The Hall Speaks #fallsemester

Behind Closed Doors

#Landon #Alana

Striding down the long hallway, Sage interrupted their conversation with his presence. "Alana, I think you should take the next one," Sage suggested as he removed his baseball cap, exposing his military-buzz cut. Sage was tall and lanky with a dungeon tan. Though he grew up close to the beach, it wasn't a place he frequented.

As usual, there were no obvious signs of happiness in Sage's expression. But Landon could see past the façade. Sage was looking at Alana with that I like you kind of stare, and she didn't seem to mind. A clear picture was forming in Landon's mind, and in this picture, he didn't belong. Landon felt his ego shrivel up and fall to the ground.

"I'm going to check on the..." Landon pointed to the rest of the staff in front of them.

Alana's eyebrows came together, watching Landon walk away. "Why? I've already done two, and I was the backup RA for three scenarios," Alana reminded Sage, finally turning to face him.

"You know the last one is going to be a suicide situation. We spent a whole day talking about suicide intervention in training. I mean, I hope that no one has to confront a suicidal student. But do you really think they'd put so much emphasis on it only to skip over it? Besides, you make people feel... comfortable," Sage added with reserved eyes.

She paused as her stomach knotted. "Thank you, but everyone expects a female RA to handle the more sensitive situations. I'd love to see how you'd approach it," she said, her emerald eyes narrowing convincingly. "Besides, I don't think this is the last scenario. I think we have a total of eight. I heard a returner mention it yesterday during dinner." Her expression betrayed her certainty.

"Oh... you're right," he confirmed, scratching the back of his neck.

Sage and Alana caught up with the rest of the gang. As the group stood outside the door, the loud rap music blaring from within caused the door to vibrate in sync with the bass. Landon gestured with his hand, but before he could speak, Marcus interjected.

"What's behind door number seven... let me guess, two drunken druggies in a domestic dispute with their roommates?" Marcus joked, his full lips pushed out.

A few staff members laughed.

Landon chuckled. "I guess you'll have to find out. Marcus, why don't you take this one?"

"Man!" Marcus grumbled regretfully.

"Real good, Marcus, you shouldn't have said anything," Carly stated, muffling her laughter with her hand.

Marcus glared at Carly, clearly insulted.

"Don't worry Marcus, I have your back!" Shandi assured, gripping his firm shoulder.

Landon looked down to read the scenario to the group. "You and your duty partner are finishing up your mid-night rounds when you come across a room playing extremely loud music that can be heard as soon as you step into the hallway." He looked at Marcus and Shandi. "Are you ready?"

Marcus and Shandi shared a quick glance and nodded. "Yep," said Shandi.

"Let's do this," stated Marcus, hyping himself up for the confrontation.

Marcus knocked on the door. "RA on duty," he barked, clearly trying to be heard over the loud rap music.

They waited for a minute. No one responded. Muffled voices seeped through the wooden door, a girl laughing and guys heckling. Marcus and Shandi looked at each other as if they could read each other's minds. At the same time they both knocked forcefully.