Disclamer: I'm not associated with Joan of Arcadia in any way.
Author's note: The plan was to put Adam's chapter here, and save Joan's for last, but his is sucking so bad that I don't think it can be saved. So his chapter is on hiatus. Hopefully, I'll get it up, but don't hold your breath.
And with that happy note, let's see Joan meet her roommate.
Joan's Chapter
Joan was arranging the photos on her desk when Cassidy Mitchell walked in.
"Hi, you must be Joan," she said shyly.
"Hello, and you're Cassidy?"
Cassidy nodded, and then took a moment to look around the room. It was fairly big, for a dorm room. Dawson State was looking like a pretty good choice.
"Sorry about the clutter," Joan said with a sweep of her hand, "I'm trying to get set up and it's not going well."
"So I see," Cassidy said with a smile.
"I hope you don't mind I took the bed on the left side?"
"Oh, no, they're identical," Cassidy assured Joan.
They unpacked their things for thirty minutes before Joan broke the silence.
"So, where are you from?"
"I'm from Benton."
Joan looked at her blankly.
"It's three hours north of here," Cassidy explained. "Tiny town with nothing to do. One night my cousin and I got so bored we seriously considered piercing each other's belly buttons with needles. Don't worry, though, common sense prevailed."
"You're lucky, I've still got the scar from when I got my belly button pierced," Joan laughed. "I kinda deserved it, though. That money should have gone to the homeless."
"You stole from the homeless?" Cassidy looked genuinely shocked.
"I didn't steal anything. I just… I don't know why I'm telling you this. I made up for it, though, trust me," Joan said earnestly.
"Okay. So, stealing from the homeless aside, what kind of stuff did you do in high school?"
"How much time have you got?" Joan asked. "I think I tried every club, activity and class at least once. None really stuck. How about you?"
Cassidy looked up from where she was kneeling by her dresser. A pair of folded jeans in one hand and a crumpled black something in the other, she seemed at a loss for words.
"My mom and I were talking about this on the drive here," she said slowly. "Benton really is a small town. I've been so sheltered. I didn't do anything in high school. I mean, I never even had a date, let alone a boyfriend."
"Take my word for it; boyfriends aren't all they're cracked up to be. I begged and begged for one, then He gives me one, and what does the jerk do? He goes and cheats on me."
"Bastard," Cassidy said.
An awkward silence filled the room. Cassidy finished transfering her clothes into the dresser, hesitated, than sat on her bed so that she was facing Joan.
"Can I ask you something?" Joan nodded. "You say you begged for a boyfriend and then 'he' gave you one? Who, exactly, hands out these boyfriends? 'Cause, I'd like to meet him," Cassidy ended, trying to make light of her question.
"Oh… my dad didn't let me date for the longest time. Adam, my ex, had to go and ask for permission to ask me out," Joan lied as she mentally yelled at herself.
"Wow, he must have really liked you," Cassidy said, almost jealous.
"That's the worst of it," Joan said quietly. "He loved me. I mean, the kind of love where I thought we would be married as soon as we both turned eighteen, and celebrate our sixtieth aniversay surrounded by grandchildren. He loved me even as he cheated on me, I'm sure of that. Grace, a friend of ours, says he still loves me."
Cassidy didn't answer, but this time the silence wasn't awkward. Lost in memories, Joan looked at the framed picture of Adam and herself displayed prominately on her desk. Cassidy followed her line of sight.
"That's him, isn't it?" she asked.
Joan nodded.
"You still love him, don't you?"
"We're connected, whether I like it or not," Joan said flatly.
"I know there's a lot about this whole situation I don't know, but I gotta say, I'm jealous. I'd give almost anything to be that connected to someone. I really would," Cassidy said in the strongest voice she had used since Joan met her.
"You must be connected to someone. I mean, in the grand scheme of things we're all connected," Joan said, finally tearing her eyes away from the picture.
"Very deep, Joan."
"A little too deep, I think," Joan replied. "How did we get so heavy? We should be trading stupid stories and comparing our majors."
"Well, I'm undeclared, so there's not much to work with there," Cassidy laughed.
"Hey, I'm undeclared, too," Joan said. "I have no clue what I want to do."
"I know I want to do something English- or psycology-related, so at least I have a start. You, my friend, are screwed."
Joan laughed. Dawson State was looking good.
