(all characters are 18+)
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Everybody told me that moving away to college and keeping my high school boyfriend was a bad idea. "Those relationships don't last," "You're setting yourself up to get hurt," all the tired clichés. And of course, they were right. I had been moved into my dorm for about two weeks before I got the dreaded break-up text from my now ex-boyfriend. I'd been feeling us grow distant, so it wasn't a total surprise, but it still hurt really bad.
Luckily, I was able to go to my classes and get work done, it was an actually an effective way to distract myself. But other than that? I just sort of laid around my room, as I was always feeling depressed.
My roommate was a junior named Shauna, and she was happy to talk to me about my issues, and we ended up getting along great. Unfortunately for me, Shauna had a boyfriend off campus, and spent many of her nights there. I loved having a room to myself, but I didn't take advantage of it much.
I also tried to avoid social media, as my ex did not take much time to move on from our breakup. I didn't check Instagram or anywhere else, in case I'd see a photo of him with some girl from his college. I wanted to move on and sleep around like he was doing, but the whole experience had left me so...tired.
Before I moved out, Josh was insistent that we'd stay together, that we were different from other couples who couldn't do long distance at separate colleges. And for some reason, I believed him. Maybe because it was my first real "serious" relationship and I hopelessly wanted it to last? Maybe because he was the first guy I had actual good sex with? Whatever it was, I naively went along, until that text in early September.
**
Now it was late October, and I had yet to climb out of this hole. Shauna suggested that I talk to someone, but I figured one of the campus psychologists would laugh at me for such a trivial problem. I had my own idea, and went to talk to our RA, Carla.
Carla was a junior, and she was just effortlessly cool. Always wore cool clothes, she had her nose and eyebrow pierced, and a shaved head. I was jealous of her confidence, but figured it would come to me as I grew.
I knocked on her door one day, the music inside being turned off as she opened the door.
"Mari! Oh my god, come in, come in!" My real name was Marielle, but most people called me Mari. I stepped into Carla's room, adorned with posters, scattered campus merch, books and papers everywhere, it was fully cluttered but somehow fit her.
Carla hopped up on the edge of her bed, "What's up? Everything alright?"
I sat at her desk and sighed, "Well...no, not really." I proceeded to explain everything to her, and I was already feeling better because I genuinely felt listened to. Carla was attentive, empathetic, and exactly the ear I needed to turn to at this moment.
"Hmm...well, as you said, you're not the first person to ever have this issue. But I can tell, you're really going through it right now." Carla said. I nodded sadly in response, folding my arms and leaning on the back of her chair.
"I just don't know what to do." I said. I even started to feel bad that I was bringing Carla down, though I was sure people came to her with their personal problems all the time. I sat up slightly, getting ready to leave and thank Carla for the advice, until she pressed her fingers to her head.
"Wait. Wait, wait hold on..." she said, clearly thinking hard about something.
"Who's the boy...he lives in 209, kind of tall?"
"James I think?" I said. I wasn't sure exactly who she was talking about, or why she was even asking.
She snapped her fingers, "Yes, Jamie, that's him, curly brown hair. Weirdest thing: he came to me two weeks ago with the exact same story and complaint."
"Really?" I asked, curiously.
Carla nodded, "Yup, girlfriend said 'let's stay together', dumps him immediately, he's super depressed. Have you talked to him?"
"Uh," I said, trying to recall, "maybe once at the first hall meeting?"
"You two should meet! A common situation like that, it would probably help the both of you. Did you want me to text him and tell him?"
"Oh, uh..." I thought about it, I didn't know him that well, but he seemed nice. And if Carla vouched for him, I might as well. "Sure, set it up." I said with a small laugh. Carla seemed overjoyed, "Okay, okay, I'll text him later."
I stood up, thanking Carla for her time and advice, and went back to my room. Shauna was still gone, likely at her afternoon classes. I sat on my bed, trying to think if this would actually help, but before I could put much thought into it, Carla had texted me.
"Hey Mari!" she wrote, "I just talked to Jamie and he said he'd be free to talk now if you are. Should I tell him to come up to your room?"
James lived in 209, I was in 301, upstairs and on the opposite side of the hall. I quickly hopped off my bed and went to my mirror, fixing my hair. I had long, wavy blonde hair that I almost always had tied up in a ponytail or messy bun. I tied it back while I checked the rest of myself out.
I had always felt very confident in my body, not confident enough to wear a lot of tight clothing or anything, but I'd gotten to a place where I was happy with it. My breasts, a source of insecurity for a long time, had grown into a 34C, which I was more than thrilled with. I turned around in the mirror, I felt my ass was one part of me that was lacking, though I'd gotten plenty of compliments on it.
I was wearing a black Ramones t-shirt, and a pair of pink sweatpants. I was dressed like I'd just rolled out of bed, but I kind of did, so it was accurate. I sighed and texted Carla back, then sat at my desk and waited for James to show up.
I heard a knock and hopped up, walking over and opening the door. James was taller than me, I was 5'4 and he was close to six feet tall. He smiled softly, before I said, "James, right?"
"Yeah, but most people call me Jamie. And you're Marielle?"
"But most people call me Mari." We both laughed at this exchange, and I invited him inside.
Our conversation was...uneventful. So uneventful that it would be pointless for me to explain it beat by beat, as there were many long, awkward pauses. However, it wasn't all awkwardness, as we found we had a few things in common (other than being unceremoniously dumped), namely, a fairly similar music taste, and we were both psychology minors (my major was Business Administration, his was Sociology). We talked briefly about our breakups, clearly a sore subject for both of us.
We spoke for about thirty minutes, then parted ways as he had to get to class. I felt a little better, just knowing there was someone else feeling the same pain that I was. I wasn't sure if either of us would really be interested in talking again, but it was a decent way to spend the afternoon.
**
The next day, I ran into Carla outside our building. She was coming back from the gym, and I was headed to class. She pulled me aside to talk, looking very excited.
"So? How'd it go?" She said with a big smile. I returned it with a small smile.
"Uh, it went well I think. We listen to the same music, and we had a pretty nice conversation. I'm glad you recommended that we talk, it helped me feel better." I said, with a slightly wider smile now. However, Carla's smile had faded, replaced with a look of confusion, eventually tossing her hands in exasperation.
"Wait, wait, you guys didn't fuck?"
I froze, "What? No, we, what? I thought the idea was that we'd just talk?"
"Well, yeah, that's what I said, but you guys are freshmen, both out of relationships, the two of you must be pent up like crazy, I just figured that's how it would have gone." She said, laughing.
"Oh...uh, well, no, it didn't." I said. Jamie was good looking, but the thought didn't cross my mind, at least not then.
"Well...hey, look, if you got something out of it, who am I to judge, right?" Carla said, laughing. "I need to grab a shower, but let me know if you need to talk again!" she said, bounding up the stairs.
