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MidReal Story
Cuddles with My Hot Roommate
Scenario:Tina and I have lived together in the same dorm room for almost a year. We don't get along very well due to Tina's very complex character. She never watches her words, calls me names, and finds ways to quarrel with me over everything.
It’s 2 a.m. now, hours since our last fight. I’m lying in bed, trying to fall asleep, but insomnia keeps me awake. Suddenly, an awkward but quite loud knock is heard on the door.
Here the door opens a little and the top of Tina's head appears from there. "Are you sleeping? No? I knew you weren't sleeping." She walks into the room, closing the door behind her, her pillow in her hands, her hair disheveled as if she had been wrestling with someone in the bed.
"Look... Just don't laugh, okay, idiot. But can I sleep here tonight? I... I just can't. I need company, maybe a little cuddle, I feel calmer this way." Her face is slightly red, she looks at me with a calm and tired face. "Just don't think that I'm a small and helpless girl, got it, nerd?" She shifts awkwardly from one foot to the other and then adds "Well then...can I?"
Create my version of this story
Chanel Windsor
college student, roommate to Tina, average height with curly brown hair, introverted and analytical
Neil Jensen
mutual friend of Chanel and Tina, tall with glasses and a friendly smile
Tina Rodriguez
college student, roommate to Chanel, petite with straight black hair, outspoken and complex
I hated Tina.
No, that was an understatement.
I loathed Tina.
Then again, that was no better.
Let me try again.
Tina Rodriguez was the biggest pain in the butt I’d ever had the displeasure of meeting.
There, that fit.
The first time I’d laid eyes on each other, we’d disliked one another and unfortunately, that was still the case.
We were complete opposites.
Where she was dark, I was light.
Where she was loud, I was quiet.
Where she was outgoing, I was reserved.
I could go on and on but you get the picture.
Before coming to college, I’d been stuck in a box.
My high school experience consisted of always being in the AP classes and those classes were comprised of the same people.
I was smart and because of that, I had never really allowed myself to experience life, to open up and breathe.
Everything about me was average.
My height, my hair, even my clothes but I had hopes that all of that would change once I got to college.
I was going to be the girl who wore bright colors and had a million friends.
I was going to be the girl who made memories that would last a lifetime.
But then I met Tina and all of that went out the window.
She was a bitch.
She was mean.
She was cruel.
She was beautiful.
And she hated me.
I hated her too but I tried not to let it show.
I tried to be nice, to be friendly but she wouldn’t allow it.
She was a bitch and she loved being one.
So we lived in the same dorm room for almost a year and we never got along.
We fought about everything and nothing at the same time.
It was two o’clock in the morning now, hours since our last fight, and I was lying in bed, trying to fall asleep but insomnia had other plans for me. I stared up at the ceiling, my jaw clenched tightly as I tried to calm myself down but it wasn’t working.
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, my breathing coming out in short bursts as I tried to calm myself down but it wasn’t working.
I didn’t know how much more of this I could take before I lost it completely.
I didn’t know how much more of Tina I could take before I snapped and did something that I’d regret for the rest of my life.
Just as I was about to get out of bed and try to find something to do, an awkward but quite loud knock sounded on our door.
The door opened a little and the top of Tina’s head appeared from there.
"Are you sleeping? No? I knew you weren’t sleeping." She walked into the room, closing the door behind her, her pillow in her hands, her hair disheveled as if she had been wrestling with someone in the bed. "Look... Just don’t laugh, okay, idiot. But can I sleep here tonight? I... I just can’t. I need company, maybe a little cuddle, I feel calmer this way."
Her face was slightly red, she looked at me with a calm and tired face.
"Just don’t think that I’m a small and helpless girl, got it, nerd?"
She shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other and then added "Well then...can I?"
I stared at her hopeful face for a moment before nodding stiffly.
She crawled into my bed, her small frame curling against my side as she closed her eyes almost immediately.
I scooted over as much as I could in the narrow twin bed but there was only so much room.
The springs creaked under our combined weight and I could feel Tina’s tense body against my side.
Neither of us said anything for a few minutes, both pretending to sleep while we stayed painfully aware of each other’s presence.
Finally, her breathing evened out and I felt her slowly relax against my back.
The warmth of her body was a strange comfort in the darkness of the room.
Just as I was starting to drift off, a gentle knock sounded at the door.
"Everything okay in there?" came Lily’s concerned voice through the door.
"Yeah, we're fine," I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.
Tina shifted slightly and whispered, "Don't tell her I'm here, please."
I hesitated, then called back, "Just having a late-night chat, Lily. Thanks for checking in."
Lily’s voice was muffled as she moved away from the door.
"Okay, girls. Goodnight."
The beam of her flashlight flickered down the hallway and disappeared.
I turned back to Tina, who was still sleeping peacefully against my side.
I stared at her face for a moment, trying to make sense of her strange behavior tonight.
Why had she come to me?
What could be so bad that she’d needed company?
Tina was never one to show weakness or vulnerability, and this sudden change in her demeanor had me curious.
I glanced over at her side of the room, where her desk was covered in textbooks and papers.
Her backpack sat on the floor next to it, open and spilling its contents onto the carpet.
Fighting my conscience, I slowly extracted myself from the bed and crept over to her backpack.
Tina stirred but didn’t wake as I approached.
On silent feet, I padded across the floor and stopped in front of her backpack.
My heart was pounding as I reached down to unzip the main compartment.
I tried not to make a sound as I slowly opened the bag and peered inside.
A bunch of loose papers and textbooks spilled out onto the floor, followed by a few crumpled energy drink cans.
As I pushed them aside, I caught a glimpse of something different.
Between her calculus notebook and an empty can of soda, I saw the corner of what looked like aged parchment.
It was a strange thing to see in Tina’s backpack, especially since she was an engineering major, not an art student.
I hesitated for a moment before reaching in to pull it out.
As soon as I touched it, a strange tingling sensation ran up my arm and into my chest.
It felt warm to the touch, like it had been heated by some inner fire. Unfolding the parchment carefully, I saw that it was a hand-drawn map.
The paper was yellowed and rough to the touch, with a strange scent like sandalwood or something similar.
The map itself seemed to be of our campus, but there were many details that didn’t match anything I knew.
There were buildings marked on the map that I had never seen in person, and winding paths that didn’t seem to match any of the walkways or roads I’d seen on campus.
But what really caught my eye was the strange markings scattered across the map.
There were little symbols etched into the paper, looking like some sort of arcane language.
They clustered around certain areas of the map, including what looked like the library basement. As I stared at the map in confusion, footsteps creaked behind me from the direction of the bed.
I quickly shoved it back into Tina’s backpack and zipped it closed just as she sat up in bed.
She looked at me sleepily and muttered, "What are you doing?"
"I needed a drink," I replied quickly, holding up an empty water bottle from her desk.
Tina nodded sleepily and lay back down without another word.
I walked back to bed, feeling guilty for snooping through her things even though I couldn’t help but wonder what this strange map meant.
Just before climbing into bed, I pulled out my phone and snapped a quick picture of the map from memory before returning it to its hiding place in her backpack.
I lay back down, my mind racing with questions and possibilities, knowing that tomorrow everything would change.
I sat through my morning classes in a haze, unable to focus on anything except the strange symbols of the map etched into my memory.
The symbols seemed to dance across the pages of my textbooks and swirl around the faces of my professors.
Even the cafeteria food seemed to take on a sinister aspect, as if I could see the arcane language hidden in the patterns of grease on my plate.
During lunch, I pulled up the photo I’d taken of the map and compared it to the campus directory on my phone.
The library basement wasn’t listed anywhere official, but according to the map, there was a hidden entrance behind the reference section.
My hands shook slightly as I picked at my sandwich, trying to make sense of what I was seeing.
Just then, Neil waved at me from across the cafeteria, and I quickly shoved my notes under a pile of napkins. Part of me wanted to run over and tell him everything, but Tina’s vulnerable state last night held me back.
I didn’t want to risk exposing her secrets without her permission.
Instead, I gathered my courage and pushed away from the table, walking alone toward the library.
I gripped the straps of my backpack tightly as I descended the main stairs, feeling like a soldier preparing for battle.
The library was quiet this time of day, with only a few students scattered at tables throughout the main floor.
I walked past them, my eyes scanning the rows of shelves that lined the walls.
The reference section was tucked away in a corner, and I ran my fingers along the spines of the books as I searched for any hidden mechanism.
The books themselves were dusty and outdated, but as I looked closely at the wall behind them, I saw a faint rectangular outline etched into the paint.
It was barely visible, but it seemed to match the location of the entrance marked on Tina’s map.
Behind the row of outdated encyclopedias, I found a small brass handle, tarnished with age and blending perfectly into the wood paneling.
My hands shook slightly as I reached out to grab it, feeling like an archaeologist uncovering some long-lost treasure. With a deep breath, I pulled on the handle, expecting a hidden door to swing open and reveal some secret chamber beyond.
But nothing happened.
I pulled harder, feeling along the wall for any hidden catch or mechanism that might trigger the door to open.
But still, nothing moved.
Just then, footsteps echoed from the main aisle, growing louder with each passing second.
Panicked, I quickly replaced the encyclopedias and stepped back just as a librarian appeared around the corner.
The librarian's eyes met mine, and with a knowing smile, she whispered, "You're not the first to seek what's hidden here."