It was never taken under consideration that building a large university in the middle of nowhere in the northeast United States might prove a bit stressful come winter time. What was considered was the large amount of undeveloped land on which the school could, it hoped, expand for future generations. As time went on, this proved to be true and the school, which ranked high on the annual best colleges in the US list, kept expanding and growing every year it seemed. It also was able to keep its costs low and its curriculum level high so that it had a surprising well-rounded and large student body.
But here it was, February, and another nor'easter was blowing through which meant two things: 1) the students would be developing cabin fever from being stuck not only on campus but basically in their dorms and 2) the power would be iffy. This was exactly the case on this cold evening, shortly before Valentine's Day, as the snow blew furiously across the campus and all but the hardy stayed safely indoors.
Robin had worked her way down to the break room as they called it, that sprawling room full of sofas covered in painfully itchy material that looked like something that belonged in someone's basement. Most of the dorm was already down there as it was the general hangout during storms like this, when the power shifted on and off like the flame of a match. She had dragged down her oversized pillows from her room, the ones her mom had helped her pick out at Home Goods. Most of the other girls were already there, sprawled across the floor and on the itchy couches but only after they had covered them with one of their own cotton throws or chenille blankets.
Jenna, the Resident Advisor, was holding center court and advising everyone they were to watch their own candle. Of course, each girl had managed to drag one of those from her dorm room too so that the break room had a romantic glow to it now, with dozens of candles of all different scents lit across the room. Thankfully none of the scented candles were overpowering like last time when Amber's Pumpkin candle, left over from Halloween, nearly had them all running for their rooms to avoid the nauseous fumes.
Apparently, Robin had just walked in on Jenna's idea of entertainment and the girls were going to take turn telling stories. Robin got her pillows settled on the floor and set her own unscented candle near her, with the box of kitchen matches a safe six inches away. She had brought down her can of diet cola which she place neatly next to the candle and then she turned her attention to the group.
The storytelling was not taking hold, as Jenna would say, and Robin, being overly fond of her RA and not wanting her to be embarrassed, wracked her brain for something, anything, she could tell this group that would not be boring. She had led a relatively uneventful life and was not very good at remembering jokes or funny stories. She was a bit out of sorts as it was, what with VD coming up. It was not one of her favorite holidays, especially after what happened last summer.
It was then she cleared her throat and began to speak, softly at first. It took a few minutes for the general din of the room to evaporate to quiet emptiness and by then everyone had turned to look at her, listening to her softly-spoken words.
