"Then, since I am so gracious, you can work off your punishment". She faced him, a firm twinkle in her eyes, a fiddle in her fingers, a growing mischief in her lips. Her neck was thin, frail, the frame it rested upon no stranger.

In the entire conversation that lasted roughly half a chapter, Theo finally looked at her.

"Everyday, 5pm right? Starting tomorrow right?"

"What? We're starting right now". A stack of papers materialized from a higher plane, descending upon the mortal bounds with the high graces of freshly printed ink. Registration for Expenditure Expo Memo Planner Organizer for Operations and Facilities Meetings, Form 234_A25B34D26.

A pen, the finest of it's kind, elegantly floating in her hand, gracefully turned towards him. Inviting, urging, demanding to be held. To fulfil it's obligations before the sweet release of death and decay. It shook ever so slightly like the beckoning hand of a trustworthy banker closing the deal.

"All you need to do is sign here, here, here, here, there, and here. Okay?" Contorted, tilted, her expression could never be called a smile. Even the fakest of imitations are millions of leagues above what she created. Theo opened his mouth. A finger, sly and lithe, blocked his words, "Just sign on the dotted line". That expression again. The one that never left, never changed. Never showed an ounce of truth or goodwill, evidence enough of blackmail and extortion if not outright attempted murder.

His hand quivered over the pen, lingering. Hovering an inch above the page. There, he stayed. In the next moment, it was signed. At this point one would expect the ground to open up, the fires to rise up and the façade to be revealed of who he truly bargained with. It was quiet. It was still.

With the last page signed, the pen finally put to rest upon the bodies of papers past, the stack disappeared as a whirlwind. Not even the smell of ink remained, gone. Wholly, gone. Like Theo's future hopes and ambitions.

"Right. You'll be filling in for me in meetings. I'll tell you more later..." Papers sorted, keyboards pressed and prodded. Expression and attention gone, occupied by the monitor's film. But, for a moment, pushed aside, "Go straight to the dorm. No where else, with no one else". In the next moment, back to business as usual.

Theo sat, unmoving. Again.

"Go now." From then on, not an ounce of any resource was devoted towards him, no matter how long he sat (thirty two seconds and four football fields).

Slowly, he opened the door and took his exit. The office was desolate, no secretary sitting behind the desk. No staff working diligently as one would expect in a prestigious school. The clock on the wall read 3:45pm. It seems almost everyone had agreed upon an early day off. The lights were off across the majority of the office as he walked towards the door and into the hall.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

A couple of students strolled by, mostly in pairs. Although school had been in session for a bit, flirtation was not down by any means. Regardless Theo walked. Across the floor and along the wall, down the stairs and out into the pavilion. There stood a large crowd of students, a floating beach ball abound. Theo adjusted his path to skirt around them entirely.

The dorm. Solid, silent, unpainted brick. Against the lavish exterior it was simply a background wall. A dull color thrown in to make the other's really 'pop'. Theo quietly headed towards the side staircase, digging in his pocket for his badge. The door opened...like a door. There was a slight creak, but not enough to be report worthy.

Each step came slow, labored. It didn't start that way, but after a single flight of stairs it became so. Still, Theo walked up the empty stairs. The hallway they led to even more desolate of people. He walked, all the way down the hall. To the third room from the last, room 427. His room, his dorm.

The floorplan is unique for college dorms, and rather luxurious. Each room only housed two people, with no shared bathroom between rooms. Easily mistakable for a mid-tier hotel room, not exactly the fanciest but also not some cheap motel. The interior design simple: a dark wooden floor with a wardrobe and TV set, two desks for studies, and two unremarkable twin sized beds on wooden frames with four drawers underneath. Furthermore, a total of three chairs: one for each desk, and one lounge chair in the corner. On the outside of each bed stood a nightstand, with a small lamp on each one and a small private drawer.

His roommate, the definition of the word 'jock', a defensive lineman for the school's football team- the dolphins. He would often not get back until late at night due to practice for upcoming games. In the times that he was here, spent devoted in study. A very motivated man, who would occasionally come to Theo with academic questions.

As Theo walked through the door, he saw something laying in his roommate's bed. A girl, tapping away on her phone, in his roommate's bed, her legs splayed as a runner mid hop over a hurdle.

Theo turned around, opened the door, and checked the room number.

"Close the door." Her voice drifted from the bed, lazily.

Theo checked the door number again. He even went out into the hall. it was his dorm, his room, not his roommate.

There he stood in the hallway, staring back and forth between his room and the stairs. Back and forth.

Theo took a deep breath, then two, three. He entered his room. The door closed behind him with a unmuted thud, "Who are you?". Theo paused in his movement a couple of feet away from the bed.

"I'm your new roommate, k-a-a-yy?" Lazy, dragging, her words lacked the energy to raise their pitch to acceptable levels. They drug across the floor, leaving scuff marks.

Before he could respond, even though he did open his mouth to do so, his phone rang. An unknown number. It rang a couple times as Theo stared at it.

"H-hello?"

"This is Mrs. Thorne. Am I speaking with Theo?"

"Yes, this is him."

"Right, I am calling to inform you of a sudden change in your roommate".