The First to Fall ⚢

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 • 𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧

It took forever for me to fall asleep, but after spilling my guts to Cara last night, somehow it wasn't so difficult anymore. Sleeping had apparently been so simple that I'd somehow become a master at it overnight, seeing how I'd managed to sleep through my first alarm so easily.

Cara's gone already by the time I wake up for class but I don't have time to think about that. Instead, my entire morning is taken up by me rushing to get ready for my class which I'll be late to if I don't hurry. So I throw my braids into the messiest low bun and drown myself in some baggy jeans and a t-shirt two sizes too big before grabbing my laptop off the charger and shoving it into my tote bag. I almost leave my water bottle on my desk as I'm heading out but I grab it at the last second, making it out the door with just enough time to make it to my class—if I walk super quickly.

Everything goes according to plan for the first five minutes until I bump into Phoebe, whose name I miraculously remember despite us only really meeting once before. I smile at her but instead of giving me a quick smile back, she greets me with my name.

"Aspen!" she says softly, but confidently—nothing like the image I got from her during the floor meeting at the beginning of the year. "Hey, how are you?"

"Oh, hey," I say awkwardly, stopping for just a split second as my mind struggles to decide between walking away or being late to class. "I'm good, how are you?"

Phoebe seems to notice the tension in my feet as they shuffle on the floor. "Oh, sorry, I don't know if I've officially introduced myself to you personally yet. I'm Phoebe, your RA!"

I nod. "Yeah, no, I know who you are." It comes out so bitchy and I cringe at myself for it.

"Can I walk with you for a minute?" she asks and I practically run out the door the second she finishes her question. She follows beside me, keeping pace with my frantic steps while my mind races about what she could possibly want to talk to me about.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting you," she immediately tells me, "I just wanted to let you know that your transfer request has finally been approved so you just need to sign the new agreement, which is sent by email, and then we can work on getting you to a different room."

"Oh," I say as my face falls. I almost forgot about that.

"Unless you don't want to move rooms anymore?" Phoebe asks with an odd sort of excitement in her tone. It's vague but noticeable and I glance over at her in curiosity. Why would she say it like that?

"I mean, things haven't completely shifted with my roommate," I tell her honestly, "but they have definitely gotten better. Do I have a time limit to sign the agreement?"

"We ask that you sign it within a week of receiving the email, so just keep that in mind. But you can just reply with a no thank you if you change your mind."

I nod my head as we reach the crosswalk and Phoebe takes a step back, as if she refuses to walk any further. "Got it, thank you. Sorry for being so intense right now, I'm kind of running late for my class."