MY HANDSOME ROOMATE

Starving

The room grew quiet after that.

Not the comfortable kind of quiet where two people sit peacefully doing their own thing. This was the awkward, careful kind—like both of us were trying not to exist too loudly in the same space.

Ethan sat at his desk scrolling through his phone while I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling.

Every now and then one of us would shift, and the other would glance up for half a second before quickly looking away.

It was strange sharing a room with someone who was basically a stranger.

Eventually I rolled onto my side and picked up my phone.

There was one message I had been avoiding all day.

Ryan.

Just seeing his name made something twist in my chest.

Ryan and I had broken up two months ago, right before graduation. Everyone kept telling me college would help me move on, that being in a new place would make everything easier.

But somehow the distance just made me miss him more.

I opened our chat.

The last message was from him the night before I left for college.

Good luck tomorrow. Hope you like your roommate.

I stared at the message for a long time.

Funny how life worked.

My roommate situation had turned out to be the exact opposite of normal.

My thumbs hovered over the keyboard.

I knew I shouldn’t text him.

Everyone says you’re supposed to move forward after a breakup, not keep going back. But feelings don’t disappear just because they’re inconvenient.

Before I could change my mind, I typed.

You would not believe who my roommate is.

I stared at the message for a moment before hitting send.

Across the room, Ethan was still on his phone. He leaned back in his chair and shook his head slightly, like something he was reading annoyed him.

A second later he started typing quickly.

I tried not to look, but curiosity got the better of me.

“Bad news?” I asked before I could stop myself.

He looked up, slightly surprised that I had spoken.

“Not really,” he said. “Just my friend being dramatic.”

I nodded and looked back at my phone.

Ryan hadn’t replied yet.

That wasn’t unusual. He had always been the type to respond whenever he felt like it, not when someone expected him to.

Still, I kept checking the screen every few seconds.

Across the room, Ethan’s phone buzzed.

He snorted quietly.

“What?” I asked.

He turned the phone slightly toward me.

“My friend thinks I’m lying.”

“About what?”

“That I’m sharing a dorm with a girl.”

I almost smiled.

“What did you tell him?”

“That housing messed up,” Ethan said. “Which they did.”

His phone buzzed again.

He read the message and laughed under his breath.

“What now?” I asked.

“He said, ‘Bro, you either won the roommate lottery or you’re about to die.’”

I actually laughed this time.

“Which one do you think it is?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Still deciding.”

Another silence settled in after that.

Outside the window, the campus was slowly getting darker as evening approached. Students were still moving around outside, laughing and carrying boxes, but the hallway in our dorm had quieted down.

I checked my phone again.

Still nothing from Ryan.

My chest tightened a little.

Maybe he was busy.

Maybe he just didn’t care.

Finally, the screen lit up.

Ryan: What do you mean who your roommate is?

My heart immediately started beating faster.

I sat up slightly on the bed.

Long story, I typed. But apparently my roommate is a guy.

Three dots appeared instantly.

Then disappeared.

Then appeared again.

I waited.

Across the room, Ethan’s phone buzzed again.

He groaned.

“My friend won’t drop it,” he said.

“What’s he saying now?” I asked.

Ethan read the message out loud.

“‘If she murders you in your sleep, I’m telling everyone I warned you.’”

I shook my head. “Wow. Your friend sounds very supportive.”

“He’s been watching too many crime documentaries,” Ethan said.

My phone buzzed again.

I looked down quickly.

Ryan: A guy? Seriously?

I typed back.

Yeah. My actual roommate switched rooms with her friend.

A few seconds passed before his reply came.

Ryan: That’s weird.

I stared at the message.

Weird.

That was all he had to say.

For some reason I had expected more. Maybe a joke. Maybe concern. Maybe even jealousy.

But Ryan had never really been the jealous type.

Across the room, Ethan suddenly stretched his arms.

“I’m starving,” he said. “Do you know where the dining hall is?”

I shook my head.

“No idea. I got lost twice just trying to find this building.”

He laughed slightly.

“Same.”

We looked at each other for a moment, both realizing the same thing.

Neither of us knew anyone here yet.

Neither of us knew the campus.

And neither of us had a normal roommate situation.

Ethan stood up and grabbed his hoodie.

“Well,” he said awkwardly, “I’m going to try to find food before I accidentally starve on the first day.”

I nodded.

“Good plan.”

He paused at the door.

“Uh… if you need the room or anything, I can stay out for a while.”

I frowned slightly.

“It’s your room too,” I said.

He hesitated for a second, then nodded.

“Right. Yeah. Still getting used to that.”

When he left, the room felt strangely quieter.

I lay back on my bed and stared at my phone again.

Ryan hadn’t sent another message.

I sighed and locked my screen.

College was supposed to be a fresh start.

New people.

New life.

But somehow, on the very first night, I was still thinking about the past.

And across the hall—or maybe somewhere on campus—was a guy who had accidentally become my roommate.

A complete stranger.

Though something told me that living in the same room meant he probably wouldn’t stay a stranger for long.