Someone That You're With
Hey everybody! This is another one shot based on the Nickelback song of the same name, a little bit of the song '27 Jennifers' by Mike Doughty, and some of my experiences from my first couple weeks of college. Harper's character is based on my roommate Daaren, the same one who wrote my story Beowulf: Strange Crime. You should check it out, it's definitely not what you're expecting. It's apparently better than mine, which is still the only story I have that's never gotten a review... but that's not the point here. Another new story, enjoy this!
Disclaimer: I own an ottoman that I've been using to store my spare change. I do not, however, own anything previously copyrighted in this story. Also, Rob Thomas is made of 'Wonderful'. That is all.
"Alright Alex, we have to get back to the shop. You have fun now!" Theresa Russo called as she and her husband Jerry left their only daughter in her first college dorm room. She seemed to be the first one there, as her sophomore roommate, a girl she'd never met named Christiane, was nowhere to be seen, and she'd been texting Harper on the way, so she knew she wasn't there yet.
Having some time to herself, Alex threw in her headphones, singing quietly while getting her possessions unpacked. After around an hour, she'd finally finished. She was in the process of rolling her eyes as she received another pointless text from her old high school friend Michael, who'd just gotten the ability to text and felt the need to do so constantly, when the door opened, and Harper walked in with her mother. They greeted each other, then Alex helped them carry her things up to the room, which was luckily only on the second floor. Of course, Alex didn't feel that lucky when she was holding up Harper's bulky TV while the other girl searched through seemingly every pocket on the dress she'd made that was practically covered in them looking for her key, but at least she hadn't had to climb more stairs with it.
Eventually, the key was found. Harper decided not to unpack immediately, so they instead got their laptops registered on the university's wireless and went to the nearby Wal-Mart to find a TV cable and a bike lock for Harper. When they got back, Harper trying to figure out her new lock while Alex checked her e-mail, their third roommate finally showed up. Christiane and a boy, who she soon learned was her boyfriend Graham, walked in with a cart and started moving her stuff in. Harper returned shortly after, and the three girls finally all met each other.
The next day, which happened to be a Saturday, Alex and Harper walked down the main street of town, stopping into a few stores on the way, just checking things out. Later on, they came back to attend one of the three mandatory freshman meetings of the weekend, this first one on diversity. Beforehand, they were meant to gather in their residence hall's lobby. While waiting, they discovered that there were mailboxes, about the size of safety deposit boxes, were arranged along the wall of the room. The girls resolved to check there box, room 208, when they returned.
Soon enough, they were back in the lobby, Harper turning her key in the box's lock. She then pulled out a small square of paper, which declared that it was a package notification for a 'Mitchie Torres.'
Alex turned to Harper. "I didn't think Mitchie came up here." She stated, confused.
"She didn't. I saw on her Facebook she said she was going to community college. Look, she had her middle name on there too, this Mitchie's got a different middle name. It must be a different one."
They took the slip to the lobby desk, but that got them no closer to discovering this new Mitchie's identity, as the worker simply set it down for later and thanked them. Their confusion didn't last long though, as once they got back to the room, Harper got on the university website to search for the place to register her bike, but got distracted talking to Christiane. Meanwhile, Alex found a button on the page that led to a directory. She clicked the button over to 'Students only', and typed in Mitchie's name. She was then astonished to learn that the girl she was searching for lived just one room down the hall in room 209. When she thought back though, she realized that she had yet to see their neighbors, and made it her goal from then on to find out what this new Mitchie looked like.
Three nights later, the first Wednesday of her college career, Alex got her wish. She'd been playing computer games and listening to music online while Harper studied, when she decided she was hungry. There was a market in there building, though she was hesitant to call it conveniently placed, as it was through the lobby, down a hall, down some stairs, and around a block of offices. This time she decided her hunger was enough to warrant the walk, and she headed out, intending to pick up some of the dollar a bag potato chips Harper had told her about finding there.
After torturing the clerk by paying with some half-dollar coins Harper had insisted she take, which the woman clearly had no idea how to handle, she had her salt and vinegar chips she loved, and a bag of barbecue, as they were cheap, and you can never go wrong with barbecue chips. On her way back, she noticed a group of girls headed into Mitchie's room. The other girl living there had recently left, as a sign on the door declared, so Mitchie was the only remaining occupant. Thus, when Alex noticed one of the group putting a key in the door, she knew she'd found the one she'd been seeking.
She was entranced as the girl opened the door, let her friends in, and closed it behind her. The sound of the closing door snapped her out of it, and she hurried to her room.
"Harper, Harper, guess what?" She shook the other girl's shoulder as she sat down next to her, ignoring the fact that she was still studying.
Harper slowly sat her book down, turning to Alex with a raised eyebrow. "Yes?" She questioned, slightly irritated.
"I finally saw that Mitchie girl that lives next door! She was letting a bunch of her friends in, and you wouldn't believe her! She is, like, the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I so have to talk to her more."
"Alright then, go on over there." Harper spoke calmly, turning back to her book.
"What? I can't just 'go over there'!"
"Why not? You wanna talk to her, go talk to her."
"Well, I mean, she's got a bunch of friends over. I'm sure she's busy. I'll talk to her some other time."
"Alright then, suit yourself." Harper resumed her studying.
Alex was on edge constantly for the next few days, always either hoping she'd spot Mitchie in some random place to strike up a conversation, or scheming up a way to just go over there and talk to her without seeming too creepy and desperate. Finally, after much thought, she'd decided she was just going to go borrow something from her. Then they'd have to talk. The only problem there? They didn't need anything. She was at a dead end again, she complained to Harper.
"Just ask her for some milk."
"Why milk?"
"People always need milk, milk is normal, she's not gonna suspect you're secretly in love with her just because you asked her for some milk." Harper had known of Alex's attraction to girls since she'd stopped over to say hi back in their freshman year of high school to find Alex making out with her neighbor, a girl named Miranda. The two of them hadn't lasted long, but Harper's support of Alex had never faded.
Alex nodded. "OK, I will." She walked out their open door, made the short walk down the hall, and stood outside Mitchie's door for a good five minutes. Finally though, she gathered her courage, and knocked. Soon enough, Mitchie answered the door. Alex asked her for the milk they 'needed', but discovered Mitchie didn't have any extra. They had a nice, albeit brief, conversation though, so Alex considered the mission a success.
Over the next couple weeks, she continued periodically 'borrowing' things from Mitchie, eventually moving on to just talking with the girl. She even told her the story of how she and Harper had been slightly creeped out by her name upon receiving her mail.
One night when Alex went to talk to her, she was surprised to find that Mitchie wasn't home. She knew she didn't have a class, as they'd discussed schedules just last week, so she had no idea where her new friend had gone.
She was on edge again, constantly glancing out the door when she finished a level in her game. They closed the door at 1 AM, when Harper and Christiane had gone to bed. Alex knew she wouldn't be able to sleep until she saw Mitchie was fine, so she didn't even bother trying.
Nearly an hour later, she heard the turning of a key out in the hallway. She hurried to the peephole in their door, looking out. What she saw disturbed her. Mitchie was there, along with one of the girls from her group of friends she'd let in before. They seemed to be clumsily flirting back and forth, before the other girl accidentally stumbled into Mitchie. They laughed, then kissed.
Alex slowly backed away from the door, making sure not to make a sound. She slipped onto her bed, just lying there, knowing she'd never get to sleep now. Harper sat up and walked over, having been unable to sleep herself. She hugged Alex, who told her everything. She felt somewhat broken, finding out that the one she'd been chasing for weeks already had someone.
"It's not all bad," Harper reassured her, rubbing her back, "at least now you know she does like girls, and if they ever break up, you can be her friend who's right there for her, and maybe end up with her." Alex looked up from her shoulder, mumbled her thanks, and turned over to sleep. Now feeling exhausted, Harper also headed back to her bed, both of them falling asleep quickly.
Alex took Harper's advice to heart, getting to know Mitchie better and hanging out with her as much as possible over the next couple weeks, her crush growing all the while. Then Mitchie introduced her to Caitlyn, who apparently had been Mitchie's best friend through all of high school, and lived just a couple buildings away. Alex immediately recognized her as the one who'd kissed Mitchie. She suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable, not knowing how to act while stuck between her crush and her crush's girlfriend. It wasn't helping that it seemed like Mitchie was taking every opportunity to flirt with her. Alex knew that couldn't be the case though, so she assumed she must be so tense even her mind had turned against her. She finally got a break from the torment when Mitchie got up to go to the bathroom.
"She really likes you, you know." Caitlyn spoke, shaking Alex out of her thoughts.
Thinking she clearly meant as her new friend, Alex responded. "Yeah, I really like her too."
"Well then?"
"Well then what?"
"Well then why is it taking so long for you to ask her out? It's only, like, all I've heard about for the past month."
"What? But... I mean... She's dating you!"
"Huh? Where'd you get that idea?"
"I saw you guys kissing outside her room one night."
Caitlyn laughed. "Oh you totally got the wrong idea. I love Mitch, but not like that. I've got a boyfriend. We just kinda get a bit flirty when we're drunk."
"I've noticed." Alex grumbled. "So you two really aren't dating?"
"No way! It would never work anyway, she can't stop talking about you long enough to focus on anything else."
"She really likes me that much?" Alex asked, a large smile growing on her face.
"You sure are full of questions, ain't you?" Caitlyn watched the bathroom door handle turn. "Why don't you ask her yourself?"
Mitchie stepped out of the bathroom, Alex quickly standing, walking over to her, and kissing her back into the door she'd just closed, Mitchie slowly sliding down it as they continued. "I knew washing your hands was good, but with those kinda rewards, I may have to do it more often." She spoke, slightly dazed, while still sitting on the ground against her door.
"I hope you do. I don't date dirty girls." Alex told her.
"Wait... are you asking me out?"
"Are you saying yes?"
Mitchie kissed her again. "Absolutely. Although I don't believe you don't like dirty girls." She responded, whispering the end into Alex's ear, giving the other girl the slightly dazed look she'd just recovered from.
"Hello, lovebirds! Still here!" Caitlyn broke their moment, and they both stood, smiling widely at each other.
Caitlyn lowered her voice so they couldn't hear her. "I am so awesome." She slightly pumped her fist.
I recently battled a food vending machine. I had four quarters, but it only took two of them. So I turned to the water vending machine next to it to get some different quarters. I put them in, pushed the change return button, and got nothing back. So I talked to the lady at the lobby desk. I filled out a form and got my fifty cents. Then I went back and traded my roommate my four quarters for a dollar bill. The machine wouldn't take it. It was an old, beat up bill, so I traded him for a new one, but still got nothing. Between us, we had enough in nickels and dimes, and they worked. I got my bag of Cheetos, and declared that they 'taste like victory'. You know what else tastes like victory? Reviews. I'm feelin' hungry. ~SGM