Letting my imagination run wildly..

"Where have you been?"

It was almost nine in the evening and I nearly laughed at the sound of my room mate's voice; I swear, she worries too much. I glanced at the bottom of the double-deck bed that I was sharing with another room mate of ours, but it was empty. And she's telling me off for being late?

"Around the school", I told her. "Hung out with my friends. The guys dared each other to roll around the field with their polos off".

Which was true. After a quick meal of spaghetti, bread and soda at the nearest canteen, Angelo thought that it would amuse us if we all rolled around the field when people were looking. But Carly pointed out that we had skirts and it would seem so unlady-like if we were to do that. Angelo didn't back down, though; he challenged Bear, Chad, Roger and Bradley. And, as an added bonus, they would have to be topless. I could still hear Bear's grunt as he looked at Angelo, disbelievingly. The others just shrugged and said they were game. I knew I should have taken pictures.

I hung my bag on the hook behind the door, kicked off my shoes and climbed onto my bunk; it was only when I was securely on top, with my legs dangling over that I looked at my room mate.

She was laying belly-down on the other double-decker bed right across from where I was; she was wearing a baggy blue t-shirt and shorts and her legs were stretched out in a lazy position. She was reading a magazine with the little desk-lamp that was propped up on her bed; she whipped her black bangs away from her face as she turned to me.

"Really? You could have told me!" she nearly cried in exasperation, but I knew she was joking. Well, almost.

"Puh-lease! I know you just want to catch the eye of a certain friend of mine", I said accusingly as I looked down at her, my eyebrow raised suggestively. She had the biggest crush on Bradley as soon as she laid eyes on him.

The gang and I were supposed to attend this seminar when we were in first year and we were "requested" to wear corporate attire. Since I lived closer to the university that anybody else in the group, I let them change clothes in my dorm. Mindy happened to be home at the time and she came down the stairs just as Bradley stepped out of the bathroom. He seemed taken by her too, and soon they became text-mates. Despite being in different colleges, he's my classmate in Communication Arts and she was taking up Physical Therapy, they still manage to find time to hang-out. They're not together yet, but from what I've been seeing, they're close to falling in love.

She rolled her eyes at me. "It's not like I'll hang on to him the whole time", she said defensively.

"Right, Min", I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice. "Sure".

I swung my legs back on the bed and laid down but not before I smiled at her annoyed expression; I closed my eyes and sighed contentedly.

"By the way, Chris dropped by about an hour ago", said Mindy distractedly.

My eyes snapped open; I sat up and leaned against my elbow. Ugh. Is he ever gonna leave me alone? "Did he say anything?" I queried.

"Nope. He was just looking for you. Did you guys fight?" she replied.

I lay back down, staring at the ceiling; I noticed that some of the white paint was peeling off, but thankfully, not threatening to fall down as of yet. I heaved a huge sigh before sitting up again and facing Mindy, her eyes burning with concern and curiosity.

"We're not together anymore", I stated clearly. "Since last night".

Her jaw dropped. "Wh-what? Why?" she stuttered.

"He found someone else", I said; I must have said those same words at least ten times today alone. Nah, I'm exaggerating. I never said anything about it to my friends, and they, in turn, kept their mouths shut.

"He what?!" she thundered as she jumped off her bed and approached me. She vaguely reminded me of a tiger that was just about to pounce on its prey; thank goodness that was only as far as it can go. At least, I hope so. "That-that-that-bastard!", she practically screeched.

I looked at her with a bemused expression. "You seem to be more miffed than me", I observed.

"And you aren't?" she countered.

"I was", I admitted with a sigh, "but I'm slightly over it. I mean, it's over now. What else can I do, right?"

She stared at me as if I've grown an extra head. "Are you serious?" she said skeptically.

"Positive", I said, an octave higher than I intended to, but I think she read me correctly.

"Well", she said slowly, as she scrutinized my face, doubt still evident in her eyes, "if you say so. If you want me to give him a little punching, please, let me know", she added innocently. I watched her as she crossed what little space was in between our beds and sat down. She pulled her legs up and hugged her knees, resting her chin on top, but she was looking up at me.

"Did he say who?" she said.

"No. And I don't think I wanna know", I said grudgingly. "I didn't give him the chance to tell me about her last night. I sort of walked out on him".

"Serves him right", Mindy muttered. "Too bad I wasn't here. I could have killed him right then and there".

I chuckled. "Yeah, well, you'll get your chance. Someday".

"You deserve someone better", she added. "He is so gonna regret the day he laid his eyes on that nameless bitch".

"Thank you for being so chivalrous", I said, now laughing. "You gotta admit, it's hard to resist that charm of his. I just hope the poor girl knows what she's getting herself into".

"I doubt that", scoffed Mindy, then she sighed. "I honestly thought that you guys were gonna go all the way. I mean, seriously, you guys were crazy about each other! And you drove us crazy too", she added in an undertone, but still loud enough for me to hear, while the side of her mouth twitched ever so slightly.

"Yeah, yeah", I said. "Well, things change. And most good things must come to an end".

Funny, really, how I was able to get over him so quickly. It still hurts, don't get me wrong. But the pain's lessened, in a way. Maybe because I know that I have my ever-faithful friends to keep me occupied, and the perfect example is sitting right in front of me, and that I'll always be loved by them. It's a good deal for me; I loose the love of one guy but I gain the love of everybody else. Not bad. Not bad at all.

She gave me sad smile, then she looked at the empty bed below me. "Where do you think Keila is?".

I shrugged. "Probably doing a project or something. You know how studios she is. She can be the female version of Einstein for all we know!"

Now it was Mindy's turn to laugh. "That is so true".

"And why do you keep worrying about us anyway?" I said as I climbed down the little ladder at the side of my bed. I jumped lightly at the last step and I felt the walls vibrate a little and the wooden floor move beneath my feet. "You do realize that we're too old to be mistaken for first-graders".

"You know how I hate being alone in this place", she said. "It's too quiet around here".

"Gives you more chance to study", I said as I glared pointedly at her magazine, still sprawled on her pillow.

And for the second time since I got there, she rolled her eyes. "You can be such a nerd, Kels".

"I know", I said cheerfully as I walked to my cramped-up drawer on her side of the room to get ready to take a bath.

I heard footsteps coming up the stairs from the other side of the wall. Mindy and I turned as our door opened. Still in her white polo and skirt uniform, her bag almost falling off her shoulders and looking thoroughly exhausted, was our other room mate, Keila.

"What did you do this time? Run a marathon for the disabled?" said Mindy.

Keila shook her head, but she was smiling. "Stupid test. One test for six hours, six hours!" she said as she dumped her bag onto her bed before collapsing herself. "It was horrendous".

"Chemistry?" I asked from my corner.

"Physics", she answered grimly.

I cringed. Any mention of science was enough to make me sick.

"I ran into Chris just awhile ago", said Keila, sitting up from her bed. "He said he wants to know how you are".

My back stiffened as I turned to Mindy, with matching looks of disbelief on our faces.

"What?" said Keila as she looked at us back and forth.

"You tell her", I told Mindy. "I really need to take a bath".

So I slung my towel over my shoulder, grabbed my clothes from my bed and didn't say another word on my way out.