Vanishing Shadow

My Roomie’s Sneaky Room Swap

I was curious, so I asked her, "Why are you switching rooms? I thought we all got along okay?"

She gave this nervous little chuckle, "Oh, uh, another dorm invited me..."

She said it with her head down, voice shaky, avoiding my eyes.

But when she talked to the other girls, she was totally relaxed.

My gut sank. "Did I do something? Like, was I making it uncomfortable for you to live here?"

"No! No way! Are you kidding?" she stammered, eyes wide. "Don't read into it, it's not about you, seriously!"

1

When Chloe found out that Maya was transferring dorms, she wanted to have a "last supper" – a final dinner together.

Maya kept waving her hands, refusing the idea, “Oh no, it’s not necessary! It’s not like we won’t ever see each other again.”

It stung a little. I asked Maya, “Why switch rooms anyway? I thought we were all getting along?”

Her body did this barely noticeable twitch when I spoke.

She gave a nervous laugh, “Oh, uh… another dorm invited me…”

Head down, pretending to be busy, she wouldn’t look me in the eye.

But with the other girls, she was totally chill.

A pit formed in my stomach, "Maya, is it something I did? Am I making things uncomfortable?"

Maya’s head shot up, looking almost terrified. She shook her head wildly, “No, no! Not at all! Are you crazy?"

“Don’t worry about it, Jess. It’s not about you.”

“Seriously!”

Maya moved out that day, like she couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

No "last supper", barely a goodbye.

"Isn't that weird?" I said to the others. "She acts like she’s scared of me or something.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Forget about it. She's a real flake. Not even one last meal with us? It's like we were torturing her or something."

Chloe looked a little bummed. “Guess it was dumb to even bring it up. She didn’t even want a farewell dinner. Now everyone feels awkward.”

"Don’t sweat it," Sarah said. "It was just that Maya’s schedule was completely off from ours.

"We're usually in bed by nine, and she'd be up all night."

“We’re trying to sleep and she doesn’t wanna turn on the lights."

"The other dorms keep way later hours anyway. She'll be fine.”

"It’s for the best,” Sarah continued. “Everyone will be more comfortable.”

2

Like Sarah said, things were way more chill after Maya left.

We were usually wrapping up and getting ready for bed around nine, when other dorms were just getting started.

Then one day, Chloe asked out of the blue, “Jess, what time did you get back last night?”

I was totally confused. "What are you talking about? I came straight back after dinner."

Chloe said, “I mean later, when you left the dorm.”

I stared at her. “Left? I was in bed right after I showered. No way I left.”

“So you’re saying after nine you didn’t go out?” Her voice sounded weird.

I was starting to wonder why she was acting so strange, but said, “Yeah, I sleep like a log. Once I'm out, I'm out. I don’t even get up to pee until morning.”

“Are you sure?” She looked like she’d ...