Page 24 of Unhinged Cain

My body relaxed once I stepped onto the school property. The massive complex of buildings and parking areas had cameras positioned all around it, and security guards were always watching.

Wait. Who was I trying to fool? I’d met all those guards, and they’d all have their feet up on the desk with a bag of chips in their hand while music blared. They’d never see a damn thing, but no one would know that other than those who worked or went to school here.

I yanked open the door to the dorm area and was assaulted by bright bulbs that felt much stronger after being out in the dark. The next things to reach my senses were laughter and the smell of something burning. When I first arrived here, I used to be concerned when I smelled something smoldering. But I quickly realized that half the people here were lucky if they could boil water, let alone make a meal.

I pushed open the stairwell door and jogged up the stairs to the top floor. I had an aversion to elevators and would avoid them if I could walk. I’d never minded the extra exercise, but the stairwell felt just as terrifying as the street had for whatever reason. I heard a door open and close above me, and I instinctively stopped moving and listened.

Wild images of a serial stalker were racing through my mind until I heard a female voice laugh. I continued up and past the girl as she jogged down the stairs. Yanking open the door to my floor, I marched down the hallway and sighed as I reached my room. My roommate would be there. Although I wouldn’t call her good company, she was more like a strange little alien from another planet.

Tina was in her usual place at her desk, headphones on and pen tapping away to whatever song was blaring through her headphones. Within seconds the steady ticking noise of her pen hitting the wooden desk made me want to leap across the room like a crazed animal. The girl’s mass of purple and pink curls was piled on top of her head with a pen stuck through the messy knot. I wished I could pull off the look. It was adorable and stylish in its own way, but I just looked like a crazy person that had been dragged from bed if I tried to do the same thing. Her thick glasses were firmly in place as she read whichever textbook she was studying. To make sure she knew I was in the room with her, I stepped into her view and waved, but other than a flick of her gaze up at me, I didn’t get any more of a response.

“Good talk,” I mumbled as I walked away.

Grabbing some comfy clothes, I made my way into the bathroom and groaned as I saw the mess that was me. I shoved all of Tina’s items over to her side of the counter and reorganized my side. I had no idea why she moved my stuff around, but it drove me crazy. The girl was like Pig Pen from Charlie Brown. The only difference between her and the cartoon character was instead of a dust cloud following her—it looked like she was practicing Used-Container-Art while trying to recreate the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

I stripped in a way that would make my mother cringe as all my clothes ended up on the floor in a single lump, but I didn’t care. I still had a couple of hours of studying to get done before I could go to bed and would be up early for my morning run.

Setting the water on hot, I jumped inside the shower, letting the day’s stress ease away as the heat soaked into my skin. I was starting to feel sleepy and decided to get out and make myself a coffee, so I could get some much-needed homework done. I threw my hair up in a towel and pulled on my comfy pants and T-shirt before heading back out into the bedroom area.

As I was making a coffee, my phone began vibrating on my desk. I jogged over to get it and then rolled my eyes when I saw Peter’s name.

How had I put up with this guy for so long?

Peter: Are you coming over tonight? It’s getting late, and I’m tired.

Me: No, I told you that I wasn’t.

Peter: Why not? I thought you’d want to spend the night.

Me: You mean you want to know why I’m not rushing over to have sex with you?

Peter: There is no need to be so crude or rude, Kirby.

I seriously couldn’t believe this guy. It was like he never saw a single thing he did as wrong. He never apologized for anything, and texting for a booty call set my rage on edge.

Me: How am I wrong? Was there another reason you wanted me to come over?

Peter: Fine, whatever, if you don’t want to come over, then don’t.

I could practically feel him sulking through the phone.

Me: Peter, I told you I had work, and then I needed to study before I could get four hours of sleep. Hopefully.

Peter: See, this stupid job is already getting in the way of our relationship, and its only been one night.

I rubbed my eyes. The frustration of this stupid conversation was giving me a headache. Did I break it off with him now and save myself the trouble of having to do it in person? No, that was a shit move, something he would do, and I wanted to be a better person than that.

Me: We can talk tomorrow when I’m done with work. Night Peter.

I waited for a response, but it became obvious he wasn’t going to say goodnight in return. Frustrated, I slammed the phone down, making Tina jump.

“When did you get out of the shower,” Tina asked, and I stared at her face wondering how much she actually missed when she was zoned into the books.

“Like ten minutes ago.”

“Oh, okay. Anyway, while you were in the shower, the lights flickered a few times again, and my computer shut down with the weird outage, so I called maintenance. I had to leave a message, but hopefully, they will be out tomorrow.”

I looked at my computer. “Oh, that sucks. I hope it didn’t do any damage to my computer. Fingers crossed, they come soon. I don’t need another phone to fry because of the crap wiring in this room.”