End of Term
Posted on Wed Jun 16th, 2021 @ 6:17am by Tamar Todd & Family
Mission:
The Factions
Location: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Timeline: Present
Heather Todd was just taping up the last of her boxes for storage when Vanida walked in.
“You packed already?” Heather asked her Thai roommate, looking around the bare room.
“Yep,” Vanida answered, flopping down on her bed, looking at Heather in her jeans and t-shirt that said I’D RATHER BE DOING MATH. “Plans for the summer?” she asked.
“I’m going to hike the Appalachian Trail down to West Virginia the first month,” Heather said. “Then it’s out to Arizona for an internship at the Vatican Observatory telescope there.”
“Wow,” Vanida said. “Back to Bangkok for me.” She rolled her eyes a bit. “So would rather go to Cali or Florida, but my parents are afraid staying in America will corrupt me,” she said with a giggle.
Heather rolled her eyes. “You’re about the most corrupt person I know,” she chuckled, marking the last box with a Sharpie and putting it with the others destined for storage rather than for shipping out to her sister in Arizona. “How did your finals go?”
“Nothing to embarrass my parents about,” Vanida said. “I was the good Asian student this semester.” She grinned. “Speaking of corruption…”
Heather looked up warily. “No,” she said.
“C’mon, Heather. You spent all semester avoiding any fun and only studying. You should come to the finals party tonight.”
“I don’t like parties,” Heather said, starting to load her boxes onto a pushcart. Unfortunately, with Vanida here she couldn’t use her telekinetic abilities openly. “They give me a headache.”
“You just don’t like fun,” Vanida accused. “Look, I’ll watch out for you,” she promised.
“You mean you’ll disappear into the crowd with some hot girl and leave me standing alone in the corner.” Heather picked up her iPod and pulled up “Here” by Alessia Cara.
“Only if she’s really hot,” Vanida said. “Like Stacy Adams hot.”
“You and everyone else,” Heather said, shaking her head. “Who’s hosting?”
“Stacy Adams.”
Heather rolled her eyes. “You just want into Stacy’s pants.”
“And you don’t?”
“I’m not gay.”
“Neither am I. Or so my parents think.” Vanida grinned.
Heather sighed. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?” she asked her roommate.
Vanida smirked. “I want to see you get drunk at least once.”
“No, you don’t,” Heather said, shaking her head. “Besides, I’m only twenty. I can’t drink.”
Vanida laughed. “You really are Miss Perfect, aren’t you?”
Heather bristled a little. It wasn’t that she was un-fun. She was an introvert, and people exhausted her. She had to keep up her mental shielding more around lots of people. It was why she was looking forward to hiking alone along the Appalachian Trail. Few people meant she could actually relax. Of course, it was her own decision to go to school in the densely populated Boston metro area.
“Fine,” Heather snapped, pushing back her dark brown hair and adjusting her glasses on her blue eyes. “I’ll go. But I’m not drinking.”
“Great!” Vanida said, laughing. “Finally! It only took an entire year to wear you down, Todd!” she teased. “Oh, but you should wear this.” Vanida pulled a t-shirt out of her back pocket and threw it to Heather. Heather unrolled it and looked at the writing.
I ONLY CARE ABOUT TWO THINGS: SEX AND MATH
“No,” Heather said. “My sister would kill me.”
“How will your sister know? Who cares about your sister?”
“The fire department.”
Vanida looked confused, her mouth open to say something, but the words were not there. “...”
“Nevermind,” Heather said. “Old family joke. Fine. I’ll wear it.” She shook her head. “Just let me shower and change. Ah’m sweating like a pig with all this packing.”
“Ah! Your accent’s showing, redneck girl,” Vanida teased.
Heather blushed. She worked hard to hide her Appalachian accent. “You’re one to talk, Thai girl,” she shot back before disappearing into the bathroom.
FIN
Heather Todd
MIT student
Vanida Kattiya
Heather’s roommate
