Still, I was unprepared. All of my Samhain plans, detailing where things would be set up on the greenway, and Ryan’s perfectly comprehensive checklists of our decorations were yanked from where they had been organized on my desk. Decorations were torn apart. Pieces scattered all over the carpet. Candles were toppled. The glass windows of the lanterns I’d planned on lining the path with were cracked and shattered. Everything I’d kept safe here in my closet or under my bed, where it wouldn’t be in the way, it was all there. Ruined.
My mouth hung as I took in the view, turning my head to meet Natalie’s eyes that went back and forth between the mess and me.
She stood in the doorway, her arms crossed over one another. Next to her was the friend who had stopped me the other day, as well as our RA and an administrator. I remembered her from student housing the first time Natalie and I had gone to see if there were any other single rooms available at the start of the year. Her eyes scanned the room before they finally landed right back on me.
Lauren raised her eyebrows, cocking her head to the side.
The world paused. Gone was the thrill and delight I’d had, rushing around campus from the party with Ryan. It turned into thick guilt that coated the inside of my throat and dripped toward my stomach, sinking.
“What is going on?” I asked. I stepped into the room, shrugging beside Lauren to the RA, who was glancing around.
Lauren nudged Natalie, sending her into stuttered-out syllables.
Finally, Lauren, Natalie’s good friend, took over for her. “Natalie told you to stop bringing all your weird stuff into your room. Did you know that things like your candles and some of your decorations are forbidden? Not to mention the essential oils or your salt lamp, which could easily cause an allergic reaction to other residents. These aren’t allowed, are they?”
The RA looked as much at a loss for words as Natalie.
It wasn’t the two of them—I knew that. But the fact that they even entertained this, that this was going on at all when everyone else was out, living life and participating in homecoming, like I had been for the first time felt like a knife, slowly sliding into my gut.
I clenched my teeth tight.
There was nothing I could say, and a dark laugh was starting to bubble up in my chest, if only so that the wave of emotion going through me wouldn’t pulse behind my eyes. That would be even worse.
With a deep breath, the woman from housing gave a short nod. “I understand that this might not be expected, especially not today, Ms. Pierce, yes?”
I gave a sharp nod.
“Unfortunately, you have violated the housing code that you signed at the start of the year. It did state that items like the candles are prohibited, as they could, as Lauren mentioned, pose a hazard in such an old building such as this one,” she explained.
“I did not leave my things like this. These items were for an organized event on campus.”
Blinking, the housing woman paused, as if she hadn’t known this, looking at the others in the room. “Oh, I—”
“Either way, she isn’t allowed to have these things. My friend’s living situation has become inhabitable, both emotionally and physically,” Lauren cut in.
“There have been complaints in the past between the two of you,” the housing office woman said. “This is true. I’m here to let you know that you will have the next forty-eight hours to clean out your things. I will find you another placement, but there will be consequences put in effect due to the three strikes you already have from previous incidents with your roommate. If you have questions, please stop by my office on Monday.”
Without further ado, the housing woman made her way out, her night obviously interrupted for no reason.
Lauren didn’t wait long after the woman made it out the door along with our RA. “Too bad. Looks like your weird Halloween party that you and Ryan were trying to put on in the quad isn’t going to happen. It can’t, after all, with those consequences the woman from housing mentioned. They include participating in on-campus clubs and events—in case you didn’t know. Sad, after everything that you did to try to make it happen.”
She had no idea.
“How does it feel, Lu, to have everything fall down around you and no one care?”
Anger flared deep in my stomach, all the way up through my neck and into my face. “What is wrong with you?”
“I like to follow the rules.” Lauren glanced away, looking at the walls. “I’m just doing exactly what everyone else expects me to do as a good BU student.”
“Be a complete bitch?”
“At least I’m not a bitch witch who goes around pretending that they are someone they aren’t. You’ve been sticking your nose into business and people who don’t belong to you.”
“People don’t belong to anyone,” I insisted.
“Maybe not. But rooms certainly do. And this one is owned by BU.”
I closed my eyes, clenching my fists on either side. I couldn’t stand to look at all the things I’d been storing for Samhain. They were ruined. My housing in the old yet strangely homey building, tucked into the trees, no longer felt like a sanctuary. I could, on the other hand, look at Natalie, who had been oddly quiet this entire time. “And what about you?”
