My Roommate Is A Tomboy

Hello Again, Old Buddy

A couple of weeks passed after the dramatic event. I wasn't my usual self anymore. The only thing that I would do when I'm not feeling depressed is wishing I'd never come to this university. Ella had taken my message well. Jenny had gotten better. I heard they started dating. Lucky Jenny! Lena and Courtney kept telling me I did the right thing. But now I wasn't sure if I had done the right thing when all that I'd been feeling is emptiness and loneliness. It's amazing how anyone could become so attached to one particular person in a world full of people. Ella hasn't been the same either. She wasn't as warm to me as she used to be. And why not? I'd given her enough reasons to be not. I guess she also realized that I'm a hopeless case and it would be better if i was left alone.

Sometimes I tell myself I'm okay. That the sadness will pass. But i know I'm only fooling myself. Because everytime I see them together, laughing and having fun, I'm reminded of what I'd given away. It could have been me beside her, laughing with tears in my eyes. They had become the hot campus news. It breaks me a little more everytime I hear their names on people's lips. I saw lesser and lesser of Ella. It even came to a point where I see her only for a brief moment in the morning before we leave for classes. Ella had vaguely mentioned a couple of times about moving out to a separate room. And i couldn't blame her. It hurts living in the same room with the person you love whom you can't have.

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon. Much like my first day when I was waiting for my roommate to be. I was outside. Nostalgia hit hard. I found my feet taking me to an all too familiar place. Star Cafe. I'd been so caught up in self pity that I haven't had much time to even go out and have fun on my own. Just like the first day, it was empty. I guess everyone was out having fun in the town.

"Hello dear, " came a sweet voice with Spanish accent.

"Hey, " I tried to smile. I felt like I'd forgotten how to smile.

"How are you? " she said. "I haven't seen you in so long. "

"im fine thank you, " I replied.

"Coffee?"

"That'd be great, thanks," I agreed.

The machine whirred solitarily in the lonely cafe. Some moments later, the woman brought my coffee mug to the table I was sitting at. She lowered the mug on the table and gently pushed it towards me while peering at me intently.

"Are you okay?" She asked in a gentle voice.

I tried to laugh away her question but she remained serious.

"Your face tells me you're not," she insisted. "You look as pale as a ghost. Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Thank you for your concern, Mrs. ...

"It's Monica. Monica Dubois."

"Dubois..." I repeated and started spacing out...

Ella. Ella Dubois.

"Are you okay dear?"

Monica's voice shook me back to reality.

"Funny," I shrugged. "I had a Dubois as my roommate."

Monica opened her mouth to reply but before she could speak, I let a heavy sneeze out. Once. Twice. Thrice. My nose felt tingly all over.

"I think there's something around here that I'm allergic to," I said, holding in another sneeze.

"What could it possibly be?" She wondered, looking around. I sneezed a couple more times. I needed an escape. Suddenly she started ranting in rapid French eyeing something behind my chair.

"Oscar, Où étais-tu tout ce temps-là? Je t'ai cherchée partout. As-tu mangé les biscuits?"

"Oscar!?" I spun around and saw a black cat walking towards me like a royal.

"La merde!" She exclaimed suddenly. "Are you allergic to cats?"

"Oscar!" I exclaimed, despite my growing allergic reaction. I'd never been so excited in my life to see a cat.

"You've met Oscar before?" Monica's eyes widened in surprise.

As much as I would have loved to stare into the cats green eyes, Monica insisted taking him away before he does more harm to me that good. Lifting the cat off of the floor, she tucked him neatly in her arms. Oscar meowed and kicked in protest as she walked off and disappeared through the door behind the counter.

Questions whirled in my head. However, one thing was too clear. Monica and Ella. Dubois. Both of them. And Ella's banished cat lives here now. They're related. But in what way? How? I couldn't wait for Monica to come back.