Two Years Later

Today, on one of those few occasions that I actually take the school shuttle back to my apartment instead of riding my bike, I ran in to my roommate from my first semester freshman year, Kiara. "Ran in to" is really the wrong phrase - I was sitting in the back of the bus, and she was standing at the front of it. I say first semester because, in the spring, she switched to a different room. Nothing personal - we lived together fine - it's just that our personalities were such that, had we not been roommates or on the same floor, we would not have known of each other's existence. She talked to me about the switch, and I agreed that she would be happier with living with the other girl down the hall, and I got a new roommate (whom I would be very happy never to see again... I'll not delve into it). 

Anyway, during the semester that I lived with her, she was trying to maintain a secret (ie her parents didn't know), long distance relationship with a boy from back home. It was driving her mad - the boy was very clingy, and kept her on the phone every waking moment when she wasn't in class or doing something aquatic. Her phone became an awkward extension of her face, and her neck was eternally crooked keeping her phone propped up to her ear with her shoulder. She would be talking going to the shower, coming back from the shower, while doing homework, while trying to go to bed, but the boy would just not let her rest. She even broke up with him in order to get him to stop the endless, continuous phone call, but to no avail. This continued throughout the following semester, and, the few times I saw her in the beginning of last year, the phone was still plastered to her face. 

Today, on the bus, there was no phone. Instead, there was a guy. A different guy. Probably a football player or track runner based on the Nike athletic backpack with a number embroidered on it. 

And no phone.

I'm insanely happy for her. Happy that she finally got herself out of that terrible, life-sucking relationship, and found herself [what looks like] a stable, healthy relationship. 

Congratulations, Kiara.

Life has a lot to give, and now you are free to take it.

Best Wishes,

Your Former Roomie