Chapter 4 - New Beginnings
Melanie was having a sincerely disappointing week. It had nothing to do with her course, but with the little fucking troll she was roomed with. Right from the start she knew this wasn't going to work, but once their name is official in document where they were living, that was their room.
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When she first arrived she found her room filled with someone's possessions, even on her side. Posters on all walls, figurines on both desks, even clothing was strewn about the floor and beds. There was even a half eaten hot pocket, insides seeping out on the tiled floor. The smell was of a faint mildew. She looked around and thought there must be some confusion as to if this was her room, but remembered the key she was given just this Monday morning opened this particular door. That pretty much settled that notion. She set her two cardboard boxes and backpack down by the closet, on top of a plastic covered tray of soup cans, all chicken noodle. She was about to start ripping everything over from the left side to the right and be done with it, when a voice came from behind her.
"Hi there, I'm the R.A. are you Melanie or Shelby?" a male voice asked. Melanie turned to see a guy in white shirt and hat, and khaki shorts.
"Melanie. Who's in this fucking room with me? Do you see all this shit?" She exclaimed holding her hand up, presenting the chaos that was her new home.
The R.A. leaned in the room, one hand on the doorframe. "Yikes." He said, glancing around at the mess. "Usually takes at least a week for a room to end up like this." Melanie was about to shoot off another heated question when he continued, "You can just ask her yourself today if you want, we're all meeting in the rec room soon. It'll be great to meet everyone!" With a toothy smile, he was off.
She was left standing there, quite pissed off now. Melanie would certainly be there. She kicked an empty container, a two litre bottle of no name soda and left for the recreation room. There wasn't many people in there yet, they were spread out seeming to be figuring out how to approach each other. There was a guy in a leather jacket by the elevator finishing up a cigarette who interested her, considering smoking was strictly prohibited inside. There were two girls by the windows showing each other their sketchbooks, and another guy in a chair in a striped shirt, who was concentrating on his phone.
Melanie strode over to the two girls by the window. The left one wearing a pikachu hood, and the other with bright blonde pigtails. They didn't notice her approach, each fixated on their artwork.
"Either of you Shelby?" She asked. The other girls started and looked at her, quickly taking in her red hair, black jeans and shirt with "Bongzilla" across it, and spiked bracelets.
"I'm Carrie," said the pigtailed girl with a squeaky bubbly voice, "and this is Connie. We've almost got the same name! Cool, huh?" Melanie gave her a look of utter disdain, and turned with a slight shake of her head. She took a chair, crossed her arms and legs and waited. She watched people come in and take their seats. The fifth one in was a squat girl in a grey hoodie. Her dark brown hair was wavy and messy and Melanie knew.
This girl sat four chairs away, with a funny plopping sound. Melanie took her appearance in for a few more moments, then half raised and sidled over to a closer chair. She took the one two away, with one at her right between them.
"You Shelby?" She asked, already knowing the answer. The dumpy girl turned to her, eyes lax and dim ran over her appearance and back to her face.
"Yeah. Hi." She mumbled. "Nice to meet you." It didn't sound like she meant it at all.
"That's just great, do you think you could tell me what the fuck is up with our room?" Melanie asked over crossed arms. The R.A. came in and took a seat facing the circle, and surveyed the newcomers. Everyone was taking seats now around them. She lowered her voice a little, "It's a complete mess, did you not know you had a roommate or what?"
Shelby just chuckled and turned away, looking at a nervous girl with her arms crossed over a satchel skulk into the room and sit between them without a sound. Melanie said hello to her and shot a look at Shelby that screamed this conversation was not over. The R.A. clapped his hands, and began his icebreaker. Everyone had to stand, say their name and something about them. It got to Melanie, who didn't rise, saying she loved music, metal especially. It then got to the sheepish girl next to her, who started passing around her drawings. Shelby basically cast them aside, which did nothing to improve the opinion of her. The artwork made their way around and then to her.
Melanie was bisexual, and all of her life very promiscuous, even at an early age. She took the papers in hand, and admired the naked bodies of both genders. She didn't show how impressed she was, other than a "wow," and handed them back. She gave the girl named Tricia a little smile wanting to seem at least kinder than Shelby.
The group soon dispersed, and the squat girl was the first to raise and waddle out. Melanie shot up and followed her, seeing her quickly shuffle down the corridor. She entered their room and shut the door behind her. The sound of the little lock was audible even from where Melanie was.
"There's no way." she said and was glad she still had her key. She jammed it into the lock when she arrived and threw open the door. Shelby was at her laptop eating a hot pocket. Whatever Melanie was about to say was suddenly lost as she looked to the floor, then back to the eating face. The little pile of cheesy stuffing was still on the floor, but not the pocket.
