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Oh my God what is that noise? The thought crashed through my cloudy brain as I jolted myself awake. My body was stiff as I slowly rolled over in my bed to turn off what I suddenly realized was my blaring alarm clock. With only four hours of sleep, morning came uninvited. But, then again, I never have been much of a morning person. I flopped my face back into my pillow and groaned loudly, not ready to untangle myself from my warm cocoon of blankets.
“What time did you go to bed this time?”
I turned my face just enough to peek out from the tent that was made by my auburn bangs hanging in my eyes and the pillow that my face was pressed into to watch my roommate, Kristi, gave me a concerned look as she gracefully sat up in the bed on the other side of the room and pulled her long, sable hair up into a knot on the top of her head.
“Not early enough,” I mumbled, and, with more effort than it should have taken, I worked on pushing myself up into a sitting position. Yawning and stretching, I began to make a mental list of all the things I needed to do today. It was Saturday, but it was the Saturday before fall finals, and I had a heavy class load this semester. Not that it was different than any other semester here at Berkeley as a chemistry major. I heaved a sigh as I ran my fingers through my shoulder-length, messy hair.
“Rosie, you need to take care of yourself. Sleep is important for your health. You wouldn’t want to make yourself sick right before finals, would you?”
Here we go again, I groaned internally. Kristi was always harping at me to take better care of myself. Get more sleep! Eat more vegetables! Stop watching so many cult TV shows and get some exercise! When was the last time you saw daylight?! Easy for her to say, she had more of a social life than I did. And she was a psychology major. She wasn’t required to practically live in a lab. But, we had been friends since elementary school, so she felt obligated to be concerned for my well-being.
I pretended to listen to her rant about a healthy lifestyle as I started to rifle through my closet. I didn’t need to be in the lab today, but I was headed out to the library to review Organic Chemistry, since that would be my first final of the week, so something comfortable was needed. I settled for my favorite pair of skinny jeans, a thin, lavender long sleeve shirt with a space cat on the front, and my pair of beaten up teal Converse. They were starting to get holes in the sides where the canvas connects with the rubber. I’d have to get new ones soon. It wouldn’t take much convincing to get Kristi to take me to the mall. She’s always jumped at any chance to spend some extra cash on a new outfit. And she had a car on campus and I didn’t, and even though we shared each other’s bras she refused to let me touch her Beetle. That piece of crap, rusty Slug Bug was her baby. One wrong move around that tin can and in a blink of an eye she went from Mother Teresa to the devil himself. She even threatened to cut a guy’s balls off just for leaning on the hood of her car. He was trying to be smooth and was hoping to get lucky that night. All he ended up getting was a shameful walk home in the rain.
“Really? Do you have to wear that shirt?” Kristi scoffed, looking at my outfit with distaste. “Honey, you’re gorgeous, but when you wear things like that, it’s a total turn off to the guys.” She was always complaining about my choice in fashion. She said it was too nerdy and weird for any decent man.
“Don’t worry, it’s not like I’ll be parading around in public with you. I’d like to save myself the embarrassment of being seen with you when you’re wearing that,” I teased as she pulled on a rather flattering, tight, ocean blue off-the-shoulder top that complimented her dark hair.
She rolled her eyes and threw a pair of dirty rolled up socks at my face as I went out to the bathroom to brush my teeth.
It was a wonder we had even been friends for this long. We had always been complete opposites. Early on in our social lives, she became known as the pretty popular girl that every guy drooled over, what with her long, lean legs and that doe-eyed smile. She had a way with words and kindness that made everyone love her. And then there was me. The awkward, quiet girl who kept her nose stuffed in a book half of the time and wore “nerdy and weird” clothes like space cat or fandom shirts. Sure, everyone told me I was pretty, and I was always friendly with the people around me, but I had a hard time actually connecting with people. So it had always been a shock to me when Kristi decided that she wanted to jump rope with me one day in elementary school. And since then, I couldn’t get rid of her, no matter how hard I tried. Not that I ever tried that hard.
When I finished brushing my teeth, I filled my mouth with water before exiting the bathroom, and headed back down the hall to my room. She’s gonna hate me for this, I thought wickedly. Before I could grasp the handle the door was flung open by Kristi on the other side. She flinched when she saw me, startled that I was right in the doorway. Her eyes started to widen in horror as she noticed my puffed out cheeks, but before she could react and slam the door on me, I spit the water out, hitting her right in her freshly made-up face.
“That’s what you get for throwing your smelly gym socks at me! Those things reek!” I cackled as I sprinted down the hallway, leaving her spluttering and wiping at her eyes at the entrance of our room.
“Game on, Rosie. You’re done for now!” she coughed out, making me laugh even harder. Yeah, right. She was too nice to pull out the big guns. Where I, on the other hand, could be ruthless when it came to jokes and pranks.
When I figured it would be safe to go back to the room, I stealthily crept back, keeping my eye out for any ambushes that might be aimed at me as my feet padded softly down the maroon-colored carpet that covered the hallway floor. When I made it to the door I grasped the cold metal handle and turned it slowly, bracing myself for an attack. But nothing came as I swung the door open, doing a quick scan of the room. Kristi wasn’t there. She was probably still in the bathroom, fixing her hair and reapplying her make-up.
Before I could give her a chance for retaliation, I threw my books into my bag and headed out for the day.
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