“He is just unbelievable!” I paced back-and-forth in Des’s room, complaining about the oh-so-great neighbor from down the hall.

She sat up against her headboard, watching me with tired yet amused eyes.

“I mean, who goes around and pushes people against walls like that? And for no good reason to boot! Where does he think we are, a Harlequin romance novel? Oh! Not to mention he keeps calling me by my government.”

At that, Des busted a gut. She began to squirm as she tried not to cry. “Oh! Ow! My stomach. Stop, Petite, stop!”

I scowled at her laughter. “I’m serious, Des.”

“Oui, I can tell.” She said between gasps of breath. “I’m sorry, Cherie. It’s just, are you sure you do not like Jack? Whenever you two see each other, you can’t seem to speak of anything else.”

I gaped at her, disgusted. No, more than disgusted—nauseated. “That was probably the cruelest joke that ever came out of your mouth, Des.” I replied. “There’s no way in Hell’s deepest, darkest pit of fiery torture that I could ever have feelings for Jack Hamilton.” I paused for a moment. “Unless those feelings are contempt and frustration.”

Des smiled at me as if she knew something I didn’t. I almost wanted to question it, but I had the feeling her thoughts were something I’d rather not know—like it was something I wasn’t ready to hear. She got like that sometimes. Appeared or smiled in this otherworldly way. I’m still pretty sure it’s because she’s related to a certain Amazon princess.

“Well, I think he has a thing for you.” She began to approach me.

I shook my head vigorously. “No chance. He just likes to bug me.”

She grabbed on to my shoulders. “Kindergartners.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Whatever. I’m going to bed. See you in the morning.”

Des gave me a light peck on the cheek. As she tried not to giggle, she whispered, “Night, ma amie.”

*****

My alarm clock screeched at me like it was going to explode any second. I glared at it, briefly remembering that part in The Amazing Spider-Man where he destroys his alarm in one swift pounce and goes back to bed.

Ooh, how I wish I could do that right about now. 

But if I did, my brother would kill me. He bought it for me as a going away present. My little bro thought that cell phone alarms were too ‘unreliable,’ and insisted on me using this one. And since he has little to no money due to an allowance that comes only when the Wicked Witch of the West is drunk and generous, I figured I better not destroy what his hard-saved cash has given me.

Truthfully though, I cherish it. We don’t give each other many things, so this sleep-wrecking clock did more for me than wake me up for my classes. It reminded me why I was here at CSU.

I yawned as I miraculously dragged myself out of bed and towards the bathroom.

“Morning, Penn!” Des cheered loudly from our kitchen. “Would you like some food?”

“Eeeeeehhhhhhhhhh…” I groaned, closing the door to the bathroom and leaving behind it the bubbly, bright creature that was my roommate.

I’ll never understand how she can be so awake at eight in the morning.

I turned the shower on and stared at myself in the mirror before brushing my teeth. My honey blonde hair came up to my chin and my bangs—which were normally at eye level—blended into my bedhead. My eyes were like mood rings. They shifted between any type of blue or green it felt like. My tiredness left them a bluish-gray for the time being. My normally fair skin looked sickly as the mirror started to fog up slowly.

Maybe I will have breakfast today. I told myself as I finished cleaning my teeth and hopped into the tub. 

*****

I grabbed the cream cheese bagel Des kindly made for me. “Thanks,” I smiled as I bit into the creamy goodness of it.

“You’re welcome.” She said sweetly as she finished packing the stuff she needed for class—her sketch pad, a few pencils, and her sewing kit.

“Do you know what you’re making today?” I asked, squinting at her a little. Without my glasses, it was a little hard to see Des in the short distance between our kitchen table and the couch.

“Non,” she replied but grinned instantly. “It should be fun though. It always is.”

I shrugged and took another bite. Des always came back from her design class with some cool-looking project. Sometimes she’d finish so quickly, Professor Owens had to give her side projects so Des wouldn’t get bored.

Des has a passion for creation through clothes, the same passion I feel when I sit down and put words on a page. It just felt right.

“Oh, cherie, do not forget your glasses again. You are blind without them.”

“Ok, Mom.” I teased her.

Moments like this made me feel like I was part of a real family again. As if Des was my mother and I was the child she doted on. For her part, though, Des did sometimes act very maternally around me. It was both endearing and weird. Most times, I think she picks and chooses when to do it.

“I’ll see you after my class, yeah?” she asked, smiling.

“No, I’m going to go to the library in between classes today. I’m hoping to get some writing done. I feel the juices flowing!”

She chuckled a little and nodded. “Alright, later then.”

“Later!”

After finishing my breakfast, I packed my laptop into my bag along with my books for my entirely exhausting classes. It wasn’t that they weren’t interesting for writing and reading courses. I loved those kinds of classes. It was that they were taught with such a lack of enthusiasm that I had trouble remembering to pay attention. Seriously, if boredom kills then I must be a zombie. I’d prefer to be the smart kind though, like R. Not like the ones from The Walking Dead. Although, if I had to eat brains and human parts to survive, I definitely know which super-brain I’d attack first.

Before forgetting, I grabbed my glasses off my desk and put them on. Only the top part was framed in a dark Jolly Rancher blue while the rest showed the silver lining of my fairly large lenses. I had what people would call ‘nerd glasses.’ Well, I guess they’re more of the hipster kind now that my style was trending at the speed of light.

With one last look around my lovely apartment, I took off for class.