The sweet sounds of giving thanks to the Lord were joined by the jangling of my cell. Pausing my playlist, I picked up the phone, still swaying gently as I put it to my ear.
“Rachel? Have you picked up or is this your voicemail and you’re messing with me?”
“Hey, Jenna,” I sang, deliriously happy.
It was a bit strange, I knew, but the relief was irrepressible. I was already developing a plan that would keep me safely in my room as much as possible. Which seemed to be what the administrations, both campus and national, wanted, anyway. I was always the type to follow the rules.
Dad might not have been thrilled with the idea of me sharing an apartment with a boy.
I’d actually wondered how that had happened despite the school’s prior reassurance to him, but I figured it all came down to desperate times and all that. It was likely that they were so caught up in all the arrangements that had to be made that they hadn’t even noticed.
I couldn’t tell Dad about my new roommate or he likely would come right back and whisked me away, particularly considering who the boy in question was, but, in a funny way, it was more or less what he had wanted, otherwise. Me cloistered away in my room, doing nothing but eating, sleeping and studying, with occasional bathing thrown in, when the coast was clear.
I was definitely working on my hibernation plan in my head. I started making a mental inventory of all the foods I liked that didn’t need to be refrigerated and I could keep in my room.
“Hello?” Jenna repeated in a sing-song voice, startling me out of my thoughts.
“Yes, I’m here,” I said. “Sorry.”
“Oh, good, I thought you might have been murdered or something.”
“Why would you think that?” I asked, the fear creeping back.
“I dunno, paranoid, I guess. I always think people are dead or going to leave me. I have some separation issues, I guess.”
It took a moment, but I soon got used to Jenna and her oddities. She started droning on about a problem she was having, which was that she was supposed to go on a date with a certain boy but now, going out was prohibited, and she was wondering if they should try to sneak into each other’s dorms.
I thought she was being incredibly risky and irresponsible. But in a way, it was nice to have something to distract myself. I did my best to do a Jane Eyre and not judge or pity her. Just listen to her and her concerns and give her the best advice I could.
It was weird. She was at least two years older than me, and I was trying to advise her as I saw it. Despite the fact that I hadn’t really lived yet. And with the way this pandemic was going, and having to hide in my own dorm room, not just from the outside world but also from my own roommate, I had a feeling I wouldn’t get to experience real life any time soon.Chapter Eight - AugustusThe best laid plans soon turned to shit. That wasn’t quite how the saying was supposed to go but it certainly seemed to be the trend in my case. Which was part of why I stopped making plans when I was still in elementary school.
There was really no point in it. Not in the least because it bought into the ideas of success and how it could be achieved. We hardly did anything the ‘expected’ way but still got stuff done. That’s why we still had so many enemies. As another old, rusty saw goes, if you’re making enemies, it means that you’re doing something right.
The whole encounter of seeing Rachel half naked, with only her little towel, lasted less than a minute, but it stayed etched in my head. She looked so beautiful. Her healthy skin glistened as the sunlight from the curtainless window glowed in her bright red hair, making it look as though it were aflame, even while it was wet. I tried to imagine what she looked like under her towel.
I saw sex as a good and wonderful thing. Essential for maintaining health and continuing the species, as well as one of the things that made earthly existence worth it.
The human body was a thing of both function and beauty. Like a finely crafted earthenware bowl hand painted before it went into the kiln. I wanted Rachel so much I could taste it.
That was something I had never felt, which was how I knew it was real and not just some passing lust. It was up to her to decide if she was open to it or not. In the meantime, all I could do was wait. But it sure didn’t seem like she was interested or would be any time soon.