ALL MINE

six

Fitzgerald Dormitory had to be the worst residential hall to live in. Most of the students shared double-styled bedrooms. There were two twin beds and two desks. Only a few had small bathrooms—most of the rooms did not. Fitzgerald housed hundreds of girls who attended Winston State University. There was always commotion in the building.

Girls were betraying their friends, being messy, or fighting over a guy on campus. The issues were so routine that most of the college students went unbothered.

Last night, Summer heard an argument outside the door. She sat up in bed while getting an earful of what was happening. From what she could hear, someone had been spreading rumors. Summer looked over at Tatiana, who was busy reading a book at her desk. Her lamp was on so that she could see the fine print.

"Tatiana...do you hear that?"

Tatiana glanced at her and eventually put her eyes on the door. She didn't respond immediately because she was trying to listen. After receiving enough information, she shrugged and said, "Girl. They out there arguing."

Summer's eyebrows were raised in suspicion. "Do you think they're going to fight?"

"Probably." Tatiana gave her an uninterested expression. "Girl, they're always fighting."

"Really?"

Tatiana nodded her head and said, "I'mma be real with you. This is a ghetto-ass dormitory."

Summer was surprised to hear Tatiana say that. She figured the residence hall was a little suspicious. A lot of weird shit had been happening lately, and she couldn't quite understand why.

The plumbing work was horrible. Summer and Tatiana had a double-styled bedroom that included a bathroom. Unfortunately, the shower wasn't working properly. They made a few complaints, but the staff didn't get on the issue until two weeks later.

Two weeks.

It took the maintenance man two weeks to come out and fix their plumbing. Summer was upset because she had to leave her room to use the public bathroom available for everyone at any time. Also, it took the school too long to respond to their issue.

"Shower is running." The maintenance man announced as he stepped outside the bathroom. He looked around the dorm and said, "A faulty shower valve."

Summer eyed the rusty cartridge in his hands and wrinkled her nose. Tatiana seemed to follow her facial expression because it looked disgusting.

"Don't worry. I replaced it with a new one. Everything should work fine. If it doesn't, just let the staff know."

"Well, hopefully, everything works out." Summer replied calmly. "Or else we'll have to wait two weeks, again."

The maintenance man didn't reply to her smart remark, but he held a confused expression. The heavyset man wiped his sweaty forehead and excused himself from the room.

Tatiana held a sinister smirk on her face as she stared at Summer.

"I knew it."

"You knew what?"

"I knew you had some boldness in you," Tatiana responded.

Summer narrowed her eyebrows and asked, "What makes you think I didn't?"

"I'm not sure..." Tatiana trailed off. "Wait a minute—I know why. You're always quiet and...you're kind of...socially awkward."

"Socially awkward?" Summer reiterated with a slight frown on her face. She didn't see herself as being socially awkward. She knew how to make friends and didn't feel nervous in public spaces—unless she was intimidated by something or someone—which was rare. Tatiana didn't know Summer—she was basically going off of assumptions.