Dorm Room 210 [Original]

Dorm Room 210: Girls and Hope

Liar. Liar, liar liar, dress on fire!

"I really love it," I say quickly, patting the dress where it stops just above my knees. "I think we're done here."

"Don't you want shoes with that?"

"I have boots," I reply. "But no, this is great. It's really great..."

When I walk back to my dorm, bag with the dress in hand, Noah sits by the desk, papers in front of him.

"Hey," I say as I hang the dark grey dress up with caution.

He nods.

I get right to it. "They don't know anything."

"They?"

"Nicole and Rachel. Although I said I had a date but didn't give them much detail about it."

"What did you tell them?"

"I told them I had a date with someone from my class."

"Okay. I hope you know what you're doing," Noah says, and leans against his desk with his arms folded and the desk light on.

"It should be fine." I glance at the closed curtains before pulling on my coat. It's not too cold, but April's weather approaches faster in a dorm with no heater. "I think I'll wear boots instead of heals."

Noah shrugs. "You got a dress, that's the main thing. What happens on Friday happens." He moves to sit at his desk and taps on the paper in front of him, his brows creasing in the middle. "For the assignment, why a corset?"

I look down at the rough sketch that would make no sense to anyone besides the two of us. I swallow down the nervous as I reach to trace the markings. Noah's hand lays inches away from my fingertips. "Um, it's one of my favourite designs to do. I made one for a high school project and I was obsessed ever since." I curl my hand back in the coat. "Is it too much?"

"Not at all," he says quickly, taking a pencil and circling the top half of the corset. "You seem to know what you're doing. We'll leave it as it is."

"Don't you want to add some of your own personal touches to it? I feel like we're doing this my way." I'm not comfortable taking the lead.

He laughs like I told him a cheesy joke. "Just wait until we get the go from the professor. You'll be hearing my opinions soon enough."

I stay beside him until we finish the basic ideas. He rips out a clean sheet of paper and writes out the important parts of the key points, making small illustrations to go with it. "Add this to the prompt task so we won't forget."

"Saves us from spending the extra ten minutes. Hopefully we get to leave early next week."

"I don't see why not," he says, and packs up, passing me back my book. "We are proactive in class."

I laugh."I wouldn't say all the time."

Noah packs up in silence while I play with my phone. I want to keep talking to him, get comfortable with easy conversation, but each time I go to open my mouth, the tornado in my head protests, and the sounds I make turn into chocked gasps. When Noah turns around, my mouth is too dry to close.

For some reason, he ignores it. "Nicole will be on your arse by Monday to ask about the date." He scoffs. "You better come up with a story, yeah?"

"Oh." I blink and my mouth chooses to loosen up. I move to sit in the middle of my bed, rearranging the coat to get more comfortable. "I didn't think that far. Do you think she'll ask you anything?"

Noah tilts his head. "I have nothing to hide." He chuckles to himself. "Well, that's mostly a lie. I'm not part of that problem."

"They'll ask questions, Noah. What am I supposed to do? Lie to them more?" A sigh escapes me when he turns the other way. "I can't keep lying to them. Friends don't lie to each other."

"You're wrong to believe that," he says and runs his fingers through his hair. "Everyone lies. It's part of our nature."

"That doesn't make it okay." I hug myself tighter. "I can't believe I lied to them. They'll never forgive me when they find out."

The light turns off, darkening the room, despite the evening sun hiding behind the curtains. Noah grabs a jacket from his closet, and with his bag, heads towards the door. I bite my lip. "Was it something I said?"

"Nothing," he says, and opens the door. "I just have a few important things to do. I'll see you later, yeah?" He ducks his head low and closes the door behind him before I had the chance to think of a reply.

I spend the rest of the early afternoon typing to some of my professors, and googling something as ridiculous as funny cats. My eyes glance up to the door more often than I want them to, hoping someone would come in. But Nicole's at her class and Rachel is somewhere else.

I spend a couple of hours with them and all I want is to spend more time with them.

I must be deprived.

I straighten my posture when I receive a message from Tracy asking to see me tomorrow about room arrangements. My heart beats frantically in my chest, but I text her back confirming it'll be fine.

Once the time hit four, I made my way to my class, all the while my mind screaming at me for everything I've ever done wrong.