Abandoned and Stolen (based off true events)

It's the day I had been dreading for weeks. 

Laundry Day

I hated doing laundry. But there's only so long it can pile up before it starts falling out of the basket or smelling up the room. I think I would much instead prefer my room smell of lavender, not sweaty bras and tee shirts. Gathering up my laundry pods and basket, I began making my way to the basement of my dormitory.

The basement of my dorm wasn't as creepy as one might think unless you went down there during October. 

I entered the laundry room or hang out area, my earbuds in, humming along to Idina Menzel when I noticed that no one was in the place...at first. 

I shrugged it off, thinking that maybe no one was down there doing laundry at the time. There were days that the room was always busy, such as Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. So I always planned to go on a less working day such as Tuesdays and Thursdays. 

Then I rounded the corner.

There were several rules in my building, such as "Don't make any noise between midnight and 7 am" and "Be respectful of others." 

There was one rule I felt like was a no brainer. 

"When you do laundry, stay with it." 

It wasn't that hard to understand! But I guess it was for some people.

At least five washing machines were running—some with empty baskets on top, some with none.

I sighed, finding an available machine and began putting my clothes into it when out of the corner of my eye, I see her.

The laundry thief. 

She had a laundry basket in one hand, and with the other was shifting through clothes that were lying on the forgotten laundry table.

"What are you doing?" 

She freezes, slowly looking up at me, holding a shirt that read "99.9% sure I'm a princess", me with one earbud out, "Let it go," faintly filling the room. 

"Well?" I say, looking at her expectantly, one eyebrow raised slightly

"I'm...uh...grabbing my clothes." Thief replied

I study the shirt. It had to be at least two sizes too small for her. 

"Really?" I asked, starting to dig my hands into my jeans, trying to make sure there was no money in them. You could only lose so much money before learning a lesson. 

She nodded, but her eyes didn't meet mine but glued on my laundry. 

On top was a blue tee-shirt that had a cartoon it and below it read, "Don't make this girl mad, she'll kill you off in a story."

"Nice shirt," she smirked "Can I have it? It doesn't look like your size." 

The shirt was an extra-large. I was a medium, but I didn't feel the need to explain that to this girl.

"You know that's against the rules, right?" 

Thief scoffed in an unbelieving way.

"No, it's not!" 

I shook my head, rolling my eyes. 

"Yes, it is. You can't just take someone else's clothes." 

I was trying to keep a cool head, but inside, my temper was starting to rise. 

"I can." 

I slowly began counting backward from ten to keep a cool head.

"Ok, why do you think that?" 

"Because the clothes had been left in the dryer. Duh!" 

I shook my head 

"Look, they aren't yours, so you should just leave them there." 

It was her turn to roll her eyes. Then she looked at me with a smart alec look. 

"You're not in charge of me, you know. You're what 16?" 

I bit a smart comment of my own 

"Look, I'm 20. So, yeah, I can tell you what to do."

She began making little sob noises, which I didn't buy for one second. 

"My family *hic* doesn't have enough money to get me good clothes."

"Cut the crap," I muttered 

She shot a look at me, and I saw she had made herself have tears somehow. 

"It's true!" 

"If your family didn't have enough money to get clothes, they wouldn't have enough money to pay your tuition."  

She pretended to swallow back some tears. 

"What floor do you live on?"

"Why do you want to know that?" Thief snapped

"Because, after I do my laundry, I'm going to your floor and telling your RA what you're doing."

She giggled, suddenly in a more chipper mood.  

 "How are you going to do that without a name?"

"I'll tell them to look for a girl who suddenly had clothes that are not their size. " 

"Like my Ra will believe you. Besides, I can hide the clothes in my closet, and no one will ever know."

"You don't think your RA will check the closet?" 

She went quiet, staring at me.

"If I don't tell your RA, then I'll tell Kim," I said, trying to threaten her with the name of our RD. 

She wasn't trembling or making any facial expression, so I couldn't tell if my threats were getting through to her or not. 

"Why would you do that?"

"Because if I don't do it, someone else will." I pointed out.

"No one is brave enough to do that." 

"Wanna bet?" I asked, slamming the lid of the washing machine shut. 

I walked to her after setting my basket on top. 

"Look, I don't care if you think I'll go to Kim or your RA, but you have to consider what you're doing." 

"Like what?"

"you don't think people will get mad when they notice their laundry is gone." 

"Who cares?!" 

I looked her right in the eyes.

"I think deep down, you do." 

She scowled a little, looking away. 

"I didn't even want to come to this stupid school," she snapped "I didn't want to go to school in the first place." 

"Look, I don't care if you wanted to come here or not, but getting expelled is not the way to leave." 

I touched her shoulders gently 

"Go here, and a little be longer, at least until Winter Break, and decide if you want to leave then."

"Maybe. I 'll think about it." 

She turned sharply her laundry basket, which was full of stolen laundry, and left.

I never knew what happened to her, but I hope she learned her lesson