Roomies

L

Luna

Guest
Original poster
Lark sighed as she looked around the empty dorm room. She got that it was a coed dorm, however, did she have to be put on a floor with mainly boys? The walls were bare and white. There was a pair of desks on either side of the window and a small closet split down the middle for the two young adults. Lark imagined that it would be full of uniforms instead of casual clothes. Putting the small cardboard box on the twin bed, Lark sighed again, looking across to see the other twin bed for her roommate. Did her parents really have to force her into this school? All they did was study and do some things that their parents don't know.

Lark carefully took out her books and laptop and set it on the desk. She didn't feel like unpacking her suitcase, so she put it on top of the dresser in the closet. What was really nice was the fact that she had her own private bathroom instead of having a communal bathroom. She hated those. Lark brushed her black hair back with her hand. Taking out the covers and pillows her parents put in the car, she set up her bland, white covers and pillows. She almost felt bad for her roommate, Lark wasn't going to be very excited to be in this school. All she did was write and draw and be in theatre--but of course, her parents didn't want that. After putting up a few posters and setting up her desk with school supplies, Lark thought she didn't really need to unpack her clothes till later.

"Guess I'll just look around campus," She thought to herself.

Taking her key, Lark stepped out into the hallway. A line of boys turned their heads toward her and Lark felt a bit overwhelmed, even looking behind her to see if they were looking at someone else. They weren't. Blinking, Lark put her head down and quickly shuffled toward the stairs and walked down.

"Man, either someone messed something up, or my luck is just the worst. It's not even like there's only freshman, it's mixed up..."

Lark sighed again.
 
After someone else had already entered the room it seemed, Joseph was grateful to have found the room he was to use for his time at school. His brown hair was disheveled from having fallen asleep reading on the ride to school, and he didn't seem to notice or care. However, putting the book on the empty desk, he found the bed not yet covered and put out a simple blue blanket with a single, white cased pillow. After that, he set his suitcase onto the bed, digging through it for some of his personal possessions.

Joseph was fairly simple- in fact, most of his luggage was books. Taking out the mandatory school supplies and a few extra things, he began to organize his desk and hung a set of extra clothes out for the next day over the foot of the bed, not wanting to deal with unpacking the rest at the time. His brown eyes scanned his bag properly for anything else he'd need, and after taking out some minor bathing necessities and putting them in a special caddy, he closed the remainder of his luggage back into the simple brown suitcase and put it with the caddy carefully under the bed. Sighing, he stood straight, taking his key into his pocket and looking around. "I'd rather read, but...It'd be bad if I got lost when it's time for class. Time to look around."

He left the room carefully, locking up and noticing the line of people. Some started staring at him, causing him to ask what was going on, only to be told a girl had walked out of the room before. He waved it off, assuming it a mistake of their eyes, and instead wandered downstairs and began his adventure. Looking at the sky, he guessed the timing. "Maybe I should get some food now...I'll come back later to meet my roommate." Looking for the place to eat, he wasn't actually concerned with either topic. He wasn't likely to pay much heed to his roommate, though he'd give the boy at least a greeting and try to be friendly. However, his focus was his books, because he wanted to study well to help the person who'd raised him as thanks. That, and the history program in this school sounded refreshing when he heard about it. As a history fanatic, he was quite excited. With thoughts of the brochure's notes in his mind, he made his way to get something to eat, letting time slip by easily and quickly.
 
Lark smiled at the meal she ate just a few moments ago. It was such a good feeling to have some food. All she had was breakfast. Putting on her jacket, she found that during dinner, she caught some curious stares from some of the boys on her floor.

Seriously, what is their problem?

Taking a lollipop out of her jacket pocket and putting it in her mouth, Lark started off back into the dorm. Slowly climbing the stairs, she stuffed her hands in her pockets. Back home she was called the tomboy and very "unladylike" by her mother. Lark sighed and shook off the feeling that her mother sent her here to become "ladylike".

"Like that's going to happen," Lark muttered to herself.

On the way down the hallway toward her dorm, she saw a few of the boys pop their head out of the door to watch.

"Looking good there, sweetheart!" One of them shouted.

Lark responded by flipping them off behind her as they snickered. She rolled her gray eyes and finally put the key through the lock and twisted the doorknob, happy to be away from curious eyes. What she was greeted to was something she was not expecting. A boy--a relatively attractive boy--sitting on his bed reading a book, facing him. Lark stumbled with her thoughts for a moment, taking out her lollipop and finally finding a way to say,

"What the hell?"
 
The sudden words caught his attention. Of course, having come back rather quickly from dinner to find no roommate in sight, he'd immediately returned to his most recent obsession. A bookworm by nature, Joseph would read just about anything to learn something interesting. It took a while before he finished the paragraph he was reading, putting a marker using a post-it flag on the page, and closing the book. He let out a contented sigh before looking up at the girl before her, soon registering something odd. It was a girl. He'd been told a girl came out of the same room as he had earlier, but...It was a joke, wasn't it?

"No, I'm sure I don't have the wrong room," He told himself, looking at his key. It had worked, after all. He'd locked the door out of force of habit, so clearly hers had to as well. Letting it go, he stood and held a hand out, while the other placed his book down and rubbed through some of his messy hair. "My name's Joseph Koizumi- but usually people just call me Joe. Something's off, but either way, looks like I'm your roommate. I don't really get what's going on, but...That's the gist of it, right?" Weirder things had happened, he was sure. As he thought it over, he added, "We should probably talk to the staff though, right? Though this is a co-ed dormitory, it's only the dorm itself. Normally the boys and girls are divided by floor..."
 
"I... Uh..." Lark stammered.

Her hands dug out the paper the administrators gave her and she looked at it twice. She was in the right room.... Right? Room 34A... Yeah... That's what's written on the paper.

"I'm Lark--Skylark, but people call me Lark. I... uh... I'm not sure what happened. It must have been me. I wrote Lark on the roommate request... I... I don't know what happened," Lark said in disbelief. "That would make sense about the boys... Ugh! I was so stupid!"

With that, Lark darted out of the room and dashed towards the administrator's office. Bursting through the doors, she pushed passed some senior girls whining about their roommates. After a few remarks, the seniors left. Lark slammed the paper on the desk.

"I believe you have this wrong," Lark demanded. "I'm a female who was put in a male floor with a male roommate."

"I'm sorry," The small woman said, laughing a little. "I don't think that was what happened."

"Really? Because I have room 34A. A is a boy's floor. I'm put in a room in a boy's floor."

The woman pushed up her glasses further on the bridge of her nose.

"Lark Kim... Lark--ah! Here you are. Well it does look like that's the case. I'm sorry, I would like to change it--however, we're completely full on rooms. Even the singles are full. I'm sorry, I would really like to help--however it seems you're stuck with this room until you graduate."

Lark blinked in disbelief. No... That can't be the case. How is she expected to room with a boy for four years?

"W-what? You expect me to be a roommate of a male student for four years?"

"...Yes."

Angrily, Lark snatched the paper back and stalked over back to her room. Now that the boys had their answer, there was a lot more whispering than catcalls. She passed her roommate who was talking to what looked like a senior, obviously asking if there was a way to fix the mixup.
 
Unfortunately, Joseph couldn't get any useful answers either. The seniors had mentioned only once or twice this had happened, but there was never anyone who couldn't change rooms. He'd even tried finding a new room for her by asking one of the guys in a single room to join him instead- sadly, that had been about as fruitful as a spring tree in the dead of winter. He sighed, rubbing his head awkwardly. "I actually don't care, but it's not fair to the girl, you know? Girls should at least be able to have more space...Even back home, the girls had a separate room from the guys..."

"Sorry, Joe." One of the seniors told him. "Just think of it this way. At least she was put with an idiot who doesn't care about anything but his books."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Joseph snarled lightly, but shook his head. The senior had a point- they'd known each other from before school, and sadly, that was a good description of Joseph. "I just want to help Father a bit...He's been taking care of me since I was abandoned. He takes care of all sorts of people. I want to be able to help him too, you know?" He smiled and waved. "I'll figure out something. Thanks for talking me down." With that, he returned to the room, knocking before entering.

"Sadly, there's no way to reverse the issue...So we're going to have to live with it. I assure you, I won't cause you too much trouble. I tend not to be in the room except to do homework, read a bit and sleep. And even then, I do my homework and read often in libraries and such...So you don't have to worry too much." He mused, adding, "I'm also used to girls and being in the same room as girls, since sometimes something would happen at home and we'd have to share, even if it wasn't often...So..." He seemed awkward. Yes, Joseph was used to girls. However, he wasn't used to trying to relax one in this type of situation, where they were total strangers. I could really use Mimi's help...Damn. Shaking it off, he took a seat on his own bed, picking up his book again.

"You can do what you need when you need to. I'll warn you before I shower or anything of the sort, so besides warning each other of that and such...You can pretend I'm not here to make yourself more comfortable, when I am. So...Just try to enjoy life without worrying too much. I'll be quiet as a mouse normally, to keep from causing you trouble. Besides, as I said...I tend to read most of the time. I rather like books..."
 
Lark groaned as she shut the door behind her. She didn't want to deal with this for four years! Quickly, before the boy came back into the room, Lark unzipped her suitcase and hastily began to put things away. She didn't want him to see anything unpleasant for the both of them. Lark had shut the last drawer in her closet space just as the young man knocked on the door.

After he explained himself in his ramblings, Lark nodded slowly. She lightly ran her fingers through her hair, her gray eyes still showing her uncertainty of this arrangement.

"I actually have to take a shower right now... so um... Yeah," Lark mentioned, awkwardly.

Putting a hairband in between her teeth, Lark pulled up her hair in a messy pony-tail with only a few strands of hair framing her face. Walking back to her closet space, she took all of the things she needed for the shower and carried it to the bathroom. Lark firmly locked the door and started the hot shower, feeling glad that she can wash her problems away of a harsh first evening to this new academy. After undressing herself, Lark stepped under the hot water and began to wash her hair, singing a song from Florence and the Machine as she did so.

Outside, there was a knock on the door. Once Joe walked over to pull it open, a tall senior stepped in.

"Hey, I'm your senior buddy. I'm here to help you and your roommate settle in Lincoln Academy. Is he in the shower?" The senior asked, kindly.
 
Crap, this is probably the worst timing in the world. Of course, the buddy had to come at this type of time. With Lark in the shower, and Joseph having just proclaimed he wouldn't bother her normally, he wasn't sure what to do...But it'd be a problem if she were surprised by the sudden guest. "Uh...Yeah, my roommate's in the shower trying to relax. There's uh, sort of a situation. Hold on a sec."

Timidly, he knocked on the bathroom door. "Hey, uh, Lark? We have a guest. There's a buddy system here to complicate things. Want me to start the explanation outside so you can shower more easily?" His book was already on the bed again- it was the same book as earlier, but with a new page tabbed. He looked over at it with a slight frown, frustrated slightly that he hadn't finished the chapter, but still at ease. This was more important.

He turned towards the senior once in a while to double check. I think this might be one of those times you call between a rock and a hard place, huh? Though it's the school's fault, but...Seriously, this is gonna be hard to explain...​
 
The senior chuckled.

"You have an odd roommate there," He stood up and walked over to the bathroom door--brushing his blonde hair back.

Lark stopped singing for a moment when she heard Joe say something, but she could barely hear it over the water. She decided to end her shower early. Turning off the hot water and wrapped a towel around her hair and wrapping a towel around her body, she assumed that Joe had walked back to his bed. From where the door was, he wouldn't be able to see her from his bed. Lark walked over to the door and opened it to be greeted by a tall blonde--who was also very attractive--senior. The senior himself did a double take and took a step back. A bright red blush crept up her neck and Lark slammed the bathroom door shut.

"Uh... Would you like to explain?" The senior asked, turning to Joe.
 
"I was trying tell her for a reason, but apparently the water's louder here than I thought. Joseph sighed, sitting on his bed carefully. "And now I'm likely to get yelled at either way. But anyway...You wanted to meet my roommate, right? That was my roommate. Apparently, there was a mix-up with the paperwork, and they put her in the male floor. There aren't any other rooms left, even singles, so they said to deal with it. I tried asking some of the other guys and even the girls, but no one would switch with one of us so that it was less awkward." He laughed nervously. "Then again, the guys all thought, 'It's fine, since Joe's too stuck in a book to notice a girl anyway'. I know that because at least a couple said it to my face. And they're probably right."

He lifted his book into his la, looking at the senior. "So, you're here to help us get used to things...That means you can teach us how to cohabit, using the second dictionary definition, right? Because...Besides basically leaving her alone, and making sure both of us are aware when the bathroom's in use, I don't really know what we're supposed to do..." He'd thought of going to school from home, but he recalled it was against school rules- that, and his home was too far anyway. Thus, this predicament was only the root of trouble.
 
"Uh... Wow. I don't think that's ever happened while I went here," the senior said, hesitantly. "Um... I'm Jack. I live in 23A, so... you can find me if you have any problems. Wow."

Lark dressed herself quickly and tried to shake off the blush from her face. This has never happened to her before. Sure her brother would do it just to mess with her, but... That was her brother, not a stranger. And that senior was really tall... And he had a really nice face--Argh! What am I doing? Lark pulled her T-shirt over her head and threaded her arms through the sleeves. Why? Why does this keep happening to me? Putting on her sweats and a sweatshirt, Lark slowly opened the bathroom door and peeked outside. Her wet hair hung down the left side of her face and she saw the senior was still here.

"I'm... Lark--Skylark. And you are..."

"Jack. I'm you're senior buddy. It seems something unusual has happened."

Lark sat down on her bed and nodded. She was sort of caught up in her own thoughts, she hardly heard what the senior named Jack was telling her.

"...And finally, I'll be telling you about the events on these floors. Each floor has a different kind of... bonding session. Lark, if you feel uncomfortable coming, don't worry about it."

"Huh? Oh. I guess it wouldn't hurt."

"Do you play sports?"

"I have... Yes," Lark was wondering where the sudden question came from.

"You'll be fine," Jack insured, smiling.
 
Joseph listened more carefully to Jack's words- he was pretty calm about the entire situation, which seemed to ease the mild tension in Joseph's blood. As the other boy spoke, it was both a relief and yet not fully audible to him, as there was a cloud in his mind. However, he caught key points mostly, as if speed reading while hearing what he was being told. Thus, he was able to get through the explanation fine.

The question of whether one played sports or not made sense to Joe, being used to some of the common forms of male bonding from other places. "Do I dare ask what kind of sports we're doing?" He chuckled a bit- Joe was a bookworm, but he wasn't the type who couldn't exercise. However, he did have his weaknesses. He wasn't especially strong or fast, though he could hold his own- but he had a pretty good reaching and throwing arm. Thus, he was curious if he'd be made a fool of or not- though it didn't actually matter to him. "Thanks for giving us the run-down, Jack."
 
Jack chuckled.

"Just the usual. Basketball, soccer, wrestling. I think we have some guys who have done martial arts for a few years..." Jack trailed off, glancing at his watch. "Well, it's almost curfew. You guys should be in your room by 11:30, but the RA doesn't care much about curfew here."

Lark sat up straighter. Did he say martial arts? Fabulous. A small smirk grew on her face. Finally someone who might be a challenge. Hopping off her bed, Lark rummaged through her backpack. She took out a smartphone and turned it on.

"Wow, ten text messages--son of a--" Lark smacked her palm on her forehead. "I hate group text messages so much."

Tossing her phone on her bed, Lark started to put things away on her desk. She glanced at her computer. Should I...? Na. After emptying her backpack, Lark had her iPod, dock, laptop, books, notebooks, pens, pencils, and other school supplies neatly organized on her desk. Plugging in the dock, she fired up her iPod and her smile widened as she heard the first song. The fiddle intro of Come on Eileen. With her body slowly moving to the beat, Lark walked back to her bed and glanced at Joe.

"Oh, sorry, should have asked. Do you mind if I play music? I tend to play it really loud."
 
When Jack left, having given them the information about the curfew and such, he realized he'd forgotten to ask about lights out- but considering the RA didn't really care much about it anyway, he probably didn't have to worry. His phone vibrated in his pocket- it was much simpler than a smartphone, but had more features than an old version. He checked to see a message from his guardian, checking in, and sent a quick reply. Putting it back into his pocket, he got off the bed after finding a word he couldn't understand in his book, and went to his desk. The desk was slightly disheveled, but organized to his preference. It had mostly text books, notebooks, pens and some other necessities, as well as a dictionary. He had a laptop, but it was underneath everything, so he decided to fix it up before taking his dictionary and sitting back on his bed.

As he sat looking through the dictionary, her voice retained his attention for at least a moment. He continued looking through it for the word while speaking, thinking at the same time. "Uh...It should be fine. If it bothers me, I'll let you know. But I'm pretty good at focusing. Once my head is caught in a book, I don't tend to notice my surroundings." He found the word as he spoke and looked at it carefully, already back in his happy place. Finding what he needed, he put the dictionary to the side and found his book again. "If the lights bother you from my book reading, you let me know too. I'll try not to keep them too bright when you're trying to sleep naturally, but...Just to be safe, in general. It's best to be open if something bothers you. You never fully know if something will or not until it happens. But I'm used to noise. I come from a...big household."
 
"Ah," Lark said, nodding her head. "It's only my mom and my brother for me."

Lark rolled the dial to lower the volume to almost audible. Walking back to her bed, she pulled the covers back and dragged herself under them. It felt so nice to finally go to sleep. It was going to be a weird first day. All of the boys are probably going to be scoping out for girls and all the girls will be scoping out for guys. Lark just wanted to get to her classes, see if she hated them, and then come back to play some video games or to read a book... Something other than hearing what people have to say about things that didn't matter to her. She turned her body to face the wall and closed her eyes.

New school, new start....
 
"For me it's a lot of kids and Father- though many of the kids have left the nest..." His usage of the word father was loose. After all, Joseph grew up in a home for orphaned children, and the man who ran the house had once worked as a religious figure, though he'd since left that line of work. Many of the children were adopted from the home, but some were still there. Joseph was adopted by the home owner himself, and thus father meant many things for Joseph's vocabulary. He seemed at ease with the word, however, and had a soft smile as he spoke of it.

When she had turned herself to bed, he continued to read silently. His head absorbing the words so much that he was almost in a trance. This time, the book was about studies of cavemen. His last book had been a study of the origins of fire and it's making. His choices generally always lead to something historical, but sometimes had other reasoning behind them...But this one was clearly historical based. As he read, he found himself nearing the end of the book, finishing it over the evening and closing it, laying on his side facing the room on top of the covers.

I wonder...If this will be different. I worked hard to get into this school...I need to work hard while I'm here, too but...I was told to 'have fun', huh..." His mind turned to sleep, and in his dream he recalled the departure from the home to the school, and the way he was told farewell. It was kind and warm, but it left a sense of distance in his heart as he slept. He'd work hard to enjoy his life there...After all, it was the wish of his family, and to him, that wish was sacred.
 
The alarm clock set on Lark's desk rang loudly. She shot up in her bed in a slight haze. Lark then realized that she fell asleep with her hair wet. Groaning inwardly, Lark walked across the carpeted floor and shut off the alarm. The small, red box became silent as the girl walked to the bathroom. Running her fingers half hazardly through her black hair, Lark hated that she forgot to brush through it before she went to sleep. I must have been really tired. Brushing her teeth, half asleep, yesterday's event started to trickle back into her head. Her eyes went wide as she rushed to the door and looked down to see a young man sleeping on the bed across the room from her.

"Aw man..."
 
He woke up around the time she'd gotten near the bed to see him, eyes fluttering slowly. He'd fallen asleep atop the covers with his hand slightly gripping his book, and so he checked his hand when his eyes adjusted to the light, leaving his book near him easily. No paper cut this time...Good. Sitting up easily, he stretched his arms, shirt slightly raising and lowering with them. Looking around, he began to replay the evening's events. He saw Lark, yawned, and then muttered a quiet and tired, "Good morning."

Joseph wasn't particularly phased anymore by the situation, and instead just stood from his bed and began to do stretches- it was the best way for him to take care of his morning stiffness. It didn't take long before he looked at the bathroom door, then at Lark. "Do you need the shower, or should I go ahead? Just to make sure." He was already moving to the clothes he'd left on the end of his bed, and dug a towel out from his luggage underneath, as well as his caddy. Even if she needed it first, he might as well prepare his things to take his quick morning shower and change.
 
"Oh... Uh.. No," Lark struggled to get out. "I'm just uh... getting ready for the morning, I guess. Hold on."

Lark quickly brushed the rest of her teeth and washed her face. She snatched her hairbrush from the counter and walked out, brushing the tangles out of her hair. Once Joe walked into the bathroom and locked the door, Lark walked briskly to the closet and pulled out the uniform they gave her. A pleaded, navy blue skirt with white plaid and a white button down.

"I'm going to need an undershirt for that, no way I'm risking just wearing the shirt," Lark muttered to herself. "And did I really have to wear a skirt? Jeez, I hate these."

Lark half-heartedly put on the skirt over a pair of shorts and pulled a white undershirt over her bra. Pulling on the black socks they also gave her, she sighed and walked over to her iPod, taking it off the dock. Lark put in the headphones and fit it comfortably over her ears, walking back to the closet to take her shirt.

"This is going to suck for four years."

Lark was threading her left arm into her button down just as the door opened, however, Lark didn't hear a thing. She was slightly humming along with the song she was listening to while threading her right arm through the shirt and buttoning it down, taking the striped tie and weaving it under the collar.
 
Joseph was a quick one in the shower. He merely washed himself, enjoying the sensation of lukewarm water on his skin and hair as he did so. He dried himself in the bathroom and changed there as well, putting on the required male uniform. He felt awkward as he looked at himself in the mirror, staring down at the blue pants that hugged his legs, as well as the white button-down that was covering his torso. The tie was optional, but he felt like putting it on anyway to feel more formal since it was the first day. As he tied it, carefully making it stay straight on his chest, he put on the blue blazer that was to keep him warm and slightly brushed his hair, along with his teeth. Once done, he exited the bathroom.

He saw her finishing changing, and was careful to ignore her and make sure his eyes were averted. She wasn't one of the kids he was used to, so he wanted to be courteous- plus, he had other things to do. Putting his caddy and anything else he needed to under his bed, he took out a bag meant for school supplies and packed what he'd need for the day in a somewhat haphazard manner, but paying heed to what was where. When he was done, and sure she was dressed well, he went to the door and opened it with caution. He took one more look at her, calling out a simple word to see her later before closing the door behind him so she could finish anything extra, starting slowly but surely down the hall to start his day. He yawned once more as he did so, tired beyond understanding.
 
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