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THE NERDIEST GIRL AT MONARCH
EVELYN
SUNLIGHT WARMS MY EYELIDS ASIAWAKEN.IT'S ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE, ALSO KNOWN ASbeautiful Monarch College.I throw back my covers and sit up, bare feet hitting the cold linoleum floor.
God, you are the epitome of ‘woke up like this,’grumbles my roommate, Annie Gilbert.She's lying on her back, still snuggled under her covers and scrolling through her phone.
Am I?I’m not quite certain of what that phrase means, but I don’t ask Annie to define it.She’s not a morning person, and I’ve already asked her enough cultural questions in the mere two weeks we’ve lived together.
I rise and pull on my satin robe, then look out the window.The campus spreads out before me with stone buildings, green lawns, and trees rustling in the September breeze.The charming town of St.Viola is visible just beyond campus.This is exactly where I've longed to be for years, and yet…my life still is not what I had hoped for.
I spent my entire life moving to different parts of eastern Europe while being homeschooled by my mother.I fervently believed that once I moved back to Minnesota, where my mother was born and where I visited my great-grandmother for years, that my life would fall into place.I’d get all the things I’d dreamed of: intellectually challenging classes, a best friend, a supportive group of friends, and even a boyfriend.
But so far, all I have is the classes, which haven’t even been difficult yet.I really like Annie, but I’m not sure how much she likes me back.
Want to go to breakfast together?I grab my toiletry kit, ready for my shower.
She groans, but I know she’ll be ready by the time I get back.Annie and I were assigned to be roommates on the basis of a very rudimentary questionnaire, but we do have a lot in common.We both enjoy crafting,Gilmore Girls, and the Brontë sisters.Still, there’s a barrier between us.Annie is prickly and opinionated, so fingers crossed that her final judgement of me will be positive.
I skip out of our room and run straight into a guy.
Blyn,I squeak.I'm still not used to living in Humphrey Hall, where I can encounter men before my first coffee.There's no way that my father knew that my residence was going to be co-ed, or he would have insisted I upgrade my robe game to something armoured.
It's our next-door neighbour, Dan.He blinks at me.He's wearing only pajama pants and a towel around his neck.This is the first bare male chest I've seen close up, and frankly, it's a little disappointing.Dan is concave in places that I expected to be convex, and that sprinkle of reddish hair looks like something he forgot to rinse off.I drop my gaze and end up looking at his striped crotch.Gah, I don't want to look there either!
What did you say?Bleep?he asks.
I meant to say hi,I lie, to cover up my inadvertent Slavic exclamation.I mess up in moments of stress or surprise, which means that I would make a terrible asset.I mumble an apology as I rush into the communal bathroom, and lock the door before realizing that this is exactly where Dan was headed.Luckily there are several identical bathrooms that he can choose from.
I wash away my embarrassment in the shower.On my way back, the hall is blessedly empty.
Annie is now wearing a purple Monarch sweatshirt over her pajamas with her strawberry-blonde hair up in messy bun.One way that we differ is in our opinions of what constitutes a public wardrobe.Other than the unlucky Dan, nobody gets to see my sleepwear.I lay out my outfit for the day: white blouse, pink mohair cardigan, and black satin pants.
Evelyn.
Yes?I turn around, and Annie is right there with hands on her hips.
I dare you to wear your pjs to breakfast.
My eyes widen.That wouldn’t be proper.My father instilled the importance of public appearances in me, and I’ve never deviated from it.But clothing is so casual here.Students even wear pajama pants to early classes.
Who cares?Look, the whole time we’ve lived together, you’ve been ridiculously perfect.You look beautiful from the moment you wake up, you’re nice to everyone, and you never say anything bad about people.Not even Vanessa.She names the snobbiest woman on our residence floor.You study like a maniac, and I’ve never seen you drink.I want to get to know the real Evelyn.
Well, if wearing pajama pants is the way to Annie’s heart, I’ll do it.She’s grumpy and bossy, but I admire her decisiveness.
I still put on my bra and panties of course, then don my best floral cotton pajamas from a Paris department store.I add a Monarch sweatshirt that matches Annie’s.
This is more like it,Annie declares.She puts her arm through mine and we stomp in unison down the hallway, giggling the whole time.It’s exactly the silliness I had hoped for from female friendships.
The cafeteria at Humphrey Hall is only half-full, and nobody notices my casual attire.We line up to get our meals.I have oatmeal exactly as I did at home, but now I top it with a sprinkle of Honey Nut Cheerios, the cereal my Nan used to buy for me when I visited her here.I fill my stainless tumbler with black coffee, the elixir of life.
We sit down across from each other.I inhale the earthy scent of coffee and then take a long sip.Ah, now I am fully awake.
So, Annie wants me to gossip?I scrunch up my nose.I saw Dan’s naked chest on my way to the shower.
She leans forward.How was it?
