Roommates -- Part One

The box made a distinct clinking sound as Cassie dropped it on the counter.

The box was marked "glassware".

Uh-oh. That didn't sound good.

She could hear Gilhen shuffling up the stairs behind her, probably under the weight of one too many boxes. Bent on proving his superior strength, or something.

"I've got books!" he called. "Where do you want them?"

"Office!" She called, coming out to meet him.

Sure enough, he was carrying boxes stacked just high enough so that he couldn't see over them. He peered around the side at Cassie. She wondered how he'd gotten up the stairs without tripping.

"Where's the office?" He asked.

Cassie looked around her. There were boxes everywhere. "Um. Smaller bedroom. This one. Here." She stepped up to him, sliding the top box off so he could see. "Follow me." She worked her way across the living room and through the door. "Just put them anywhere. We can't do anything until the shelves are set up, anyway."

"I can't believe you're going to have an office," Gil muttered. "This place is so much nicer than mine. Sure you don't want a roommate?"

"Positive." Cassie smiled at him. "I love you like a brother, Gil, but I would strangle you if we had to share an apartment. You know that."

"Your mom's been hinting that you should get a roommate. I think I'd be ideal."

"While you were downstairs, I suppose, she brought this up?" Cassie frowned.

"Yep. As soon as you were out of sight. And she doesn't think you should be staying on the second floor with your hip being the way it is, and that your grandmother should've kicked the guys out of the downstairs apartment instead. And she doesn't see why you couldn't just stay in St. John's like you had planned."

Cassie clenched her fists and made a low growling noise in her throat. Gilhen stepped back, putting his hands up in defense. "Whoa, whoa. I'm not saying I agree on every point here. I'm just saying what she told me."

"And I suppose she'll be in here telling me in a minute. Again." Again. Just like I've been listening to all the way here on the ferry, and in the car and for weeks before that...

"Nah." Gilhen grinned. "I sent her off to get us some coffee. And donuts. There's a Tim Horton's around the corner. She decided to walk over and stretch her legs. She'll be gone for twenty minutes. At least."

"Gil, I could kiss you." Cassie walked back into the living room and plunked herself onto the sofa. "I don't think she's shut up the whole way over here. I know she's just concerned but there's only so many times you can say 'I'll be fine, mom!', y'know?"

"The drive was okay, though? You must be exhausted." He moved a box from the armchair so he could sit across from her.

"Yeah. The drive was fine. I wasn't nearly as nervous as Mom was." Cassie sighed. "It would've gone better if she hadn't been hitting the invisible passenger brake every time she thought I should be slowing down."

"Yeah, my mom does that too. It drives me nuts. I've had to stop driving with her."

Cassie nodded. There were a few moments of silence as she stretched out a little more on the couch and Gilhen settled himself a little further into his chair. It'd be nice to just stretch out and take a little nap. Gil could get the rest of the boxes up here, I'm sure. And then mom will come with coffee and donuts, and I can start to unpack once the caffeine kicks in... She opened her eyes reluctantly.

"How many boxes are left downstairs?"

"Uh...I don't know. Probably four or five? Plus the shelves and your desk. Not much more."

"Let's get it all up here, then. Before Mom gets back and complains that we've been slacking off." She leveraged herself off of the couch. Gilhen was up before her and grabbed her hands to help her up.

"Is that your cane by the door?" he asked.

"Yeah." I know where this is going...

"Shouldn't it be with you? To, you know, help you out of couches and stuff?"

He's just concerned for you. He's just being a friend... She gritted her teeth.

"Gil, do me a favour for the next few days and please don't say anything else that makes you sound like Mom? I can't be held responsible for my actions otherwise." She knew she sounded angry but she didn't care. "I bloody well know when I need my cane and when I don't."

"All right. Fine. You're the boss." Gil raised his hands in a gesture of assent and clomped back down the stairs.

They moved the rest of the boxes upstairs in silence. Gil wanted to move the bookshelves upstairs himself, but Cassie insisted on helping. They really were too heavy for him. They were also tall and long and awkward to get through doorways. Even with two people it wasn't an easy job. Cassie's hand slipped at one point, and one corner made a scrape across the little old-lady-wallpaper her grandmother had put in the second bedroom. It was pink and glossy and desperately ugly. Still, Cassie winced. She hoped her mother didn't notice the mark.

"Oh well," Gilhen said as they tilted the shelf upright "You'll be having a painting party in a few weeks anyway, right?"

"Yeah. That would require me knowing anyone in Halifax other than you, my grandmother and my thesis advisor. Unless you like painting that much, of course."

"Oh, I've got you covered there. I can invite a bunch of friends. Besides, school will have started by then. You'll be able to invite all kinds of people."

"Uh-huh." I doubt that. Cassie moved back to the kitchen and started unpacking glasses and plates. To her surprise, three of the cupboards were still full. Unfortunately they weren't full of things like cups and plates. Oh no. Those her grandmother had taken with her to the new place. What she'd left were old mugs, chipped plates, decorative knicknacks, ugly teacups and old pots

I guess having cupboards full of old junk is one of the down sides of moving into Nanna's place. Though I really thought she'd clean it all out before she moved.

"You want me to start hanging stuff in the closet?" Gil's head appeared around the corner of the kitchen. "I can just transfer it from the wardrobe box."

"Yeah. Sounds good. The dresser's fine, though. Don't touch that." She started unwrapping glasses and putting them away. To her surprise, none had broken in the trip, despite the clinking noises she'd heard earlier.

Cassie heard the door open and shut, followed by a sing-song voice.

"Coffee's here!" Mom was back.

"Thanks Mrs. Hodges. You're a lifesaver." Gil was the first to pull his coffee from the tray and sink back into the armchair to sip it. Cassie sat for a while, but the multitude of boxes got the better of her, and in a few minutes she was back in the kitchen unpacking.

If I just get it done, then it's done. If I unpack today, I don't have to unpack tomorrow.

Her mother soon joined her. Cassie told her about the full cupboards.

"Oh. Your grandmother did tell me that she'd left some stuff she thought you might like to keep."

She didn't sound so positive after she'd inspected what was left, but smiled at Cassie. "Oh dear. Well, she means well. We'll thank her and I'll help you clean all of this out tomorrow."

"There's some stuff in the bedroom closet, too." Gilhen added from the next room. "Do you want me to bring it out or leave it there?"

"Leave it," Cassie was starting to feel a little tired of the whole moving process. "I'll haul it out next weekend and look it over, or something."

Just one more glass. Keep unwrapping one more thing until it's done.

***

"I wasn't expecting him so early."

Cassie looked up from stacking books on her bookshelves. It was late and she was getting close to finished.

"Sorry, what?" she called.

"What's that?" Her mother asked from the next room.

"What did you just say?" Cassie called back.

"I didn't say anything," her mother said.

"Oh. I thought you did." No. I didn't think you did. It didn't sound like your voice. I just hoped you did.

"Do you like this dress?"

Cassie closed her eyes and lowered her head. No. Not here, damn it! Not here too!

She clenched her teeth.

I don't hear you. Ignore it and it will go away. Just ignore it. Don't look. She started stacking the books back on the shelf emphatically. Over the clunking she heard the voice again.

"But it's Sunday and I have to go to church."

"Are you trying to knock those books right through the wall?"

That one was her mother.

"Sorry," she said, trying to sound lighthearted. "I guess I'm just excited about being so close to finished."

"Well, I think I'm going to turn in for the night, honey. If you're sure you're all right?" Her mother's form appeared in the doorway.

"I'm fine, Mom."

"Do you want some help setting up on the couch?" Her mother gestured to the blankets laying there.

"I wasn't expecting him so early."

Cassie squeezed her eyes shut. "I'll be fine, Mom." This is the hospital all over again. Trying to carry on a conversation when three people are talking to you. Without giving away that you hear two of them.

"I almost told him to go away."

"I'll just set it up for you. It'll only take a second. That way it'll be done."

"Okay, fine Mom." Just walk away so I don't have to keep talking to you.

"I didn't know who he was at first." The voice was getting louder, more insistent, even if the words weren't making sense. Cassie could see the figure standing off to her right but she was determined she wouldn't look. She turned back to the bookshelves. Ignore it, just ignore it.

"I said," the voice said. She could sense the woman approaching, see out of the corner of her eye the hand reaching for her shoulder. Cassie got up to walk away, out of the room, but she hadn't moved far enough when the hand passed through her shoulder.
She felt nothing, of course. She heard the voice stammer behind her.

"I. I. I..." and fade away into a whisper.

Yeah. That's what they all say.

Her foot had fallen asleep and her hip was throbbing from moving boxes. She steadied herself on the edge of her desk before limping back out to help her mother make up her bed on the couch.

"Are you sure you don't mind sleeping out here? You can sleep in your own bed if you really want. It might be better for your leg."

"No, Mom. You take the bed. I'll sleep just as well out here as I will in there, anyway." Which is to say, not at all, now.

"Are you going to bed now, then? Should I turn off the light in the kitchen?" Her mother was already headed in that direction.

"No, it's just the light over the oven. Leave it on. That way you can see if you need to get up in the night."

"All right. If you're sure you don't want the bed..."

"MOM! Go. To. Bed." Cassie pointed down the hallway. If you don't go to bed you're going to find out something is wrong. And I don't want that. And neither do you.

"All right honey, all right." Her mother gave her a kiss on the cheek and headed toward the bedroom.

Cassie went into the washroom and changed into her pajamas. She kept looking around, peeking in the mirror to make sure there wasn't anything behind her. There wasn't.

It figures. My first night here. In an old house, of course. It's always the old houses. I hope it's gone away.

She went back and laid on the couch, but she didn't sleep. For a long time she just lay with her eyes open, waiting to see the woman, waiting to hear the voice again.

Nothing happened before she dropped off to sleep.

Nothing happened when she jerked herself awake a short or a long time later -- she really had no idea. She'd just realized she was asleep and she hadn't meant to sleep, so she woke up.

The light was still on in the kitchen, a comfort. She was glad she'd left it on. She looked around. There was still no one in the room. She could hear her mother gently snoring down the hallway.

She pulled the blankets up over her head, leaving only a small space to breathe through. But she still listened for the voice.

Until she fell asleep again. And until she jerked herself awake again minutes or hours later.

It was a long night.

***

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