Diving Into The Wreck

In The Garage

When I opened my eyes one morning, there were a million pairs of eyes staring back at me. It took me a few moments to piece together the piercing eyes, the frozen stances, and the hands holding electric guitars, but the dull headache from lying on concrete for hours on end told me exactly where I was, even if my worn out brain couldn't figure it out.

I had fallen asleep in the garage again.

I slowly got off of the ground, found my keys, and headed toward the car, but I still felt like I was in a daze. Thankfully, it was still early - the zoo wasn't even open yet. I had some time to get ready for school. I hadn't missed any classes, but I still hurried to the car and quickly drove back to Egmont College.

This had been happening more often lately. It was a combination of Blake-induced insomnia and the fact that the garage was the only place in the world that felt safe anymore. When I didn't have class or D&D, I spent all of my free time in the garage, reading textbooks, writing papers, filling out worksheets, listening to music, and planning out adventures for our D&D group. I told myself that it was only natural that I would forget to go home sometimes.

I ate breakfast in the dining hall by myself, since Aditi had texted me the night before to tell me that there was a meeting for students going abroad during the spring semester that she needed to go to. It was lonely eating by myself, and it reminded me a little bit too much of high school, but I didn't mind too much. It gave me some extra time to proofread my Environmental Policy essay before I had to submit it. I also sent Sydney a quick text, asking how she was doing, but she didn't respond.

I went through my daily routine without thinking too much about it. Nothing interesting happened in Environmental Policy, and Florida Everglades: Ecology and Conservation went similarly. Jonas mostly just gave us time to work on our lab reports, and for once, Joyce and I actually got something done on the report. After class, I talked to Jonas about my paper and his turtles for half an hour or so, which was actually a nice distraction from everything else that was going on, and then I drove back to the zoo.

I took a deep breath as I entered the garage once again. At last, I was at home. I sat down among the posters, comic books, and more character sheets that I'd ever need, and I started working on my homework. I quickly finished it all, so I took the Dungeon Master's Guide and the Monster Manual, and I worked on the D&D campaign for a while.

Before long, I was piecing all kinds of ideas together, bookmarking my favorite monsters and designing some fascinating NPCs to guide the players through the world that I was creating. Building a new world and making up new adventures was almost as exciting as playing the game itself, and I was soon lost in it. I couldn't stop working on the campaign. It was like the game was consuming me whole.

That was when the door creaked open. I turned around suddenly, terrified of whatever was about to happen. Even the garage isn't safe anymore, I thought to myself as I reached for my copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, fully prepared to defend myself with a seven hundred page book if I needed to.

It turned out that I didn't need it. I set the book down when I saw Joyce's round glasses, soft, wavy hair, and smooth, brown skin. "Joyce?" I said. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to check on you," Joyce said. "You've been kind of quiet in class lately."

That much for true, but it didn't quite explain Joyce's sudden appearance. "How did you know about the garage?" I asked, still a little bit alarmed by everything that had happened.

"I talked to Aditi, and she said that you might be here," Joyce said. She looked around for a moment. "This is a really cool place, by the way."

"Thank you," I said. My heartbeat had slowed, and I was feeling far less nervous now. "My boss said that my coworker and I could have this space, since they're not using the garage for anything right now. Tommy decided not to use his half, so now the whole place is mine. It's a nice job perk."