My Roommate smells like dead garbage: a prelude

“No Mom, she seriously does,” Elizabeth insisted, hugging the cell-phone to her ear as she heaved a sea-bag over her shoulder. “She smells like death warmed over. I just don’t get it. And other than that, she’s beautiful – almost creepy beautiful.” Walking up the steps of the underclassman dorm, the young girl fell silent, both to listen to the other end of the phone, and to save her breath. On the fourth and last floor, she straightened.1

“Yeah, I know. Listen, I’m almost there. I have to go. Yeah, yeah, I’ll call after all the orientation shiz. Yeah, I love you too Mom.” Elizabeth slipped the phone into the pocket of her shorts and shrugged open the first door on her left: decorated with two labels in satin pink – “Elizabeth” and “Kira”.2

The other girl straightened from a bag she had been rummaging in previously. Elizabeth flashed a grin and tossed her bag onto the top bunk, climbing up and plopping onto the mattress. “Unpacking sounds so anti-climactic,” she sighed, reaching into her nearby backpack for a half-eaten package of beef jerky. “Hungry?” she asked, waving the bag over the other girl’s head. Smiling grimly, Cassandra shook her head. “That’s ok, more for me,” Elizabeth shrugged. “So, what brings you to college? What is your major? Or do you know yet?”3

“I don’t know yet,” Kira answered, pulling clothes out of bags and stacking them on the floor, looking at the small sets of dressers that were obviously too small for her wardrobe. Elizabeth smirked, pulling off her flipflops and shoving them into her sea-bag.4

“Fair enough,” she chuckled, pulling a book out of her backpack. “You think you’re gonna get homesick? I might, a little bit. But my family only lives an hour away, so I’m not too worried.”5

“How nice for you,” Kira smiled. Elizabeth waited for the other girl to continue, but when she wasn’t forthcoming, Elizabeth moved on.6

“How about those room labels, eh? Our floor leader must be a cheerleader. I hope we don’t have a Barbie night or something. I’ll puke. You know, one time I saw this pin that said glitter was the herpes of the craft world. I never understood that until I saw those signs.” Kira snorted, but continued to sort her clothes.7

“Well, I suppose I ought to get cracking at this un-packing thing,” Elizabeth sighed, sitting up to unsnap her sea-bag. By turns, she unloaded the contents onto the mattress: an assortment of rock ‘n roll T-shirts, faded jeans and cut-off shorts and several pairs of socks. “Ah, my spanky panties,” she mused, pulling a pair of green and blue striped underwear from the bag, along with several other panties in colors akin to sherbet flavors. “Now where did my bras go?” Tucking her head deep into the bag, she rummaged around before pulling out several pairs, including one in black lace and a leopard print. Kira looked back down at her own wardrobe, but not before Elizabeth caught her incredulous glance.8

“I’m sort of a wild animal in ways,” Elizabeth smiled, shrugging. “I promise I don’t go streaking or anything. I try not to scare people.”9

“Do you know what your major is going to be?” Cassandra asked. Elizabeth brightened at the chance of conversation.10

“History. I want to be a librarian, but they don’t have an undergraduate program in that. I’m working at the campus library though, to get some practice before grad school. Were you serious back there? You really don’t know what you’re going to study?” Kira nodded.11

“Impressive. I wish I could do that. Mom has just now slackened the leash a bit, so I don’t want to push her. She’s not anal or anything, just really protective. She worries a lot.”12

“Maybe she’s seen your spanky panties and gotten nervous,” Kira offered. Elizabeth bristled, but saw the smirk slide across the other girl’s face. Both girls smiled then, rolling their eyes.13

“Nah, I’m not that kind of girl. I only window shop, I never buy anything.” Elizabeth jumped down from the bed, pulling a stack of jeans toward her. “What do you want to do about this dresser situation? I think they assumed we would be naked for most of the semester, don’t you?”14

“I did bring some storage units and plastic bins, but not enough for both of us,” Kira said tightly. Elizabeth thought for a moment, then smiled.15

“Leave it to me. I’ll be back in a minute.” Kira nodded. Elizabeth skipped out the door and down the stairs, following the overwhelming scent of cinnamon and musk. Where aftershave drifted, men were sure to be nearby.16

“Just as I thought,” she laughed, opening the door to the second floor. Several boys bustled in and out of their rooms, trying to navigate couches and mini-fridges into any empty spaces. Peeking into the first few doorways, she saw what she was looking for: a stack of empty boxes, relatively close in size. A boy walked up to the stack at that moment, dropping another box on top of the others.17

“Hey, what are you doing with those?” Elizabeth asked, walking into the room and pointing. The boy stared past her for a full three seconds before responding.18

“What?”19

“Those boxes. Are you gonna use them for something after this?” The boy shrugged.20

“Only half of them are mine. Um, Max, are we using these boxes?” he called into the room. Another disembodied male voice said no, and the boy turned back to Elizabeth. “I guess you can have them, if you want them.”21

“Sweet action,” Elizabeth smiled, scooping up the stack in one gesture. “Thanks a bunch, pal.” She turned to march back into the stairwell.22

“Hey, what are you gonna use those for?” the boy called.23

“Shelving. See ya around, Max’s roommate.” The boy looked puzzled again and Elizabeth laughed as she carried the boxes back upstairs.24