Off Limits ✔

4. My Flatmate Who Isn't Flat

Revision

From: b.andrew@prins-university.com
To: Jennifer.Adrian@gmail.com
Date: 20 May 2013, 10:47 PM

Ms. Adrian,

You did an adequate job on your reports. Well done.

However, there are a few revisions:

- Subject 3. The subject's psycho-dynamic is too perfect which feels rather unbelievable. If you look at his drawings carefully, you will see the tendency to lack confidence judging from the proportion and the way he drew lines. You shouldn't miss it. Question: Is your narration built partly from how you see him in person? Do you know the person well?

- Subject 5. Too much personal opinion. Keep it in the guideline; you aren't writing her biography. Also, you missed her sexual conflict. Or is it skipped on purpose for an ethical reason? You understand that personal information is not required for this project, don't you?

You can leave the rest as it is. I'll check for the final revision Tuesday evening.

B. Andrew

__________________________

Sipping my second cup of coffee, I read his email over and over again. My cup was now all empty, yet my brain power was still lying somewhere in my bed, refusing to wake up. It was probably still hiding behind one of my throws.

I had no idea what Mr. Andrew was talking about, especially on my last subject: Susie. I missed her sexual what?

Besides Lea, my roommate, Susie was the girl from my high school who had been sticking around since we graduated. We weren't super close, but since she was Dean's girlfriend, we naturally hung out together sometimes, or maybe she simply had no choice. And I was more than grateful when she volunteered to be the participant in my experiment, even though it was out of pity since I couldn't find someone else who was willing to be my rat lab. I was too crushed between my tight schedules.

Digging into my Psycho-diagnostic folder, I finally found what I looked for: subject 3 - Bruno and subject 5 - Susie. I jogged back to the kitchen and tossed the papers onto the kitchen table before grabbing the leftover pizza from the fridge. My first class started in three hours which gave me a couple of hours to work on the revision. If I was fast enough. But first, food.

"Morning," a croaky voice echoed from across the room when I was munching on the pizza I briefly nuked on the microwave.

Lea trudged out of her room like a zombie with her pillow hair, pale face, and half-open eyes. She plopped down on the other kitchen stool just to lay her head on the table, right on my documents.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. Did you make it late again? I didn't hear you come in last night," I said, staring at her purple-painted hair. The black color on the root part had started to grow. She would have done something about her hair if she wasn't this swamped with work.

"Yeah," she mumbled. "Freddy was still a no-show. I needed to cover his stupid ass again."

"Then you should get some more sleep."

"Nuh-uh," she replied, still with eyes shut. "I need to wake up."

I poked her shoulder gently. "Move your head. You are sleeping on my data now."

Lea groaned while pulling her head and sat straight up. Slipping my pizza between my lips, I gathered my experiment works, and just when I finished putting them on the window sill next to our kitchen table, she slouched forward and dropped her head on the table again.