Roommates?

It began when he tapped my shoulder with the subtlety of a war hammer. It was the first day of semester after COVID still rampaged, but we were immunised. All of us were called back to campus, no restrictions, no precautions. Meaning, we'd get to enjoy the pleasures of having a roommate (yay). Thankfully I had arrived early at the gates, said a speedy goodbye to Mom and Dad who had the dropping off routine far too many times in my life as a boarder. Efficient and single-minded, I got my room key and the four pieces of luggage I carried and rode the elevator, tapping my foot to a beat called 'awkward in social situations, so I need to get the energy out somehow'.

I opened the door to my room, still as small as the ones I'd been in before, though living alone in such a spacious 12x12 for so many of the preceding semesters had spoiled me a bit.

9 t-shirts in one pile. 4 polos for formal occasions in the corner. 4 trousers hung. Shorts galore, print, cotton, workout (they always became lounge pants in the end). After 45 mins, as I finished making the bed and put the finishing touches of my fairy lights, in walked him.

He's immediately everything I dislike. The overwhelming scent of cologne, perfect teeth, fuckboi attitude. The confidence rolls off of him in waves and I turn my face away. He pretends not to notice.

“Hi I'm Gaurav.”

“Hi, Aryaman, nice to meet you.” Kindness costs nothing but my patience. I endure.

“Cool. I see you've already set up. Your posters are looking good!”

“Thank you, I took them from my Pinterest board.”

“Cool. I'm gonna put on some music as I unpack. Is that ok?”

“Sure. Your room too, right?” Too forced, damn. Smile, but not too widely. There, that should be fine.

He turns away and Punjabi rap fills the air. I groan internally. Fucking fuckbois.

I put in my earphones, lay down, and close my eyes as I try to make sense of the shadows beyond my eyelids. No chance of a nap now.

________________________________________

It had been a few days since we shifted in. Classes had started and walking in the thick of winter in January was a chore. The smog condensed with the cold, another constant weight on top of all the layers that kept me warm and cosy as I drifted in and out of buildings. I was already irritated because somehow my backpack felt heavier, despite me carrying the same things day in and day out. But I was in too much of a rush to get to class and preserve my frostbitten fingers to care. 

Morning turned into afternoon and I finally made it back to my room after a long day. Thankfully, Gaurav wasn’t there and I could get some rest in peace. Feeling the soreness in my legs, I gingerly removed my shoes and got into bed, fully intending on sleeping till dinner with the phone on silent. 

“Hey. Hey Aryaman! Hey, can you wake up please?”

I sat up groggily, feeling every length of trickling amber that time felt like.

“What Gaurav? What now?”, I said, annoyed. 

“Have you seen my speaker anywhere? I’ve been trying to find it all morning, and even now, it's not here. Have you seen it anywhere?”

“No Gaurav, I have not seen your speaker. I have never even touched it as a matter of fact.”

“Could you please check once? I didn’t wanna look through your stuff with permission, so if you could please look, that’d be great. It’s a really expensive speaker and I’m freaking out. I know it didn’t leave the room I had it with me at night, so it has to be here somewhere.”

“Ok fine. Just gimme a sec.”

I rubbed my eyes and blinked a few times to get the sleepiness out. I made my way towards my desk, rummaging through the leaves of paper and stacks of books I had gotten with me. No luck. I then went over to the cupboard and opened it, feeling satisfaction at its neatly organised contents.

“See? It's not on my side.” I paused. “Are you sure that it’s in the room?”

“Yeah I’m pretty sure. I don’t take it out of the room, except to the bathroom and back when I take a shower. Can you please check again?” Worry and anxiety shook his words, and my walls crumbled a bit. 

“Yeah, ok. I’ll go through the room again. I’ll even check my bag.”

I picked up my backpack from the side of the table where I had left it, and began opening the zips. Laptop compartment nope. Wire compartments, nope. Side zippers, nopity nope. Opening the middle zip, something long caught my eye.

“Ay, fuck.” This couldn’t be happening. 

“What is it?”

I laughed nervously. “You wouldn’t believe what I found.”

I pulled out the cylindrical speaker and held it up, its weight now apparent in my palm. 

“Oh my GOD! YOU FOUND IT! Oh thank god!” He grasped it from my hands, a look of confusion crossing his face. 

“But how did it end up in there?”, he regarded me with suspicion and anger. 

“I guess I must have mistaken it for my pencil box in the morning, which explains why that traitorous case is on my desk right NOW.” I said nervously, noticing the damned thing on my desk just now. 

“Oh. Well, that explains it.”, he said looking down at the speaker, words heavy.

I faltered. Shit, shit, need to recover. “Hey, I’m sorry. I honestly didn’t know it was in there. I’m not the most attentive of people when I’ve not slept well. I really am sorry for making you worry.”

“Hey man, it's chill. No worries. Mistakes happen, right? It's all cool.” Giving a small smile, his voice going quiet he turned away and sat down at his desk.

“Oh. Thank you, I really am sorry, I’ll be more careful.”

Huh. I was not expecting that. Ok. I can work with this. I can fix this.

More brick toppled. My walls trembled in anticipation.

Olive branch? Olive branch. 

“Hey I’m gonna be baking cake with my friends tonight on the 10th floor. Would you maybe wanna come?”

“Hm? Yeah, I’d love to! I have a pretty big sweet tooth so definitely!” He grinned. I grinned back. 

“Great! Then 9 pm, 10th floor. Just follow the scent of vanilla.”

Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as I thought.