight embrace as she let herself out of her building. Greg stood patiently at the end of the sidewalk, waiting to walk her to class. The breeze should have ruffled his blonde hair, but instead it simply stayed put.

Andy giggled as she approached him, noting his goofy expression. She knew the first thing out of his mouth would be about the test.

“What’s the fashion capital of the US?” He said, offering her his elbow. She took it and rolled her eyes, refusing to answer.