Asylum (12 page)

            “No!”
Chloe almost shouted.  “Don’t you get it?  I’ve been crazy.  Is it so hard to
understand why I might not want to hear something or see something that
shouldn’t be there?”

            Sam
colored instantly and her mouth fell open.  She nodded her head.

            “I
forgot,” she soothed, “really, I forgot.  I do understand.  Look, I’ll…I’ll get
my cross out and we’ll hang it over the door, okay?”

            “What
good is that going to do?” Chloe sighed.

            “Well
my Grandma, she’s Irish, and she hangs crosses above all the doors in her house
because she says it keeps out the evil spirits, and I have a cross in my
drawer, it’s the one she hung over my bed when I was little.  We’ll hang it up
tonight, it might help,” Sam explained.

            “Fine,
whatever,” Chloe agreed dismissively. “What time are you done today?”

            “Not
‘til four, but I have a break between ten and noon.  I’ll probably just go to
the library.  I still don’t want to hang out in the room by myself, even in the
daytime.  What about you?” Sam asked.

            “Done
at two today,” Chloe said.

            “You
want to meet in the caf, like at ten after four?” Sam suggested.

            Chloe
nodded.

            The
bus came to a stop in front of Kells Hall and the girls got off.  Kells Hall,
which housed most of the psychology department, couldn’t have been more
different from their dormitory.  Built sometime in the sixties, it was supposed
to look ultra-modern for its time, with a roof that sloped downward
dramatically on one side until it almost touched the ground, giving the
building a slightly off-centered look.  The walls of the building were entirely
glass, and the large front lobby that Chloe and Sam walked into was filled with
natural light.  So much so, that there were two large, rectangular, chrome
planters towards the center of the lobby filled with thriving ferns and one
large fichus tree apiece. 

            It
was still early.  They could see right away that the doors to the lecture halls
hadn’t been unlocked, since a few early-rising students were already there,
sitting against the walls.  A couple of them leaned back with closed eyes and
blank faces, listening to Ipods and sipping at coffee in styrofoam cups or
thermoses.  Others leaned over books or notes industriously, readying
themselves for class.

            Sam
and Chloe walked down a short, wide hallway and found an empty wall across from
the locked double doors of their classroom.  Chloe nibbled on her dry bagel. 
Sam set her coffee down and smacked her knee.

            “Forgot
my paper!” she shrugged.

            “I’ve
got an extra,” Chloe offered.

            “That’s
nice and all, but I think if we turned the same paper in, we’d both get zeros,”
Sam explained patiently.

            “No…I…uhhh…it’s
a different…uhhh” Chloe tried to think of an excuse, “See, I wrote two papers,
because I wasn’t sure which one I wanted to turn in.”

            Sam
turned to stare at her quizzically.

            “Can
I see it, please?” Sam asked.

            “Ummm,”
Chloe stalled.

            “Can
I see the paper please?” Sam asked again, snapping her fingers.

            Chloe
fumbled around in her book bag until she found the paper and handed it to Sam. 
Sam glanced at it and raised an eyebrow in mock surprise.

            “Your
extra paper already seems to have my name on it,” Sam observed.

            “Ummmm,”
Chloe said.

            “So
this was why you told me I didn’t have to go to class last night?” Sam asked,
“You were just going to turn this in without asking me or anything?”  Sam began
to read: ‘
My innate desire to help others made me choose a career path that
will
,
with hard work, lead to a position as a doctor.  Psychology, the
study of the human mind, will aid me in the understanding and treatment of my
future patients
…’ Oh my God, could you be any cornier?” Sam snorted.

            “Well,
I couldn’t let you turn in your paper…I mean, really!  I was just trying to
look out for myself!  If you get kicked out of school because you fail all your
classes I’ll probably get stuck with another roommate, and that would suck! 
Who knows what I might wind up with?  It’d probably be some annoying girl who
just wants to drink and party all the time and tease me about Seth, and get me
involved in crazy schemes with ghosts and crap!” Chloe explained with a
straight face. 

            Sam
smiled and shook her head.  A janitor pushing a loud squeaky-wheeled cart,
loaded with cleaning supplies ambled down the hall toward them.  The janitor
stopped and grabbed a jangling key ring that probably weighed as much as a
cannonball and unlocked the doors of their classroom.

            The
girls stood and grabbed their bags.

            “Alright. 
But don’t make a habit out of it, okay?” Sam demanded.

            Chloe
shrugged complacently as they walked in.

*          *          *

            Chloe’s
fist hovered a few inches from the door.  She stopped to listen.  It sounded
like there might have been movement on the other side.  Some small sort of
rustling, but now it was completely silent.  She tapped on the door again.  He
might be sleeping, she thought.  He had been up all night and he did have an
early morning class.  He could have come home and gone to bed, or he might not
even be there.  He might be at another class.  Her hand dropped to her side and
she glanced warily down the hall towards her own door.  It looked the same as
all the other doors, except that Sam had written their names with a fancy black
calligraphy pen on light purple cardboard and hung it in the middle.  She was
going to have to go and wait for Sam in the cafeteria.  Two hours of sitting in
the caf did not sound appealing.

            The
door cracked open, and Chloe jumped.  Seth blinked a few times and smiled
sleepily at her.

            “Well,
well, it’s one of those rabble rousers from 237.  Waking up your neighbors
again, I see,” he said.

            “What
are you talking about?”

            Seth
yawned and went back inside, leaving the door open.  Chloe took it as an
invitation to follow.

            Seth
threw himself into a grungy-looking leather recliner, and pointed at a rolling
chair by his desk, meaning she should sit.  Chloe noticed that he was
shirtless, wearing only a pair of black and burgundy plaid flannel pajama
bottoms.  She flushed, and trying to look anywhere but at his chest, she glanced
hopefully around the room.

            “Y-you
don’t have a roommate,” she stuttered.

            “Yup,
one of the many perks of being an R.A., private rooms and,” he added yanking
his head to indicate a door behind his chair, “private bathrooms.”

            “Lifestyles
of the rich and famous…” Chloe observed.

            “So
what brings you all the way down to my neck of the woods?” he clasped his hands
behind his head and leaned back in his chair.

             If
Sam were here, she’d be rolling her eyes at me right now, Chloe thought.  He
had to know what his body looked like, he had to do something to make it look
that good, so undoubtedly he knew she’d want to look. He
was
kind of
showing off, wasn’t he?

            “I…see…umm”
Chloe mumbled, turning redder all the time.

            “You
need me to put a shirt on?” he guessed.

            “No!
I mean, I…uhhh…if you want…not like…like it bothers me or anything,” she
stuttered, staring embarrassedly at her feet.

            Seth
leaned forward and snatched a wadded up t-shirt off the floor.  While he pulled
it over his head, Chloe took a deep breath and tried again.

            “Our
light burnt out…me and Sam’s…in our room, this morning.  I thought maybe you
were the one I was supposed to tell, I didn’t know,” Chloe tried to sound
nonchalant.

            He
nodded.

            “So
that’s what all the screaming was about then?” he asked.

            “Oh,
y-you heard that?” Chloe faked a laugh.

            “No,
I was dead to the world at the time, but your neighbor heard it and came down
and banged on my door at eight o’clock in the morning to complain.  He was kind
of a dick about it.”

            “Yeah,
it, freaked us out a bit,” Chloe made an attempt at a smile.

            “I’ll
get someone to replace it,” he said.

            Chloe
looked around the room. 
Make conversation
! She ordered herself.  Seth’s
room was helpful enough, it seemed to suggest lots of topics.  His desk was
covered in stacks of books that she couldn’t quite make titles out on.  His
Ipod sat on top of one of the stacks.  An old green-shaded lamp sat on the far
corner, and a laptop in the center.  His bed was a rumpled up mess of solid
grey sheets and blue quilt.  It looked like his shelves held more books, a
framed newspaper clipping and what might have been a photo album.  In front of
his chair, an old TV and Wii game system sat against the wall.  Stacks of video
games were ranged about the floor.  The room, she noticed, was carpeted, in a
very new-smelling and clean-looking tan shag.  On the wall above his chair hung
a framed poster of the previous years’ Birch Harbor College hockey team.  She
noticed then the hockey stick leaning against the wall in the corner of his
room, and his skates beneath it.  Next to that, an electric guitar, a pile of
cords and wires, and a small amplifier.

            “You
play guitar?” she asked, cringing immediately afterwards, because it occurred
to her that he might be one of those guys that would pick it up and start
playing, just because someone asked if he could.

            “Not
well,” he admitted, “Do you?”

            “No. 
I took violin lessons.  I used to play a lot, but not so much anymore,” she
rambled. 
Stop talking like an idiot!
her inner voice commanded.

           
“You…uhh…you
play, well, I know you play hockey, but has the season started yet?” She asked
wincing again.

            “Nope. 
Just practice.  The actual season starts in October and goes through March,” he
explained, “You should come to some games.  I could get you and Sam tickets.”

            “Oh,
definitely!  Yeah, I’d really like to…to see you play,” she smiled.

            “So
what do you think about this weekend?  Maybe going out to Pictured Rocks with
me?” Seth asked.

            “Oh
yeah, that.  Ummm…I…when were you thinking, like, what time?” Chloe asked
nervously.

            “I
don’t know, early afternoon?  It’s not that far.  I thought we could just do a
bit of walking.  They have boat tours too, and that really gives you a nice
view of the rocks, but I really like the forest there, and the lake itself. 
Have you seen Superior?  It’s really amazing.  It’s just so clean, it’s really
something.  You can look down and see everything, like individual rocks and
stuff.  It looks like you could reach down and pick them up, but really, it’s
so deep, and cold too!  Too cold for swimming already, unless you’re a native. 
The black flies know the difference, they only bite the tourists,” he smiled.

            “Black
flies?” Chloe wondered.

            “Yeah,
they’re kind of a pain in spots, but you get used to them.  I used to walk the
beaches and try to find Petoskey stones with my Grandpa,” he stopped abruptly,
“I’m boring the crap out of you, huh?”

            “No!”
Chloe argued, “No, not at all.  I like to hear you talk.  I really do…but I
forgot to talk to Sam, I don’t know if she’s got plans or anything.” 

            Seth
scrunched up his face, he opened his mouth like he was going to speak, but then
thought better of it, and then opened his mouth and closed it again.  At last,
it seemed, he made up his mind.

            “You…uhhh…you
understand that I’m asking you, right?  I mean, like a date?  I’m asking just
you to go somewhere…with just me,” he explained.

            “Oh!”
Chloe had not understood that part.

            “Look,
if you’re not interested…well, to be honest, I really can’t tell what you’re
thinking most of the time,” he grinned, “Sometimes I think maybe you like me,
and sometimes I think I’m just making an ass of myself, and really, if that’s
the case, I don’t want you to feel like-”

            “NO!”
she stopped him a bit too loudly, “No, tha-that’s fine.”

            “It’s
fine?” he asked her, still smiling awkwardly.

            “It’s
fine, to ummm…be interested because I...uhhh, I like you too and I think that
it would be uhhhh…great to uhh…do the whole…dating thing,” Chloe felt like
smacking her head repeatedly against the wall.