Headaches and Roommates
Amy had a nice time walking home with Matt and Izzy, chattering about whatever floated through her head. Soon, they were in their dorm elevator and saying goodbye to Izzy. He looked a bit green about the gills, probably because of all the beer.
"I'm sorry about the beer, Izzy!" she called as Matt half-dragged her out of the elevator. "Please play with us again, even though Tai can be… Tai." The doors were closing, so she hastened to clarify, raising her voice. "I don't mean play beer pong! You can pick the game next time!" But there was no answer, so she sighed and struggled to work her feet in time with Matt's.
When they passed the restrooms, she slipped inside. Matt was waiting outside when she finished, and he led her to her room. Amy was distantly aware of a few girls watching her with jealous eyes, but she was too drunk to understand why.
She tried to unlock her door, but she had an embarrassing amount of trouble doing that while sober. Sighing, Matt took the keys and opened it. She hopped through the portal and spun around on her fluffy area rug, smiling at Matt as he dug through her night stand.
He gave her the case for her contacts. Amy pressed her pointer and thumb to her right eye, then squeaked with pain as she misjudged the distance and poked herself. Matt tried and failed to suppress an amused snort. She frowned and had another go, and this time the contact came free. She dropped it in the holder and removed the other.
Matt handed her her glasses, then shuffled through her mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. Amy scowled. "Tai made me drink some already."
"And now I'm making you drink some more." His tone was so reasonable that Amy wanted to kick him, but she was too wobbly to risk it.
"Don't paw through my clothes," Amy said, trying and failing to twist the cap off. She tilted the bottle and gnawed on the lid, which somehow seemed like the next reasonable step.
Matt took the bottle with a snort of laughter and twisted the cap off. "I put pajamas on the dresser. Drink the water. I'm going back to my room now, alright?"
"Oh," Amy sighed. "I want to talk about Izzy and Joe." One of Matt's eyebrows rose, and Amy giggled, although she wasn't sure why it was so funny.
"What about them?" There were layers to his tone that she couldn't understand, try as she might.
"I liked them. Did you?" She tilted her head, but her sense of balance was warped, and her shoulders followed the movement. Matt grabbed her, tipped her upright again, and lead her to her bed. She sat when he pressed on her shoulders.
"They seemed like nice guys. Maybe a little dull, though. What, are you interested in one of them?" Amy tried to blow a raspberry, but she just ended up throwing spittle at Matt. He grimaced and wiped his face with his sleeve.
"Nooooooo," she sang, smacking his shoulder. Or, at least, she tried to, but she aimed too low and got his chest instead. Something about this was hysterical, and she fell back on the bed and started laughing.
"Next time, I'll make your drink," Matt said, rolling his eyes. "Tai overdid it."
"Will I get hung over?" Amy asked. Concern cut through the pleasant haze of alcohol around her brain.
Matt shook his head. "You'll be fine if you drink the water."
"Mmmkaaaaay." Amy heard her voice lilt over the elongated word, but she hadn't chosen to sing it like that. Matt pressed the mouth of the water bottle to her lips, and she drank.
He patted her shoulder and stepped towards the door. "Good night."
"Night Matt. Thanks." He nodded and slipped out of the room. Amy downed the rest of the water, then threw the empty bottle at her little trash can. It hit the wall, missing by a mile. Amy frowned, but realized that she ought to recycle it, anyway. She hauled herself to her feet to change, pick the bottle up for proper disposal, and address hygienic needs in the community bathroom. Then she returned to her room, locked the door, and went to sleep.
It felt like she had just drifted off when someone shook her awake. Amy opened her eyes, but it was too dark to see, and the alcohol clouded her limited sensory input. She couldn't identify the figure standing over her.
"Matt?" she guessed. Her eyes adjusted enough to determine that the stranger wasn't him. Tears burned her eyes as she struggled to escape. Fear and intoxication hobbled her, pinning her down as surely as restraints. "W-who are you?!" she choked.
"I'm a friend of Sarah's," the figure replied. "Sarah's sick. She needs new clothes. Which dresser is hers?"
Amy blinked and pointed, hardly able to digest the encounter. The girl searched the dresser, removed some items, and left. Amy scrambled to her feet, locked the door, and threw herself back under her blanket, pulling it over her head.
Her breathing was heavy and loud as she worked through her emotions. Why was her roommate handing out her dorm key and sending people Amy didn't know to wake her? She fumed for a while, but she would have no answers until she spoke to Sarah. Sighing, Amy popped her head out of her blanket cocoon and tried to calm down and sleep.
It was still dark when she was jerked awake a second time. A warm body, breathing heavily and reeking of beer, was sliding on top of her, pinning her down. Horror obliterated Amy's thoughts, and she pushed the invader with all of her strength. The shadowy form collapsed on the rug, crumpled and unmoving. Amy squinted at the faint patch of moonlight on the floor.
"Sarah?" It was definitely her roommate, but why had she tried to get into Amy's bed? There was no response, and Amy's anxiety shifted from one form to another. "Are you okay?"
There was still no answer. Sarah's chest was moving in deep, shuddering breaths, but she didn't seem to hear or even notice Amy. Amy worried her lower lip and scrunched up her sheets with her fists. Was this what alcohol poisoning looked like? She had never seen someone drunk enough to go unresponsive before.
It was possible that Sarah needed medical attention, but if Amy alerted an adult to her condition, then the girl could be punished. Sarah was already popular in the dorm, which meant that Amy would be committing social suicide by trying to get her help. Worse yet, she had no way of knowing if Sarah actually needed it.
Amy was about to tip Sarah's head to the side so she couldn't choke on her vomit when the girl groaned. The sound of spreading liquid filled the room, followed by the burning stench of ammonia. Amy squeaked and threw herself to the far edge of her bed, as far from Sarah as possible.
Though it seemed impossible, there was only one explanation: her roommate had just peed all over her new area rug.
Amy worked her mouth, but no sounds came out. Not knowing what else to do, and determined not to step in the spreading dark spot on the rug, Amy reluctantly kept vigil over her roommate.
She kept watch for almost two hours before Sarah stirred and climbed into her own bed. Amy sagged against her mattress, weak with relief. Since Sarah seemed alright, she grabbed a robe, slippers, her cell phone, and her key. She left her room and called the front desk to find out which RA was on duty. She was going to talk to someone about this nonsense right now.
Soon she was banging on an RA's door, and the older girl opened it and stared at her with wide eyes. It was her floor's RA, and the girl had probably already pegged her as the quiet type. That impression might soon change.
"Rachel, I need to talk to you."
"Come in, have a seat." Rachel gestured towards the futon pressed against the wall. Amy nodded and sank onto it, but she had no idea where to start. The RA wouldn't report Sarah, so that wasn't a concern, but the catastrophe was so surreal that she didn't know how to talk about it.
Finally, she decided to go with bluntness. "Sarah got super drunk and peed on my rug." Rachel's eyes popped, and Amy's strained emotions burst through her control. Without knowing why, she was laughing uncontrollably. Doubling over, she pressed her hands to her mouth, but her amusement quickly drained. She remembered the fear of having a stranger in her room at night, of someone climbing in her bed, the indecision and the worry, the disgust, the long vigil, her lack of sleep. A giggle morphed to a sob with a hitched gurgle in between the two.
Rachel patted her back and tried to console her with meaningless phrases from RA training, but what Amy wanted was a new roommate. They disliked each other anyway, and she wasn't going to room with someone who handed out her keys whenever she got drunk. She explained all of this with care to Rachel, but the RA insisted that she could not switch roommates, citing school rules.
"What if I find someone else who wants to switch?" Amy demanded. Rachel gave a noncommittal answer, and Amy decided to talk to the person in charge of the dorm. She broke off the conversation and stood to leave.
Rachel called her back in before she could escape. "You need to throw that rug out right now. It's a health hazard."
"I'll tell Sarah." But when she returned to her room, Sarah was gone. The puddle of urine was mostly absorbed by the fibers of the rug, forming a circular dark spot. The room smelled horrendous, like a thousand litter boxes. Amy gagged and backed into the hallway, then slammed the door and whipped out her cell phone. She flipped through her contacts and selected Tai's name.
The phone rang several times before he picked up. "Amy," he groaned, his voice heavy with sleep and drink. "What the hell. It's like the butt crack of dawn."
"I need your help."
"Then get down here." The annoyance vanished from his tone, but the slurring remained. Amy went to the staircase and descended a flight. She knocked on Tai's door, and he opened it, wearing nothing but sweatpants, a scowl, and the stench of beer.
Amy stepped inside and watched Matt sit up in his bed. His hair was pressed at an infinite number of odd angles, and Amy took one look at him and broke out laughing. She was so upset that her amusement progressed to hysterics. The boys shared a concerned look.
Matt chucked a pillow at her, and she caught it and took a seat at his feet. "That's what I get after walking you home?" he said. "What happened? You look like you saw a ghost."
"What I saw," Amy said, gasping for breath around laughter that sounded like sobbing, "was Sarah peeing all over my rug. And it was such a cute rug!"
Tai stumbled on his way back to his bed. "W-what?!"
"You heard me!" Amy half-shouted. "It's a straightforward statement! And she handed out her room key, and someone I don't know was in my room while I was sleeping! And she was so drunk, she thought my bed was her bed, and she climbed into it, and for a moment I thought-"
Amy's stream of words stopped as abruptly as it started, and all signs of amusement disappeared. She buried her face in her hands and whimpered, not caring that the boys were seeing her raw, naked fear. Then Tai was kneeling in front of her, and that Matt had scooted closer. Amy pressed Matt's pillow against her front and tried to look anywhere but at their faces, which were set in strained expressions of mixed pity and anger.
"You need a new roommate," Matt said. "You can't share personal space with someone you can't trust."
"The RA said stuff about it not being allowed so early in the semester," Amy said miserably, "but I'm going to talk to the head of the dorm."
"We'll come with you. If he still won't allow it, we can tell him why… Why this scares you so much." Tai squeezed her knees and looked away, and Amy placed her hands on his. Her vision blurred with hot, stinging tears. That day still seemed so recent, and, really, it should. It had been, what, four months?
Amy took a deep, steadying breath. "Thank you. I… still can't talk about it. But… I have another problem, too. The RA said I have to throw the rug out, but Sarah disappeared, and I can't carry it on my own, it's too big and heavy."
Tai recoiled and shared a horrified look with Matt. "Oh, God," he muttered, rubbing his forehead. "Awesome. Okay. Greeeaaat. Amy, that can wait until a decent hour, right?"
Amy grimaced. "It's just, I can't go back to my room. It smells like the stairways to the subways in New York."
"No problem," Tai said. "Just crash here for a few hours." He got up and collapsed on his bed, then scooted to the far side. Amy raised a brow, handed Matt his pillow, and stood.
"We won't fit." She frowned and pressed her hands to her hips, desperately trying to use her irritation to banish her fear and misery.
"Squeeze in, just like old times." Amy smiled despite herself. She still remembered sharing a bed with both Tai and Kari when she visited them as a small child. The comfort of being near Tai, whom she saw as the world's most powerful and capable person back then, and Kari, whom she saw as an angel, was a powerful feeling that she would carry forever. She held that image in her mind as she settled in beside him.
"You didn't smell like cheap beer back then," she complained as he lifted his comforter over her. Matt snorted, and Tai cracked a grin that morphed into an annoyed scowl.
"Shut up and sleep." Amy frowned and pressed herself against him, since that was the only way for her to fit on the twin bed.
At first, the feeling of a half-naked male body against hers, particularly one that smelled of alcohol and sweat, caused a rush of panic. Tai fell asleep long before she did, and the familiar sound of his snoring soothed her. Then she noticed his body scent below the frat house odors, and that eased away the rest of her fear.
She was safe here. Tai was right beside her, Matt was a few feet away, and a solid hunk of wood and a thick metal latch stood between them and the rest of the world. Security warmed her much more than the blanket thrown over her, and she slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Elsewhere, Previously
(This scene opens by stepping back in time to when Amy and Matt say goodbye to Izzy after the party.)
Izzy waited for the elevator to reach his floor with a hand pressed to his mouth. Amy had shouted something about wanting him to spend more time with her group as the elevator closed, but he was cursing them all at the moment. The beers churned in his gut. There were five of them in there, coating a layer of rum, all swallowed in about twelve minutes.
When the elevator doors opened, he bolted out, throwing back the door to the men's room and finding it mercifully empty. There was no time to lock the stall door behind him. That voice of dry, sardonic humor in his head noted that beer didn't taste much worse coming back up than it did going down.
When he finished heaving into the bowl, he fought his body's urge to collapse on the bathroom floor. He flushed the toilet, washed his hands and mouth, and trudged to his room.
The allure of the oblivion of sleep beckoned him to bed. Izzy performed his bedtime rituals, then pulled back the comforter and slipped in. Usually it took him a while to fall asleep, because his mind kept chugging along even as he lay in the dark, but tonight he was out like a light.
The last sensation he was aware of was a sense of victory from beating Tai at his own game, followed by a flitting image of Amy's eyes, floating out of the darkness like twin fireflies.
I'm drunker than I thought, he told himself, and then his mind drifted beyond his grasp.
Hours Later
When Izzy woke up, the sun was much higher than it normally was when he rose. Frowning, he reached for the cell phone on his nightstand. His mouth dropped open when he saw that it was past eleven in the morning.
He went to Joe, who was sleeping in his bed, and gently shook his shoulder. His friend focused on his face by degrees. "Joe, wake up. It's after eleven."
Joe's dark eyes widened. "What! I was planning to review a chapter of organic chemistry by now!" He hopped out of bed and opened his closet, removing his bucket full of shower supplies and his shower shoes. "I can't believe it, I go to one party and I turn into a sloven!"
"When did you get back?" Izzy asked, going to his own closet.
"Hmm, I'm not sure how late it was. A few hours after you?" Joe made a frustrated noise as he tugged on a shirt and the hanger clattered to the floor.
"I apologize for leaving without you," Izzy said, lifting a folded shirt from his closet organizer. "I couldn't find you."
"Yes, well. I was in another room with Mimi."
Izzy's hands jerked, and his shirt fluttered to the floor. He could feel his eyes widening, and Joe glanced over at him and blanched.
"Geez, Izzy, get your mind out of the gutter! We were just talking." Joe folded a towel over his arm and huffed.
"Well," Izzy said, bending to retrieve his shirt, "you ought to take more care with your phrasing, then." He sighed with relief as his world view shifted back to normal. It would have taken hours to reconcile himself to a reality where Joe slept with a stranger at a frat house.
Still, Izzy found himself in uncharted territory. He had known Joe since kindergarten. With the exception of one or two silent, aching, unrealized attachments in high school, Joe had never shown strong interest in a particular girl. Should he tease him, make inquiries, or ignore it? He found himself bitterly wishing for more social awareness. Typically, he wasn't concerned with what people thought of him, didn't mind if he fumbled an encounter. But he wanted to provide Joe with the appropriate response.
After a slight interim, he went with teasing. "Well, to use the vernacular… Did you score digits?" Joe sputtered, then sighed.
"I wanted to ask, but I guess I chickened out." He began to undress, removing his shirt first, then wrapping his towel around his waist and slipping his pajama bottoms and underwear off beneath it. Izzy looked away and did the same, sighing internally at the daily awkwardness that was sharing a tiny room. "But, you know, Mimi's friends with Amy, right?"
"I'm not sure," Izzy said, frowning. "They certainly looked happy to see each other, but I don't think Amy was too pleased with being kissed." Joe colored before his eyes, and Izzy shook his head. He wasn't sure what it was about girls kissing that made men stare, slack jawed and stiff.
"Well, they were drunk. I'm sure they're friends. Mimi talked about her a little, and she seemed to think pretty highly of her. Anyway, you liked Amy, right? Maybe you can ask her… You know… The two of us could do something with the two of them, through her?"
"Liked her?" Izzy echoed. His panic and distaste at the thought of another social encounter so soon after the last put him on the defensive. "What is this, grade school? If you want to spend time with Mimi, approach her on your own. I have no interest in a staged double date. On the off chance that Amy accepted, I'd only be leading her on."
They headed to the bathroom for showers, and Joe's silence probably indicated that he was unhappy with him. Izzy sighed as he slipped into a claustrophobic, hair-strewn shower stall, removed the towel, and hung it on the single hook on the outer wall. The stream of water started up cold and with low pressure. As he waited for it to warm, pressing his body away from the icy drops, he reflected that women really were more trouble than they were worth.
Elsewhere
Amy stared at the tiny slip of paper in her hands and sighed. The man in charge of the dorm had repeated that roommate swaps weren't permitted this early in the semester, but he relented, looking more horrified than he probably realized, when Tai and Matt explained her situation.
She fought back tears. Hearing that story retold had been difficult. Most days, Amy pushed those memories back as much as possible, and she was able to function well enough. But the problem with this coping mechanism was that the fear, pain, and heartbreak would return suddenly, in violent bursts, whenever a boy she didn't trust came too close. And it just so happened that colleges were full of virile young men who couldn't control their mouths half the time, let alone their libidos.
Amy began to pace fitfully about the room. Sarah still hadn't returned, so she, Matt, and Tai had thrown the rug out by themselves after meeting with the dorm head. The boys went directly to take showers, but she stayed in her room, scrubbing the floor with disinfectant for the better part of an hour. The windows were open, and she could hear boys in nearby rooms playing video games and cursing. Somehow, their shouting compelled her to clean some more, so she grabbed her Lysol and got to work. Another half hour passed before the neurotic energy dripped out of her body, and she took a long shower, applying the same exacting care to cleaning her body.
When she finally returned to her room, her eyes fell on the scrap of paper again. It contained the phone number of another girl who had requested a roommate switch. The dorm manager had advised Amy to meet her and see if they were compatible.
Nerves rolled over her, causing vibrations like playing her acoustic guitar too loudly. What were the odds that this stranger would be better than Sarah? Amy had no idea, but there was only one way to find out. And so, feeling uncertain and shaky, she punched the numbers into her mobile and pressed it to her ear.
When the girl answered, Amy cleared her throat, unsure of how to begin. "Um, hello. I know this is random, but… My name is Amy. I just spoke to the head of my dorm, and he gave me your number, because you've apparently talked to him about switching roommates? I need a new one, too, and he said that if we preferred each other to our current roommates…" She trailed off, her usual glibness lost beneath her uneasiness.
"Um, I see. Well… I'm actually in my room right now. Do you have a moment? We could talk. What floor are you on?"
"Oh, no!" Amy cried. "Let me come to you. My room still smells funny." Then she smacked her forehead and sighed. "I'll explain that later."
"Um… alright. I'm on the fourth floor. My name is Sora."
"Sora?" Amy echoed. "As in, Japanese for sky?"
There was a shocked pause. "Well, yes. Do you speak Japanese?"
Amy laughed. "I wish! No, I mean, I just know a few words. Anyway, I'm on the fourth floor too, I'll come over!" With that, she ended the call and wandered the hallway until she found a door labeled Sora. She knocked, and it opened a moment later.
Sora had red-brown hair that flipped flirtatiously outward around her neck. Her eyes, like Mimi's, were reddish brown. High cheekbones gave her face a diamond shape, and her lips were delicate and full.
"Hi," Amy said, suddenly feeling shy. Something about Sora made her feel like she should be on her best behavior. Amy averted her eyes, and she noticed that her frame was much like Mimi's, petite and slim, but firm with muscles, particularly in the legs.
Sora smiled and stepped away from the door, allowing her inside. Amy froze just beyond the threshold, fighting the urge to rub her eyes. Half of the room was tidy and tastefully decorated. The bed had a comforter in a neutral shade, covered with delicate irises on thin, winding branches. There was an itty bonsai tree on the desk in a glazed blue pot. Delicate glass wind chimes hung from the pipes in the ceiling, round baubles with a single ringer hanging from each. Posters on the walls depicted athletes, and there was a small collection of soccer balls, tennis rackets, and other sports equipment in the corner of the open closet.
The other half of the room was a catastrophe, with clothing and half-eaten cafeteria food strewn about. The bed was unmade, and a massive collection of empty soda cans littered the desk and the floor. Random brick-a-brack, ranging from a nodding chihuahua to a troll doll with stained hair, took up the remaining surfaces. Amy made a strangled sound and stepped back.
"I swear I've met you before," Sora said. She sat on the edge of the iris bed and pulled out her desk chair. Amy cautiously approached and sat, unable to tear her eyes away from the mess on the opposite end of the room. Then Sora's words penetrated her mind, and she faced her with effort.
"I'm afraid I don't remember you."
"Hmm… Well, you've probably realized why I would like to switch."
Amy nodded. "No kidding. Um, I think something is moving in that Chinese takeout box." Sora groaned and covered her face with her palm. "It's okay," Amy said, standing up. "I'm not afraid of mice or bugs." She made her way to the box and cautiously peeked into it. "Okay! Okay, yeah, that is a big cockroach. Wow. We'll just, you know, smash it." She folded the lid shut, and Sora grimaced as she passed, but didn't shrink back. Amy went to the hallway, put the box down, stomped on it a few times, then threw the crunched container in the hall's trashcan. She washed her hands in the restroom before returning to Sora's room.
"Thanks," Sora said. She began to hum in an undertone, as if to soothe herself, but Amy was too far away to identify the song.
Amy grinned. "No worries. I'm a biologist; we're tough." As she returned to the chair, she was better able to hear Sora's nervous humming, and she gasped with delight. "You like The Teenage Wolves?!"
Sora blinked, blushed, and stared into her lap. "Well, I… Yes. It's kind of a guilty pleasure, you know, loving a boy band so much, but I do. I went to as many of the shows as I could, even though I didn't go to the same high school as them. I even have the CD with me." She laughed nervously, as if she expected to be teased, but that was the last thing on Amy's agenda.
"You have the CD?!" Amy echoed. "Can I see it?" Sora gave her a baffled look, then rose and pulled a crate out from under her bed. She extracted the CD and handed it over, and Amy took it and grinned. "Excuse me a moment," she said, and she pulled her cell out and texted Matt.
You in your room? she typed.
Fortunately, a reply materialized. Yeah.
Gonna drop by.
"Come with me," Amy said. "Believe me, you'll want to see this."
Sora gave her a confused look. "Um, where are we going?" She asked as she followed her out of the room. Amy paused long enough to let her lock her door, then continued on her way.
"Just to the third floor. Trust me, you'll love it." This only seemed to make Sora more uncomfortable, but she squared her shoulders and followed, and Amy felt a rush of approval. She would have asked a lot more questions and made a fuss, herself, and she admired Sora's willingness to play along.
Soon, she was opening the door to Matt and Tai's room. Tai was out, probably playing sports or at the gym, but Matt was strumming his bass on his bed. Amy placed a hand on Sora's back and nudged her into the room, and the girl gasped and colored violently when she saw Matt.
"I brought you a fan!" Amy sang, handing the CD over. "Why don't you be a gent and sign this for her?" Matt stared up at Sora, and Amy tilted her head at the expression that passed his face. A spark seemed to go off in his eyes, a faint twitch that she had never seen before. Amy wondered if she should have warned Matt and Sora before springing this on them, because they both seemed so surprised, but she had assumed that this would be more fun.
"Oh my gosh!" Sora said, pressing her palms to her face. "You're Matt! And you!" She turned back to Amy. "This is where I know you from! You sing the girl's part in Hidden Love!"
"That's me!" Amy chirped. Although they hadn't made much of an impact on the world at large, The Teenage Wolves were well known locally, and Amy had an awesome time working with them on that song. The band was broken up now, with its members going to different colleges, but Matt was looking to start a new group.
"Do you really want me to sign this?" Matt asked. Sora nodded, threading her fingers through her short hair all the while. "What's your name?" He plucked a marker out of the pen holder on his desk and opened the CD case.
"Sora." She leaned over his shoulder and watched him write.
"Sora, how did you end up getting dragged around by Amy?" Amy laughed and crossed her arms, but Matt's focus remained on Sora.
"We're going to be roommates," she explained. "I mean, we may be roommates. If she likes me."
Matt's eyes widened. He caught Amy's eye and nodded, as if to communicate his approval. Amy fought an urge to roll her eyes. As much as she appreciated Matt and Tai's concern for her, she didn't need their permission to choose a new roommate.
Amy noticed Sora's implied acceptance of her, and she wondered if it was because she liked her or because she could stroll into the dorm room of a local celebrity. She opened her mouth to say something, but Matt had returned his attention to Sora, and they were chatting about the shows she had attended, about music, about what it was like to be in a band, and on and on. As the conversation continued, Amy wondered if she had made a tactical error here, and if it was okay for her to retreat now that they were engrossed in each other.
Amy stepped back, and the movement must have caught Sora's eye, because she broke off the conversation and turned to her. "Oh, we should talk about being roommates, shouldn't we? I'm sorry I got so distracted."
"No, that was my fault. I brought you here."
"Maybe we could get lunch and talk?" Sora suggested. "I'm getting pretty hungry." Amy nodded, and Matt slipped his hands into his pockets.
"You ladies mind if I join?" he asked, and Amy swallowed a laugh at the charm he was infusing his voice with. Matt was usually distant and introverted, but sometimes his cool stage persona rose in conversation. His body movements instantly grew more fluid, his posture more self-assured.
Poser, Amy thought, but with deep affection. Boys were so silly.
Sora had no objection, and Amy certainly didn't, so their little group hiked to the cafeteria for a rousing chat on roommate compatibility.
Two Days Later
"Thanks, Tai, Matt, but I can manage on my own." Matt snorted as Amy picked up Sora's printer and began to carry it out of the room, trailing the cords behind her. He picked up the cords and twisted them loosely around her arm. She smiled nervously.
"See, you're too clumsy for this sort of thing. You probably would have tripped over those wires," Tai scolded. Matt kept his face clear of expression by pure force of will. This was one of the benefits of hanging out with Tai; although he had more tact than he used to, he would still often say whatever he felt like saying, regardless of what the other person would think of it. That meant that what had to be said was said, and the hurt feelings went to Tai. Then, assuming the person was close to both of them, Matt would slip in and smooth things over.
But Amy was apparently in too good a mood over having Sora finalized as her roommate to feel hurt, because she just shrugged. "I wouldn't have tripped, but it's not nice to drag her cords around, so thanks. Anyway, this is Sora's stuff, not mine. If you want to help, you should ask her, since you'll be handling her stuff." She nodded, as if she had just settled the matter to its fullest capacity before the authorities, then continued down the hall.
When she wandered through the end of this section of the hall and opened the door to a common room, Tai frowned. "Do you get the feeling she's trying to push us away?" His brown eyes seemed to darken with concern.
Matt sighed and slipped his hands into his pockets. "I figured she would only let us fuss for so long," he said. "But… I still feel like I should. I still need to." The muscles in his face tightened involuntarily, and he fought to smooth them back out.
"I know," Tai replied. "I know she's not completely over it, or healed, or whatever, and I'm not sure if anyone ever fully does. So why refuse our help? I don't understand." He worked his hands through his bushy hair, puffing it out to an even greater size.
Matt sighed and raised a hand to the back of his neck. Sometimes, Tai seemed to intuitively know what other people needed, but most of the time he was clueless, especially when the person was someone he really cared for. Often, his desire to keep them protected and safe outweighed his ability to see what they needed in a given moment.
"Look," Matt sighed. "She puts her pride on the shelf with us most of the time, because she loves us. But she won't do it forever. She knows when she needs us and when she can manage on her own. After all, she came to us for comfort the other night, and she let us talk to the dorm manager, right? We should let her make the calls on when to accept our help."
He took a deep, shaking breath, preparing to say the part that hurt. "And this is about what she needs, not about what we need. Even though…" His paused, unable to say more.
Tai averted his eyes and bunched his shoulders, a sure sign that he was equal parts guilty and annoyed. "See, you say that. But you feel the same way I do! It's our fault. She came to us for help, and we blew her off, just because we were having too good of a time to be bothered…!" His hands bunched into fists. Matt grabbed his arm and looked him in the eye.
"Don't think about that now. Amy and Sora will be back any moment."
"Shit," Tai said roughly, pressing his palm to his forehead. "Yeah." He breathed deeply and dropped his hand, and the worst signs of his distress were gone. "So, this Sora. You said you had lunch with her and Amy, right? Do you think she'll be a good roommate?"
Matt had to pin down the grin that lifted his lips. Oh, Sora would be a good many things. He couldn't help feeling attracted to her. She was beautiful, and there was an air of kindness and maturity about her that drew him in, even as it made him nervous. He wasn't sure he was on the same level as her, and that was something he had never thought before, something that made her even more mesmerizing. But if his years of being a singer/bassist with girls vying for his attention had taught him anything, it was the difference between attraction and love. And so, he would proceed with as much casualness and caution as he could.
"Yeah. She seems like a nice person. Although I think Amy may drive her nuts, asking so many questions about Japan." He focused on the hallway as Amy and Sora opened the door from the common room, which stood between this section of hallway and Amy's hall.
Amy picked up her pace so she would reach them before Sora. "You're still here," she said, and her expression was difficult to read.
"Always," Matt said, but he smirked and pushed a stray piece of hair back, a bit of playful arrogance that he hoped would lighten his statement and make her smile. And it did, as usual.
"Hey, Sora!" she called over her shoulder. Then she paused and placed a hand on her cheek. "Wait, should I call you that? Have I been rude? I'd be happy to use an honorific, if you prefer."
Sora grimaced as she approached, and Matt found himself looking away. How many people looked good when they grimaced? This was worse than he thought…
"Please, no. Just Sora. I've lived here since middle school, so please talk to me like you would your American friends." Amy colored and squished her face between her hands, and a look of panic flitted across Sora's features. "I'm not offended! I appreciate that you're trying to accommodate our cultural differences, I really do, but I'm just giving you my preference, because you asked."
Amy's shoulders slumped forward as she exhaled with relief. "Oh, I'm glad." Then she moved towards the door to Sora's dorm room, but came to a sudden halt midway. Blushing slightly, she came back to where he and Tai were standing, and Matt shared a grin with Tai, since each of them knew that she had completely forgotten about them.
"Sora, obviously you know Matt." She paused for a second to grin hugely, beaming at him with pride and excitement, and Matt felt his heart twinge.
You're so proud of us, so invested in us. And you wonder why we can never leave you alone.
Amy leaned into Tai. Matt looked at his friend, expecting to see affection on his face, but Tai's attention was on Sora. "And this is my cousin, Tai. He plays soccer, you like soccer, right? I saw your posters. He's really good! Anywho, Tai, meet my new roommate, Sora. She's been very kind to me."
Tai extended a hand to Sora, and she took it and shook. "Nice to meet you," Tai said. Sora returned the nicety, and Tai offered to help her move into Amy's room.
"Hey, Matt's here too," Amy said, laughing. This soothed some of Matt's annoyance at Tai's forgetfulness, and he took the opportunity to smile at Sora, as handsomely as he could. Sora took a step back from the two of them, looking a little surprised.
"Oh! Well, that's so nice of you. It would be a big help, but I don't even know you, not really. Are you sure you don't mind?"
"No problem," Matt said. "It won't take long with all four of us, and we're both worried about Amy straining herself. She has a way of trying too hard."
"Maaaaatt!" Amy whined, sounding much like TK did when he was younger. He grinned automatically, and he noticed Sora's expression softening in his peripheral vision.
"That's so sweet of you both," she said. "Alright. You help us get our room together, and we'll take you to dinner, what do you say, Amy?"
"Oh!" Amy cried. "I like that! These two, it's always give, give, give with them. Feel the wrath of my reciprocation!" Then she laughed and disappeared into the dorm room, where her snorting could still be faintly heard.
Sora blinked after her, and Tai scratched the back of his head. "She's kinda weird, but trust me. Her heart is in the right place, and in a big way." Sora smiled sweetly, a smile that lit and warmed her eyes, and Matt found himself leaning in closer.
"I think we'll get along just fine."
