Private Finished They Say it Began with a Poster

Ellyn had just walked into her new dorm room. One side had already been taken, and she studied it for a second to determine the type of person she would be spending her days with. WWith a casual shrug, Ellyn immediately set out to setting her side of the room up.

She used bright colored posters of pink, yellow, blue, and green to decorate her one and a half walls of space and got her pink comforter from her suitcase to replace the one the school provides for you. Yes, she was going to completely brighten up this side of the room and make it hers. She wouldn't be able to rest until she did.

One poster remained when she was done, with no space left on her wall to put it. It was of a piece of cheesy stating: "Don't Be Afraid to Be Cheesy" because sometimes Ellyn was a little weird.

She looked at her ceiling and debated whether or not she could put the poster up there. She wasn't certain if she was even allowed to have posters on the wall, but she had already done it, so...

With a huff, she climbed onto her bed and attempted placing the poster on the ceiling directly over where her head would be. But she with gravity working against her the task felt nigh impossible.

She muttered angrily under her breath. "Come on you — Just stay up there! Ugh. Stop."

Ellyn immediately went quiet the moment she heard someone call out. She stiffened and very slowly climbed off the bed, the poster falling in a pile on her newly made bed as a result.

"It's, uh, my dorm too," Ellyn said as she turned to see who she was talking to. "I'm Ellyn. Ellyn Korvyn."

The door was open a crack, just enough to see part of her new roommate. Ellyn gave a relaxed smile and stepped to the door, a peppy bounce to her step. She swung it open, so she was standing directly in front of Emily, and thrust a hand out to shake Emily's.

Ellyn's eyebrows raised as she noted the girls cheerleading uniform, sweat, towel, and duffle bag.

"Oh. How rude of me. Do you want me to bring the bag in for you? Did you just get off practice, you must be tired."

Ellyn's smile turned strenuous, but intimidated was hardly the word someone could describe the look in her eyes as.

"Right. Well," Ellyn shrugged a shoulder, trying to come off detached and not offended, "sorry to say the staff decided this is where I'm gonna be. I'm here now, and as you can see, I've already started setting up my side of the room." Ellyn turned to the side to motion to her half-made side of the bedroom. "I'm not going to take it all down and trudge around trying to find a different room. Sorry, but not sorry."

"I'm not leaving, okay?" Ellyn said sharply, sharper than she had meant to.

Was this really how it was going to be? Was her roommate going to be a complete and utter ass?

"If you don't want to be stuck with me, why don't you move?" Indignation had colored the bridge of her nose and upper cheeks red.

Ellyn wanted to ask who exactly this girl thought she was, taking it for granted that Ellyn would just pack up and leave because some cheerleader said so. Ellyn wanted to ask it, but she knew rationally that going off like that would be an overreaction.

She sorely wished how upset she was hadn't showed on her cheeks or the way her eyes moistened a little. She hated it, but she teared up when angry. It was something she had gotten from her mother.

Ellyn was still flustered about the whole thing, and she might have gotten more angry will Emily told her 'you can stay' as if it were her decision. Yet ...There was a plea in her voice. Please was not something someone bossy said. Please was something someone desperate said.

Ellyn wasn't sure what to do or what to say. She was too upset to question this odd behaviour, but she was too curious to stomp her foot and leave.

"Okay," she said softly, thoughtfully. "Okay. Thank you."

Ellyn didn't move right away. She stood awkwardly and looked around the room. When she felt she had composed herself, she quickly wiped her face and went back to attempting to put the poster above her bed.

No matter what she tried, she couldn't manage. Ellyn was growing more and more frustrated by the moment, but she wasn't about to ask her roommate for help. She was pretty sure her roommate wanted nothing to do with her.

Finally, she sighed and with a heavy groan fell back on her bed, the poster drifting to the floor.

Ellyn gave up on the poster for now and stepped out into the living room. At the question, she went and stood by the arm of the couch.

"New York, the state, not the city." She usually had to clarify that, because people always made that assumption. "You?"

She asked the question out of politeness, but when she noticed Emily holding the controller to a game system she said, "Mind if I play with you?"

She assumed she should ask the question before Emily turned it on and began, so she wouldn't have to wait.

"You mean like Mario?" Ellyn asked. It was the "kid" game to her.

At least, it was the one her grandparents had taught her how to game with. The only more childish game Ellyn could think of was played on pads and meant for tiny children.

"How long ago was your other roommate here?"

Ellyn thought it was a little weird that Emily would have kept a game system from her other roommate if she didn't use it, but really she thought it was most damning that Emily was holding the controller. Unless Emily liked child games? Or maybe Emily just didn't like Ellyn and didn't want to play or share anything with her. Thus far, the evidence had pointed to the latter.

Ellyn stared at Emily for a good minute. The look in her eye was unfathomable.

Carefully, Ellyn said, "Emily, what did you say your powers were?"

Something felt off to Ellyn. She didn't quite know what it was, but she had learned to listen to instinct.