I sat at my desk, staring blankly at my math homework. I had been looking at the same page for what seemed like hours, and still nothing was making sense. I hoped my roommate, Sarah, would come home soon so she could help me. Sarah always knew her math.
As soon as I thought of Sarah, the familiar warm feeling came over me again. I didn’t understand why I had these funny feelings in my stomach when I thought of Sarah lately, but it wasn’t unpleasant or anything, just strange. So I usually shrugged them off and went about my business.
When I heard Sarah turn the knob in their small two-bedroom apartment, I ran into the front room to ask Sarah to come and help me when she had a chance. When I saw tears streaming down Sarah’s face, I stopped short.
“Sarah! What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Sarah collapsed on the sofa in front of the TV and sobbed, “No, I’m not okay! I just went over to Ryan’s house to surprise him because it’s our 6-month anniversary, and some skanky whore was blowing him! Right in front of me!” She sobbed some more, and I ran to get her some tissues.
I knew Ryan was an asshole, but Sarah seemed to like him a lot, so I never told her what I thought. I figured Sarah was old enough to figure that out on her own.
“Oh, Sarah. I’m so sorry! Ryan isn’t good enough for you, you know that,” I cooed, trying to say anything to make her feel better. She just kept sobbing.
“Why don’t you go take a shower and get in your pajamas,” I said, rubbing Sarah’s back. “I’ll come in your room in a few minutes and we can talk more, okay? It’ll make you feel better.”
She nodded and obediently left the room. A few minutes later, I heard the reassuring sounds of the shower.
When I knew Sarah was out and ready for me to come in, I softly knocked on her door.
“Come in, Jillian,” Sarah said miserably.
I came in and sat next to Sarah on the bed. I put my arm around her and said, “Talk. I’ll listen. Just let it all out.”
She sobbed and talked in broken sentences. I nodded, tried my best to say reassuring things, gave her some wisdom, and just provided her a shoulder to cry on. My math homework was forgotten.
“Thank you, Jillian.. thank you for being here for me,” she said, blowing her nose.