One: Taleen

College started last Monday and I’m lucky to have Lisa as my roommate. She was my roommate last year and we became best friends on the first week of freshman year, so it was fun to spend the whole year with somebody I actually like. By the end of the second semester we were given reports to rate one another- a typical procedure the college dormitory administration holds here- and we both wrote that we’d like to be paired with one another again for sophomore year and here we are!

          “We should start getting ready,” Lisa says, looking at me from her weird position on her bed. She’s lying down on her bed with her feet resting on the wall while her head is dangling. How is she not getting a headache?

          “This is the fourth time I hear you say that in the last thirty minutes,” I note as I continue working on the drawing I’ve been working on for the last two days.

          “Leave your sketchpad alone and let’s get ready.” She adjusts herself and finally manages to sit up in a normal position.

I roll my eyes and close my sketchpad. I stand up and make my way to my closet. My eyes land on denim short dungarees and a plain white t-shirt. Deciding that they’re nice enough, I take them out of the closet.

“What are you going to wear?” I ask Lisa as I move to the small dressing table we have in our dorm room to apply my makeup.

She shows me a long nude skirt with a slit that reaches her mid-thigh with a black spaghetti top and I nod in approval then I point to my outfit and wait for her opinion.

“Cute! Wear your white sneakers, not your black sandals.” She gives me a nod and I agree with her. When it comes to fashion, I really trust her opinion. She has great taste.

After I finish applying makeup on, I change into my outfit then I put my white sneakers on. I style my hair into a high ponytail. Two things I love about myself: my hair because of its thickness and my eyes because of their bright hazel colour.

“I’m going to make a quick phone call until you get ready,” I tell Lisa as I make my way out of the room to call my little sister. Honestly, she’s not little anymore, but that’s how she will always be in my eyes. I haven’t called her in so long. I try to make sure that she’s okay and be up to date with her. She was once living with two siblings and now she’s all alone because she’s the youngest. She wasn’t that close to George, our brother, but she was close to me and she still is. The fact that my hometown is less than two hours away is definitely in our favour as we both tend to visit each other a lot.

“Hey, Layan.” I grin as I talk to her. “How’s senior life treating you?” She is a high-school senior, meaning that the age gap between us isn’t big at all. Just a couple of years.

“I’d say same old same old, but actually I’m in charge of planning our prom!” she says excitedly over the phone. She is into event planning and she wants to be a famous wedding planner when she grows up; I believe that she’ll rock this career! Nobody can handle a party like her in my family.

“That’s great! You’ve wanted that since freshman year,” I say as I sit on one of the benches we have outside the dorms building. Out of the three of us, Layan happens to be the one who knew what she wanted to be when she grows up ever since we were little. I remember once we went to a wedding when she was ten and she was fascinated by the decorations and how the event was planned and ever since that day, she decided that she wanted to be a wedding planner when she grows up.

As for me, I only decided that I want to be a therapist in my high-school-junior-year. I made that decision after I saw the progress one of my best friends achieved after visiting a therapist; she suffered from depression after the death of her cousin. They were close and the two of them were in a car accident. My best friend was the survivor.

As for my brother, I think he didn’t care much about his major in college. He was more focused on football and he just went with the flow and chose economics. He had a bright future in playing football, but his injury hindered his ambition. He is now working in a big company as an accountant and I’d like to think that he is content with his life.

“Yes! I’m so happy! We’re supposed to settle on the theme in two weeks. I want the vote to be in favour of the Great Gatsby theme,” she says, and I can sense the eagerness in her voice.

“What are the other suggested themes?” I ask. I’m really interested in this conversation and not faking it. I love it when my younger sister shares her interests with me.

“Well, we have Vegas night and Mullin Rouge. Some people suggested Indian themed prom, but I refused to put it in the suggestions. You know, cultural appropriation and all,” she explains to me.

“Good move, but did you explain to them the reason behind your refusal?”

“Definitely! You know me, I always give reasons.” I nod in approval on hearing that. This girl is definitely going places. She has great convincing skills and knows how to handle problems like the boss she is.

“I’m one hell of a proud sister!” I grin as I say that, earning a little laugh from her. On spotting Lisa walking out of the building, I tell my sister that I’m going to call her later and hang up. I stand up and adjust my dungarees as Lisa approaches me.

“Layan?” she asks, and I nod with a little hum. “Next time tell her I said hi!” she tells me.

“You sure Owen said it’s okay to bring a friend? I don’t want to intrude.” I have probably asked her that question before, but I can’t help it. I don’t want to be the extra unwanted person in the gathering. I didn’t make a lot of friends during my freshman year; just Lisa and her boyfriend along with another girl called Luna from one of my classes. Lisa seems to be determined this year to widen my circle of friends and honestly, I don’t really mind. I’m not an introvert, I’m just unlucky when it comes to my choices regarding people.

“I swear, yes!” Lisa exclaims as we make our way to her car. I need to buy a car soon. I have been saving for a year and I’m close to the amount I want to collect. I work as a waitress in a seven-star-restaurant; it’s a part-time job, but the clients there are generous tippers. My parents send me money every month and this helps a lot. Even my brother sends me a hundred dollars and sometimes even two hundred dollars every once in a while, so all of this works in my favour.

“Plus, maybe you can meet your future boyfriend at that barbecue party.” Lisa smirks as she wiggles her eyebrows playfully at me, causing me to roll my eyes at her. She knows quite well that I don’t date, yet she is desperate to find me a boyfriend. She cares about the matter more than I do.

“Like that would ever happen.” I scoff as I connect the aux cord with my phone to play some music.

“I just can’t understand why you hate the idea of dating so much!” She whines. “It’s not that bad. Actually, it’s not bad at all in my case.”

“It’s not about dating being a bad thing. It’s about commitment, you know I’m not a fan of commitments.” I shrug, looking at my friend. Lisa was a beauty queen walking on earth. Her Korean baby face is to die for and her honey-brown hair suits her features. She is a lot shorter than me, considering the fact that I’m 5’7 and she’s 5’4, but even her height fits her.

          “Which is weird. Like I don’t see you messing around or doing anything that demands freedom, yet here you are, afraid of commitments for no apparent reason.” She sighs, failing to understand my fear as usual.

          “So, let’s imagine for a moment that you don’t have this fear and you’re ready to embark on the dating world. Which type would you be attracted to?” she wonders, giving me a side glance before giving her full attention to the road again.

          I stay silent for a moment, trying to think about my type. Regarding looks, I think I don’t have a type. “I think I’m sapiosexual,” I finally reply.

          “Typical you.” She rolls her eyes at me with a slight giggle.

          Yes, that’s me. I get turned on by intelligent people. I love intelligence and I appreciate it. I just can’t see myself holding a conversation with a moron. Even if a miracle happened and I started dating, I’d love my partner to be smart. I would want somebody with whom I can have deep conversations. Somebody who wouldn’t make me feel like I’m an alien on this planet.

I do like having fun, partying, and doing stupid stuff from time to time, but that’s the side of me that anyone can see. There’s this part of me that loves stargazing and thinking about the universe as a whole. There’s a part of me that tends to analyze what’s going on around me; I’m the type of person who tends to take a shitload of mental notes about everyone and everything. Maybe my major affects me in some way. Clinical psychology makes you think about everything around you. You don’t just look at the superficial part of the matter, you tend to analyze and go deeper. You don’t accept things the way they are because you become a believer that everything happens for a reason and you often find yourself hunting for that reason.

          “And we’re here!” Lisa’s excitement pulls me out of my thoughts as she parks her car in front of a grey and white house. It’s a place that belongs to one of Owen’s best friends and I certainly forgot his name. I’m bad with names.

          We both get out of the car and walk to the white front door. Lisa rings the doorbell and we wait for somebody to open the door for us.

          “How do I look?” she asks me.

          “You look gorgeous.” I smile at her. “As always, Owen won’t be keeping his hands to himself.” I smirk at her, making her laugh.

          Somebody finally opens the door for us, and I find myself looking at a green-eyed tall guy with dark brown hair. “Hey, Lisa.” He smiles widely at her, meaning that they know each other. “Hey…” He looks at me, realizing that he doesn’t know me.

          “Taleen.”