Agatha
Minh-Chau is loud. She is loud in every sense of the word.
Her big earrings chime together when she walks. She's got this unrestrained airheaded grin she can't help throwing around. Does she know the power she wields with that thing?
The most obvious is the talking. She loves to talk? About what?
Anything.
Everything.
Too much.
I'm staring up at the ceiling of my dorm room. Our dorm room. The day has been much longer than I thought. I mean, no one thinks they're going to learn about magic during o-week but here I am.
Click.
I might kill her.
Click. Click. Click.
She's typing on her keyboard. It's not surprising that she's already made friends. It's not surprising she wants to talk to them.
Click….click.
Or that they want to talk to her.
I'll admit I was a little overwhelmed when we first met. Mostly with her. The room was a mess when I first got here and in the center of the sailing storm of clothes and trinkets was her.
"Oh my gosh. You must be Agatha!" She laughed.
Whatever she was in the middle of doing was suddenly forgotten as she crossed the room to embrace me.
She had pinned my arms to the side as she wrapped herself around me.
"So nice to finally meet you. Is your phone working? I sent you texts but I'm guessing you never got them, huh?" She pulled away smiling like a dolt.
"My phone works just fine."
Her head cocks to the side like a confused dog.
"Oh, so you got my texts."
"Yes."
"You just…like what you didn't want to reply?"
"Yes." I say slowly so she'll understand.
The air conditioning thrums. She grins.
"Totally valid! Texting isn't for everyone you know?"
Moron.
The incessant clicking of her keyboard snaps me out of whatever fugue state I'm in.
"Minh-Chau." Is all I say. I don't bother sitting up. She stops typing.
"I need to sleep."
She inhales sharply as if just realizing the annoyance that is her keyboard.
"Ah. Sorry Aggie I ju-"
Now I sit up. I can see her surprise as she pushes back in her desk chair. This room is too
small. She's too close. Everything with her feels too close.
I can see her eyes starring at me expectantly. The glow of her desktop lighting my way.
"Don't call me that."
"Sorry. I heard your mom use it earlier and thought I was cu-"
"So you just assumed it would be alright for you to use?"
Something like realization clicks behind her eyes. She blinks at me, her brown eyes glistening.
Her mouth is hanging open. Is it always hanging open like that? It makes her lips look bigger.
I drop down back onto my bed with a huff. She breathes out heavily through her nose. I make a show of curling myself back into my blankets.
We're together here. She's only a moment away. I've never felt more alone.