The Love Story Series is my journal of the events that led to Eric and I falling in love. You can find all the Love Story chapters here.
My first thought was that, in my sleep deprived state, I must have dragged myself into the wrong room, or even worse, the wrong house! I froze for a moment, absolutely panicked that I was about to get shot by the person whose home I had inadvertently broken into.
Without moving a muscle, I scanned the room with my eyes. The cold moonlight shone through the wall of windows, illuminating a small folding table topped with a desktop computer, and a scuffed dark wooden dresser that had belonged to my parents’ bedroom set. This was definitely my bedroom, which meant, there was person in MY bed!
From the smell, I could tell it was a person who’d had way too much to drink, and from the size, I could tell it was definitely a man.
Not wanting to wake the sleeping giant who’d invaded my space, I began to oh so slowly inch my way out of the bed. First I snaked one leg out from under the thin Rainbow Bright sheet I’d had since elementary school. I tried not to sigh with relief when my foot found the floor, feeling that as long as I had one foot securely on the ground, I was in a better position to run or fight or do whatever was necessary to ensure my safety.
I made little, barely perceptible, scoots with my torso until I was carefully balanced on the edge of the bed, then used my planted foot as an anchor to roll to the floor in a surprisingly graceful somersault. As I hit the ground, the bedsprings groaned in protest and I realized the strange man in my bed was sitting straight up and looking around the room in confusion.
Praying he wouldn’t look down, my hand that was closest to the bed slipped quickly underneath it and grasped the cold hard handle of the aluminum bat that I kept there for “unforeseeable circumstances”. I held perfectly still, filled with confidence that, if need be, I would beat the living daylights out of this guy.
It’s possible he thought he was in his own room, because he quickly slumped back onto the pillow muttering, “Stupid cat.” We didn’t have a cat.
When I heard his breathing return to a slow and steady pace, I stood up, thankful for the ballet training that made me so light on my feet. I grabbed a couple changes of clothes and silentlystuffed them into a backpack with my phone, wallet and keys, the bat never leaving my hand. Then I slipped out the door, ran to my car and drove a few blocks away before pulling over, realizing that my hands were shaking too badly to drive safely.
I knew exactly how that could have ended. I’d been in situations before that hadn’t gone so well. I was furious, but knew confronting my roommate wouldn’t make a difference. The only way to change things was to move out.
But I didn’t know how. I was stuck in a lease, and even if I could get out of it, I didn’t know where I’d go. For now, I was too tired to think about it. I reclined my seat, and curled up in a fetal position, deciding that tomorrow was a new day and might bring me some answers.
