The Plunge

College times had come for Claire, and she was in her freshman year at a University 3 hours from her hometown. She had selected this University mainly for the academics and spatial layout of the campus. As far as the human dynamics of this University went, she felt pretty much at ease. With some guidance and intuition, she knew to be generally accepting but also that people don't always get along with one another.

Claire and Annabelle were roommates. Claire was organized and Annabelle preferred a neat and tidy space. Claire was a design major and Annabelle was a business major. They both went to their respective majors each school day, and did their own things on the weekends. When Claire asked Annabelle about her day, Annabelle gave Claire a passing nod and asked Claire why she never did anything for fun. But when Annabelle asked Claire a question, Annabelle portrayed herself like a mother hen nosing and pushing her baby chick around. This tested Claire's patience and prompted her to hang around the design studio even more. Eventually, Annabelle caught on when Claire would come home late in the evening. What Annabelle didn't figure out is that if the roommate situation was only for one year term, Claire didn't want to move out halfway through the school year and toughed it out because life in general doesn't always go as planned.

One day, Annabelle took inventory of her stockpile of food items and then accused Claire of eating her food. Claire looked at Annabelle like she was crazy. Claire had her own snacks, and besides Annabelle's food choices were loaded with sodium and preservatives.

Word got around in the dorm and others checked on both Annabelle and Claire. Claire remained consistent with her daily routine, and eventually Annabelle lost her mind dealing with Claire's patience.

One evening after Claire came home, some of her dorm mates were going to attend a party. One of them noticed Claire's outfit which was black leggings and a fitted sleeveless top. She immediately latched on to Claire and offered to do her makeup. Claire considered the offer and learned the party was around the block at a house the University owned. Claire let her dorm mate primp her for the party.

As Claire and the other dorm mates walked up to the house, it was relatively quiet from the outside. Once they entered, a moderate crowd of people were mixing and moving about. Red solo cups adorned table tops and bookshelves. Modern pop music played in the background. They could hear a couple of doors close from upstairs. Claire and her group nonchalantly moved towards the back porch, which was located off the kitchen. Claire felt someone goose her and she turned her head to see who the person was. She gave the person a once over with her eyes, and shyly reverted her head back facing the front. The other person playfully followed her around.

As soon as a large group of questionable people entered the house, Claire opened up to her gentleman follower. He seemed relieved but a little perplexed. They made small talk and seemed to hit it off. He asked her if she wanted to go somewhere quieter. She chose the front porch, but made it clear that she was not ready to leave the party yet. They continued to talk, and then he walked her back to her dorm. They embraced and she invited him upstairs to her room. He obliged. Once they entered her room quietly, they each slid onto her bed, and stretched out for the night.

The next morning, the new couple were sleeping soundly until they noticed Annabelle peering over them, staring wildly. Annabelle went off, and Claire flew out of the room to grab the Resident Advisor. Claire explained to the RA that Annabelle, too, had a boyfriend in which she brought to the room on a regular basis. Annabelle, in return, tried to back herself up with her antics. The RA clearly saw what the issue really was. Fortunately, Claire's new friend stayed by her side during the talk with the RA. Both girls were given options in how to resolve this dispute, and with a month left of the school year, it made it easy to resolve. Claire really had a lot of support from her dorm mates due to her laissez faire way of doing things. Claire eventually found a room off campus that was close to her design studio. Annabelle, on the other hand, eventually dropped out of the University and relocated.

Claire and her gentleman friend grew closer throughout college, and they acquired a group of friends. He was also a business major but focused on Marketing instead of Administration like Annabelle did.

He and Claire both regularly branched out on campus and each took a variety of classes. They agreed to meet for lunch every day, despite their busy schedules, and talk about current topics.

Graduation was vastly approaching for both Claire and Jacob. One day, after she had picked up her cap and gown from the campus bookstore, she was walking down the main outdoor corridor of campus when she looked down to read the chalk scribbles. It said, “from me in the Class of 2013, will you marry me?” This intrigued Claire and she meandered back home to her room. On her way into her building, she checked her mail and found a few envelopes inside the mailbox. One of the envelopes was bumpy. She grabbed the envelopes and went up to her room. After setting her stuff down on the table, she opened the bumpy envelope. Inside was a ring and a note that said “wear this ring and good things will happen.” Claire slipped the ring on. Then the phone rang. It was Jacob calling her to ask her about her day. Tears filled her eyes, and she took a sigh of relief, and wiped them away. They continued talking it seemed like forever.