Jay:No, do you?
Aleeza:Well, not now, but yeah, eventually.
Jay:Husband, mortgage, and 2.5 kids. Or wife.
Aleeza:I’m straight. But isn’t all that—a family and a home, what everyone wants? Isn’t that the dream?
Jay:You’re a little naive, Roomie. Where are you from anyway?
Aleeza:Why does that matter?
Jay:It doesn’t. But we’re roommates. We should know about each other, right?
Aleeza: I was born in Toronto, but I grew up in Alderville. It’s a small town east of here on the Bay of Quinte.
Jay:I know it. Super white. My mom’s boss loaned us her cottage about twenty minutes from Alderville once. Amazing food around there. What was it like growing up in a tourist town?
Aleeza:It was fine.
It wasn’t always, but I don’t want to get into it.
Jay: Ithink you’ll change after you’ve been in the city longer. You have a boyfriend out there in your cute, small town?
Aleeza:I did. We broke up before I started university.
Jay:Proves my point.
Aleeza:What point does that prove? And what does a small town have to do with you being afraid of commitment?
Jay:My mom used to hang out in one of those all-white communities. Finding a happily ever after in a place you’re not supposed to be in is nearly impossible.
Aleeza:Are you saying I wasn’t supposed to be in Alderville, or you’re not supposed to be here at TCU?
Jay:Both. Neither.
Aleeza:You make no sense. Anyway, my parents are still happily married. And in Alderville.
Jay:I’ll bet they are. What do they do?
Aleeza:Mom’s a librarian. Dad’s an IT consultant.
Jay:Sounds idyllic.
I exhale. I don’t know why talking to Jay makes me feel exactly like I did the first time I took the subway alone in Toronto. Like everyone knows the unwritten etiquette that I’m clueless about. It’s probably not that necessary to get into all this personal stuff anyway.
Aleeza:I think I have enough to start with for now. I’ll talk to campus police and Gracie and let you know what they say.
Jay:Okay. Should we meet here tomorrow at eight again?
Aleeza:Okay. That works.
Jay:Bye Roomie.
Aleeza:Good night, Jay.
NINE
The next morning I get dressed in all my winter gear, but I don’t leave my room. I wait at my door with my eye on the peephole. When I hear Gracie’s door open and see her walking to the stairs, I rush out.
