Across the Pond (Prince Harry #2)

Chapter Forty-Nine

Meredith pulled her things up the flight of stairs after a week of being gone from university. Spring break had made Meredith tired. She couldn't wish for summer to come fast enough. It was heat and swimming. It was Germany for a month. It was Harry for a week or two, in Scotland. It was Rachel's wedding. But she needed to get through all of these weeks.

Exiting the doorway and standing on her floor, she was immediately hit with a whiff of vomit. Her stomach twisted, and she felt acid boil within her. Taking another step, it only became stronger. For a week, it was party central to this past week. The number of blown up condom balloons cemented the idea as she walked past the lounge.

"This is why we can't have nice things," Meredith muttered.

Taking only a few more steps, it was back, more than ever. Two swastikas were carved into doors down the hallway. It didn't specifically mark any residents, but the two swastikas marked closets. Meredith stopped and looked at them. Glancing up and down the hallway, Meredith knew she couldn't do anything now.

"Not for one damn week, can we be nice human beings," she said.

Moving down the hallway again, Meredith only made it a few steps before freezing. On some posters hung in the hall, red blood had been smeared. It was random posters about upcoming programs and study nights, but rather or not they meant to, all of the posters Meredith had made and put up.

"What? Why? The fuck." Meredith walked back to her room. "Why, residents? What is wrong with you?"

Most of it was cleaned up by the time she crawled into bed around ten, though the rest would have to wait until tomorrow. She kept a watchful eye on the door as she settled in. Her nerves were racked by the disturbance via her residents. In a week, it seemed some of them had given up on trying to be normal.

Turning off the lights, Meredith fell asleep. She drifted deeper and deeper into darkness, settling at the bottom of the abyss. It was cozy and warm, with no dreams or nightmares. In the darkness, she wasn't scared and she wasn't happy. There was nothing. It was enjoyable.

Jerking upward, she came out of deep sleep with a screech. The screeching continued, high pitched and loud. Beeps came from her room. Sirens echoed up and down the hallway. The fire alarm sounded. Ripping the covers off, Meredith dropped to the floor and put on her flipflops, and she threw them off. If there was an actual fire, she needed correct shoes. Meredith put on boots and grabbed her jacket.

Going into the hallway, Meredith looked up and down. Residents ran around. "Get the fuck out of the building!" Meredith screamed over the fire alarm. Sighing, she walked the opposite way the exit. "Get out of the building! No-- not that way!" A resident ran past her, going toward the smoke. Meredith gripped her and pushed her toward the exit. "Go!"

With more resident going toward the smoke, Meredith entered the lounge and immediately she couldn't see. At the top of the lungs, Meredith screamed, "Get out of the fucking building!" Finally, her residents started to leave.

Keeping her mouth shut, she started to leave the building via the nearest stairs, and then she was stopped. Residents started to come back inside the building while the fire alarms still sounded.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Where do we meet?" asked a resident.

"In front of the building, across the street." The residents tried to go past her. "Walk around the damn building," Meredith exclaimed, forcing them outside.

Walking around the building, Meredith yelled for people to get across the street. More and more residents gathered outside. Quickly, Meredith knew which residents had their shit together. In late March, it was still very cold outside, especially at night. Several residents had worn shoes. Others hadn't brought jackets. Some stood in their underpants.

Meredith joined the fray, and Tabitha came up beside her. "So this is fun," Tabitha said.

"What time is it?" Meredith asked.

Tabitha looked at the clock. "One."

"Fuck me," she muttered. "Why? Who did this? Why my floor?" Meredith glanced up to her second floor of Crownhart and saw into the lounge. Gray smoke pillowed out. A police car was just arriving, yet there was no sign of the fire department. She groaned. "We're going to be out here forever."

"At least we're smart." Tabitha indicated to the other residents, and Meredith took no pity on them. In the crowd of residences, one of these people had lit something on fire. Another resident had blown up condoms to make condom balloons. Another resident had smeared blood over posters. Another resident had carved swastikas into doors.

"Why did I decide to do this with my life?"

"I think your application said you wanted to help and make new friends. It's all about the campus environment," Tabitha quoted. "You really just wanted free room and board."

Meredith rolled her eyes. She was freezing, and half of her residents didn't bring a jacket. Now it looked like they might be outside for longer as the fire department finally showed up. "Fuck me in the ass," she muttered.

"I really rather not--"

"Shut up."

Looking around, Meredith watched the crowds form around them. Bodies pushed against each other for warmth. Many residents brought their phones and Snapchatted. One resident held up a phone that rested on Meredith's face; she was being watched.

Turning back to Tabitha, Meredith muttered, "None of my residents look like Nazis that would carve swastikas or weirdos that would smear blood over my posters."

"But they're the condom balloon type?"

Meredith scowled. "I'm not in the mood for your shit, Tabitha."

"Hey now. My shit is the greatest. Look, whoever did it is probably the same person, and they're crazy."

"Creepy Resident Dude is gone."

"What about Drug Dealer?"

"He says he's reformed." Tabitha gave her friend a look, and Meredith continued, "Plus, I think he's lost too many brain cells to know how to carve. Drug Dealer is harmless, just a constant reminder on why not to do drugs."

"What about Bragger, the one that lives across from me?"

Meredith hadn't thought about him, and she shrugged. There wasn't much she could do about it right now. There weren't any cameras in the hallways. "It does take some serious balls to carve swastikas into shit, and Bragger does think he seems to have some," Meredith agreed.

"Too bad he's against you."

"Why do you say that?"

"I was your roommate last year, you don't let things go, especially this. It's good and honorable, but it will bite you in the ass."

"No, it won't."

Tabitha wasn't in the mood for an argument. "At least you'll show him who the boss is." She sighed. "I've missed the days when you weren't watching your back and trying to be a nice person."

"Why?"

"Because you were a badass and took any bitch down."

"I still can," Meredith protested.

"Yeah, but now you're paid to be nice. You've gone soft." Tabitha started to walk toward the residence hall as the firefighters called it clear.

Meredith stood back and watched as everyone poured through the doors and back to their rooms. One of them was the problem of second floor Crownhart. Many of them made condom balloons. At least one of them kept taking her sign from her door that said Resident Assistant. Either way, Meredith just needed to get through the next eight weeks before university ended for summer.