Trying to negotiate with the higher-ups to get Richter to stay my roommate after that research project was difficult, but definitely worth it. (I'm not going to say how I pulled it off, but I will tell you that it didn't involve threats or bribes.) You learn so much more about a person when you actually live with them instead of just seeing them for a few hours every day.
Having Richter as a roommate was... interesting at first. Seriously, he had Instant Waking Skills! Every day, he'd be awake at 6:30 like clockwork. In fact, his not waking up on schedule was the only way to tell if he was sick, since he'd hide his symptoms and claim that he was fine till the cows came home. As for me... I'm pretty sure that I would sleep till noon if someone didn't wake me up. Maybe even 1:00, if I had a rough night. I was a heavy sleeper...
This is probably going to sound completely melodramatic and come from nowhere, but sometimes I wonder if Richter had those "skills" beaten into him. With the way they were treating him before I came along, I wouldn't be surprised. I think it might be safe to say that anything I didn't put into his head was beaten into him. It would explain why he was so skittish in the beginning... It's a depressing conclusion to draw, but it's possible.
Oh, I'm sure Richter's been telling you about how I always took care of him and how I always did this that and the other thing for him. He really doesn't know how much he did for me. He was like a big brother to me.
For example... I wasn't perfect and I don't think I will be any time soon. I would get frustrated, just like everyone else. I was just really, really good at holding it back till I settled some dispute or politely declined to do someone's homework for them. (Everyone used me as a mediator during quarrels... I don't like watching people fight, so I'd be willing to help sort it out, but after so many...) Unfortunately, I'd often end up blowing up in Richter's face after enough buildup. But he was pretty much the only person I could do that in front of, and he always handled it really well... It felt good to have a shoulder to cry on when I couldn't keep it in any longer. (Or a chest, when he started getting taller.) After my emotional outbursts, Richter would figure out a logical solution. Basically, a Richter solution. And you know what? Those solutions worked most of the time! Why can't Richter see that he did things for me, too?
Speaking of logical solutions... Richter's logic kept me grounded. I'm sure that, if he didn't bark at me to wake me up every one in a while, I would have floated off into space! (Not literally, but you know what I'm saying, right?) Then you could REALLY say I had a few screws loose. Sure, courage may be the magic that turns dreams into reality, but you have to be IN reality first!
There was this one time- we'd been roommates for about a year, so I think I was thirteen and he was fifteen- I had an absolutely horrible day. I don't want to have to go into detail, so I'll just say that it involved some very personal insults directed at both me and at Richter (mostly at me, for a change). I tried to talk the bully out of his attacks, but I wasn't succeeding. I'm pretty sure that, if a teacher hadn't intervened, I would have adhered to my principle of standing up to people that gave me trouble and knocked him out on the spot. I'll only let you abuse me and those I care about for so long before it becomes too much, you know. I managed to hold it in for the rest of the day.
Then, as most things under pressure will do, I erupted. I was just sitting down in the room I shared with Richter and doing my homework, when something reminded me of the more hurtful things that boys said. I put my head down, clenched my teeth, ran through all my mantras in my head (yes, including "courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality")... anything to keep from just randomly blowing up in front of Richter. I must have made a funny noise or twitched, because Richter came over to where I was sitting. (At that time, having my head down was practically my standard sleeping position, so Richter normally tried to wake me once or just let me be.) "Aster, are you alright?"
Poor, poor Richter had no idea what was coming. I slowly turned to look at him, still trying to restrain myself. "Richter, I..." All I had to do was open my mouth for my composure to slip... well, in this case, it was more like it smashed. It had the guts to take my rationality with it, too. "I can't stand them anymore, Richter! It's like they're starting fights on purpose! All those kids do is fight, fight, talk dirty about each other, fight, and then talk dirty about each other again! And if they're not fighting, they're stirring up problems about a bunch of other stupid things! And they all come to me about it. I'm tired of this nonsense! Why can't they handle their problems themselves every once in a while?"
To someone looking in from a distance, Richter might have appeared stone-faced as always. But I could see that I might have- no, that I definitely freaked him out with my outburst. I couldn't just stop myself there, oh no. I just had to cut Richter off when he tried to say something and keep going. "And you! You're about to say, 'I'm sorry,' aren't you! Don't even go there, because you haven't done anything wrong!" Even forgiveness sounds like a condemnation when the person forgiving you is screaming like a banshee. "Have I ever told you how much I hate it when you start getting really, really negative? When you go on and on about all the things that are supposedly wrong with you or something you've done? It's not necessary at all, and... and..."
Yeah, I was finished now. I melted into a mess of tears when it finally sank in that I turned on Richter for no real reason. Was that a little fear in his eyes? Good work, Aster! I swear, for every lesson I gave him, I must have given him three more complexes to go with them. I grabbed Richter and squeezed him tight. He didn't move at all. I should have invested in an actual stressball so that I didn't have to get Richter in a death grip every time something really bothered me.
It took me a few minutes to realize that Richter was trying to shake some sense back into me. "Aster, calm down!" I sputtered something that caused Richter to stop growling and start barking. "Aster! Calm down! NOW!" That time I decided to just shut up for a bit. If Richter was yelling at me, I was way out of line. He stopped shaking me. "About those kids... have you ever actually tried just refusing to help them? I think you could get away with it. They'd get the hint after a while. You don't need to be a slave for the peace of the student body. That's just ridiculous." Leave it to Richter to point out the obvious to me when it flew over my head.
I finally was capable of speaking like a normal person. "Thanks, Richter... Thank you for putting up with all that. I guess I really should just let them work it out themselves..."
Richter had his mind on something else. "As for what you said about me..."
Oh, no. I was not going over that again. "No, Richter. You're fine. You didn't do anything wrong. You're actually getting better at being less negative. Really."
"...Really? Thanks." This time, Richter hugged me back. He felt so warm...
There's nothing that feels better than having a problem solved, especially if you needed a little help to do it. I can tell you that much.
