November 3rd, 2019

"Tell me everything you know about Harvey," I said into my phone, laying in my bed with my face to the window.

"Harvey? Which one?" Che asked through the phone.

"I didn't know there were multiple."

Che sighed. "There isn't. I was joking, idiot."

"Oh." I sometimes forgot about Che's often weird sense of humor.

"Well, I know my friend dated him once. He's hot but an absolute nerd, not worth dating at all. I'm pretty sure he's never drinken once."

"Interesting." I shifted my position to stare up at the ceiling.

"Oh, and did you hear? Jhon ended up in the nurse's office, just like that other girl at the party. They both went crazy and fainted, isn't that weird?"

"Yeah. Maybe they were on some sort of drug."

"Not a bad theory. You know, it makes me glad I dumped Jhon. I would hate to be associated with that loser now."

"It would be a shame," I agreed. Che was obsessed with her own reputation. Forget her grades, she wanted to have the highest following. But no one at Foxcroft knew this except for her closest friends.

"Alright, you're boring me." Che hung up without a real goodbye and I was left completely alone in my dorm. I really wished Harvey would have just hung out with me. Or maybe if Eliza, my roommate, wasn't sick with a cold, I could talk to her.

Not that she ever replied with more than a meek word or two... I needed more friends.

Tomlin would be free, he never really went out on his own. But Che kept telling me he was a loser. I almost felt guilty being his friend.

I went to bother- excuse me, hang out with Tomlin. His dorm wasn't that far away, and on the path to the parking lot, so I could just say I was passing by before I went to drive. No need to tell him I came by because I was lonely, he'd just laugh anyway.

It didn't take long to get to his door. I knocked three times, slowly. I always knocked like this, it was a habit. Tomlin didn't even ask who was there before opening the door.

"Florrie, hi! Come in!" Tomlin said with a bright smile, opening the door so I could come into his room. "Make yourself comfy. How are you?" Tomlin asked, plopping down on the ottoman, which was covered in layers of soft, square blankets. Tomlin did always like being cozy. When he moved in, he had completely changed the original aesthetic of the rich, modern dorm. While I loved the chic look of my dorm, his was great for winding down or hanging out in. It was simply relaxing.

"I'm good. How are you?" I asked as I took my regular spot on the bed. I grabbed the fuzzy blanket from out of the blanket box. He had gotten this one especially for when I came over.

"Well, before you came, I was studying, which was peaceful," Tomlin said. "But, I know you're lying. What's wrong, Florrie?" He asked.

Ugh. Why so perceptive, Tomlin?

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, if you had actually had a good day, you would have gone on a whole spiel telling me about it. You love telling people about your day. Now what happened, Flor?" he said, looking concerned.

"Don't you wish you knew," I grumbled. "Okay, fine. Well, the issue is: I have ZERO friends and it's making me depressed." I flopped down on the bed for drama before sitting back up to make eye contact.

"Well, except you." I was quick to correct myself. "Plus, I tried to talk to Harvey, but he acted like I was just annoying," I said, getting more upset as I talked.

"All my friends think I'm annoying. Am I doing something wrong?" I asked, stuttering on the last few words. I noticed I was crying a little bit.

Tomlin crossed his arms and his shoulders flexed out. "Who said that? I certainly don't think you're annoying! I'm more annoying than you are, and yet you hang out with me!" he said, standing up and then sitting next to me.

"Remember that time, in freshman year, when I sent you like fifty messages because I thought you were skipping, but you had the flu and your phone was dead? You still hung out with me," he said. I did remember that.

I laughed a little. "Yeah, I remember that! If memory serves me well, you threatened to drag me by my ear if I didn't get my ass to class," I said, giggling. It was one of many kindhearted threats I had received from him that day.

"See? There we go," he said with a sugar sweet smile, giving me a big side hug which I gladly melted into.

"Wanna play a game?" I asked. He would probably suggest Smash Bros, which I was okay with. I actually liked that one.

"Depends, did you do your homework?" he asked, cocking his eyebrow at me, and smirking.

"I think we both know the answer to that one, Tommy," I said, averting his eyes playfully.

"Ugh. Go you irresponsible girl, go!" he said in an overdone theatrical voice, pushing my back lightly as I stood.

"Fine, fine," I said, walking towards the door. Before leaving I turned around and leaned into an over-pronounced bow. "My sincerest apologies, sir Tomlin." I said it with as much sarcastic flair as I could. He laughed as I left.

I was lucky to have him for a friend.

Soon, I was at the gate of school. I was exiting the building when a man grabbed my shoulder. I shoot up like a bullet, turning around quickly. "Oh my gosh, sir, you scared the living daylights out of me!" I said, doing a double take. It was just our school's resource officer. He was nice enough, but he got the job done.

"I'm sorry for scaring ya; I just needed to warn ya. There's a nasty cold going around, and a couple of your classmates got it. Just stay warm, wash your hands, you know the deal," he said, his hand waving around as he talked, like he was drawing out what he was describing. He was a very animated man.

"Okay! Will do. Bye." I said, waving, and then walking away.

"No! Wait!"
I turned around. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I'm not supposed to let anyone without a principal pass leave school grounds. We don't want to be spreading the cold."

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

I washed my hand as soon as I got home, and texted Tomlin to have him do it as well. Since when was I a worrywart? Tomlin was rubbing off on me more than I thought. After a bit of debate with myself, I decided against texting Che. She'd probably just make fun of me for caring.

I took a nice, warm shower and changed into my warm pajamas, fuzzy socks included. I made a cup of Sleepytime tea with honey, and took half a melatonin. It was the same thing every night, it was how I relaxed. I snuggled into bed, downed my cup, and drifted off to sleep.

There was nothing to be worried about anyways.