My Roommate is a Warlock!

“I like your bracelet.”

“Huh?” I glanced up from my campus map. I’d been studying it while I stood in line at the café. “Oh, thanks.”

The girl who had addressed me was standing behind me in line. She had blue hair in a shaggy trendy cut and several piercings. I didn’t judge. My own hair was fire red—natural, unfortunately—and I had several piercings too; namely my right eyebrow, several hoops in both of my ears and a heavy one in the center of my lip.

She had a nose ring, several studs in her ears, and her nails were painted black. They were short, probably due to her biting them, which she was doing now.

“You have two of them. Do you think I could buy one?” Her eyes were big and brown, adorned in dark eye-shadow as she looked up at me hopefully.

I glanced down at the two bracelets that encircled my left wrist. Most of my jewelry was gold—the real kind, not some cheap imitation crap, but these two bracelets were heavy bands of pewter, almost bangles and they had cut outs of the different phases of the moon set among a scattering of stars. I called them my celestial bands and they were a gift. I rarely took them off.

“Uhm, sorry no.” It was my turn next in line and I moved forward. I ordered my coffee, with sugar and cream and paid with an app on my phone. I thought the issue was over, but when I’d stepped forward to get my coffee, she approached me again, following me out the door.

“Dude.” She’d said as she approached. She was skinny and dressed in black, very emo with the hair and nails and the dark make-up. Short too. She barely made it past my shoulder, but I was six foot tall. “Don’t be that way. Sell me one of them.”

I frowned and narrowed my eyes at her. “Seriously, dude.” I replied in her own impatient tone. “I can’t. They were a gift.”

She was wearing a silver ankh. It hung on a long chain and fell between the small hills of her breasts. She was playing with it, purposefully drawing my eyes to that location. She smiled at me in what I supposed she thought was a seductive manner. “I can make it worth your while.”

I raised my eyebrow. She was ballsy. We could be friends if she wasn’t so annoying. “I’m into guys.” I scanned her face to see what her reaction would be. It was a half-truth. I was bisexual, but for a lot of people it was still an outright turn off. It might get her off my back.

She didn’t even blink. So, I gave her a point.

“That’s cool. I’m into… whatever.” She smiled at me genuinely this time. She squinted at the take-out coffee in my hand. My name was written there. “Gabe, huh? Are you a first year too?” She held her hand out. “I’m Roxy. Roxy Lee.”

I nodded and juggled my coffee to my opposite hand, the one with the map, so I could shake hers. “Gabe Clancy.”

I scratched the back of my neck. Sweat was prickling there. It was early September, and we’d just finished our first week of school, and I still didn’t quite have my bearings, hence the map.

“You lost?” She was staring at me with her eyes crinkled against the late summer sun.

“Nah. I’m supposed to be meeting someone.” That was true. My roommate Chaz had something to work out at admissions and then we were going to grab a late lunch.

Someone jumped on my back. Pale slender arms wrapped around my neck, as legs just as slim, encircled my hips. Strands of long blonde hair fell into view as the person who had jumped on me leaned over my shoulder to kiss my cheek.

“Hello, lover. Did you miss me?”

I glanced up into bright blue eyes that were crinkling in the corners as she smirked at me. I frowned. “What happened? I thought Chaz was meeting me?” I glanced at Roxy who was quietly taking in the entire scene. From her perspective it must have looked like this girl was marking territory. “And you’re not my lover.” I added as I knocked her off.

“Say’s you!” She was in an awfully playful mood. She was tall and leggy and dressed like it was still summer in a strappy tank top and cut off jeans. Leather sandals completed her look.

“Seriously,” I chose to ignore her quip. “What happened to Chaz?”

She shrugged her slim shoulders. “I decided to come instead. Besides, there’s nothing you can do with him that you can’t do with me.” She pinched my cheek. I supposed she was right. She glanced at Roxy as if noticing her for the first time. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“Oh, uhm… Yeah. Roxy, meet Lottie.” They smiled at one another.

“Are you a first year too?” Roxy asked as she glanced between us.

“Uh, sorta.” Lottie said with a smirk. She turned to me then. “I’m gonna go get an iced coffee. Wait for me.” The second part came out as an order as she headed into the cafe.

“Yes, ma’am.” I nodded.

Roxy was smirking at me as if she thought she knew something and I felt my eyes narrow. “What?” I didn’t like her look. She didn’t know me.

“You like guys, huh?”

I shook my head. “Lottie and I, it’s not like that. I’ve known her since we were kids.”

“Uh-huh. Does she know that?”

“Seriously. It’s not like that. She’s like my sister.”

“Whatever you say, Gabe.” Roxy began backing away as she talked. She waved at me before turning and crossing the street. “See you around.”

For lunch, we went to a sub shop. It wasn’t a chain restaurant, but something local. It looked like quite a hot spot among students as the line to get served was long and the tables were busy. I glanced at the menu as the line crawled. Lottie was looking over my arm as she decided.

“I think I’ll try the meatball sub.” I offered the menu to Lottie, who shook her head, so I folded it in half and put it in the lower pocket of my cargo shorts instead.

We got our subs and headed to a vacant table by the window. Lottie got a shaved turkey breast with bacon and loaded with veggies. I cracked open a bottle of water and took a sip. “Did you get things worked out with admissions?”

She nodded. She had taken a huge bite and was busily chewing. She swallowed. “Yep. All sorted. What do you want to do after? If you aren’t busy, I was thinking of checking out the gym.” She eyed me mischievously. “And maybe later the pool.”

“The pool?”

“Yeah, Gabe. I really want to go for a swim. I checked the website and there’s an open swim after seven every night this week.”

“Then, should we work out first?”

“Why not? We can head back to the dorm after we eat and grab our gym clothes. If we plan things right, we can hit the pool right after the gym.”

“Sounds like a plan.” I nodded, before taking a huge bite of my sub.

We hit the gym later that afternoon, just in time to join a group of students that were being given a tour of the facility. The tour-guide was a lean dark-skinned woman with a fantastically toned physique. Her head of thick gold-brown curls was braided in the front before being pulled into a pony at the top of her head. She was dressed in a burgundy outfit, leggings and a sports bra over which she wore a cropped black hoodie that left her flat, tight abs exposed.

“Whoa.” I gasped. She was clearly a few years older than me, but absolutely stunning with her high cheekbones and almond shaped eyes.

“Down boy.” Lottie whispered with a giggle.

I flashed her an alarmed look. I hadn’t realized I’d spoken aloud, and when the woman in question looked our way, I felt my ears begin to burn.

“Would you like to join the tour?” She beckoned us over with a smile. If she’d heard my outburst, she was politely ignoring the fact that she had.

“Absolutely,” Lottie said with a nod. She was dressed in her own workout outfit, a short pair of tights with a matching long-sleeved crop-top in black and grey. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a pony high on top of her head. My own clothes were baggy and oversized, a pair of grey gym shorts and a black tank. “Right, Gabe?”

I nodded. Not wanting to meet the woman’s eyes and was happy when the tour began. She introduced herself as Kendra before she walked us through the facility pointing out the various amenities. There were cardio and weight rooms, rooms for group exercise like yoga, dance, and aerobics. There were courts for basketball, squash, badminton and handball. Tennis courts were located outside in back of the facility and there was even an indoor running track. She finally finished the tour with a glimpse of the Olympic sized pool.

When she brought us back to the gym lobby, she went over the rules of conduct. Most of it had to due with respect. Respect of the equipment, the facility and of others. The use of the gym and its classes was a privilege, she’d admonished, not a right and anyone found breaking these rules could find themselves banned from the facility for the rest of the semester.

When the tour was finished, I slipped away to the weight room while Lottie went to find a treadmill. I was in the back of the room where I’d grabbed a bench and was using the free weights. I was thirty minutes into my workout when I’d spotted him. He was further down working his lats on the pull-down machine, and his incredibly muscled shoulders had immediately caught my attention. When he’d completed his set and turned in my direction to wipe down the machine, I’d about died.

Not only was he built like a tank, standing well over six feet, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, he was drop dead gorgeous as well. He had smooth, dark hair that grazed his shoulders and a few days worth of sexy stubble on his chiseled face. It didn’t help that he had a healthy sheen of sweat covering his muscular torso, nor the perfect amount of chest hair peeking out from beneath his tank top.

“Whoa,” I’d breathed, just as Lottie made her way to my side. She’d heard me too, of course and immediately caught my gaze turning quickly to see what had garnered my attention.

“Just your type too,” she teased, having observed me twice now, acting a fool. I gulped. She wasn’t kidding. For me the dude was the makings of a wet dream.

He glanced up suddenly looking in my direction almost as if he’d heard us. I immediately dropped my gaze, but not before I thought I’d caught the hint of an amused smile play about his lips.

“Time to go,” I squeaked, my voice betraying me, as I picked up the set of dumbbells I’d been using and returned them to their station. When I returned to wipe down the bench I’d been using, I saw that he had mercifully moved on to another station, the butterfly machine, to work out his chest.

At the doors to the change rooms, Lottie and I separated. I made my way to the first row of lockers where I’d stashed my gym bag. Finding my locker, I quickly changed from my gym clothes and into my swim trunks. I removed my celestial bands, placing them carefully in my bag amongst my street clothes, before stashing my bag once more in the locker and heading towards the shower room.

After a quick rinse to clean off the sweat, I exited towards the pool to meet up with Lottie. She was sitting at the edge of the pool in a sporty once-piece suit, navy with yellow piping, her long legs dangling gracefully into the water. She’d tucked her blonde hair under a swim cap to protect it from the chlorine.

“You ready?” she’d called as I dropped down beside her.

“Yep.” I nodded, slipping into the pool and making my way to an empty lane. We spent the next twenty minutes doing laps before finally calling it quits.

Back in the locker room, I had a proper shower this time, making use of the body wash supplied to not only scrub my body, but the chlorine from my hair as well. I quickly changed, and packed up my bag, wrapping my wet trunks within my towel before grabbing my styling mousse and heading towards the sinks. There I put a generous dab of foam in my palm before working it though my hair. I quickly finger styled my curls, sweeping my bangs away from my forehead before returning once more to my locker. As I stashed my styling product back into the bag, I remembered my bracelets and dug inside to retrieve them.

I frowned, coming up empty. I was sure that I’d stashed them there but turned back to my locker in case I was mistaken. It too was empty. Turning my bag upside down, I dumped its contents on the floor, as I searched through the articles it had been holding. A thorough search soon revealed nothing, and I began to panic. My celestial bands were missing.

“They’re gone.”

“Wait. What’s gone?” Lottie was quickly on my tail as I’d burst out of the locker room moving quickly past her.

“My bands, the ones that—”

“Oh, God.” Lottie’s eyes widened. “Are you sure you were wearing them? Maybe you left them back at the dorm.”

I shook my head. “I know I took them off at the pool because of the chlorine.” I was headed to the front desk to ask if anyone had turned them in. I spoke to the beautiful woman from before, Kendra, who checked the lost and found before she took down my information and quickly assured me that she and the staff would keep an eye out for them.

“What am I going to do?” I asked as we stepped outside. The night was cool and dark, the sun having already set for the day.

“Do you remember anyone else in the locker room?” I was leading us towards the dormitory at a brisk pace and Lottie dropped into a jog as she strived to keep up with me. “Someone who might have seen you take them off?”

I shook my head dismissing the idea. The row of lockers I’d been down had been empty. Besides, my bracelets weren’t the style that most men would even find attractive, if anything they seemed to appeal more to—

I stopped suddenly causing Lottie to bump into me.

“Roxy.” I whispered, wishing I was wrong but, on some level, I realized that I was right. The girl had been far too interested in my bracelets for it to be merely a coincidence that they should disappear the very day that she had longed to buy them.

“That blue-haired girl?” Lottie had come around to face me, nose wrinkled as she thought about it. “Come to think of it, I did see her in one of the classes as we were taking the tour.”

“What? Are you sure?” This practically confirmed my theory.

“Yeah, that blue hair is hard to miss.”

“Crap. I need to find her.” I ran my hands nervously through my hair. The campus had twelve dormitories, and if she happened to live off campus… I sighed. The task was daunting. I looked to Lottie. “Any ideas?”

“Well, you know… we could always—”

“NO! Absolutely not. Do you know how much trouble we’d be in.”

“This is sort of an emergency,” Lottie’s voice dropped gently as she rubbed circles along my back. “I could take the blame. It’s not like I actually need your permission—”

“Don’t you dare, Charlotte Avery Lancaster!” She cringed as I used her full name. She hated being called Charlotte, it reminded her of a difficult time in her life, although I personally thought her name was beautiful. “There’s no way I’m going to let you take the fall for my mistake.”

She bit her lip as she considered things. “Then… what about the school directory. If she lives on campus, it might direct us to what dormitory she’s in.”

I nodded. It was our best lead hands down.

Back at our dorm room, I logged into the student website while Lottie changed. The directory wasn’t public. You needed school credentials in order to log in. Out of curiosity, I decided to enter my own name first. After a quick search the directory spit out my information which included my name, school photo, e-mail, mailbox address, dormitory and even my field of study. I supposed it could have been worse. Still, it provided a whole lot of personal information.

A moment later, Chaz joined me at the desk. He leaned over my shoulder as he peered at the screen, long, blonde hair falling into view. “Any luck?”

“I haven’t tried yet but take a look at this.” I typed Charles Lancaster into the directory and a moment later it displayed all of Chaz’s information, much like it had mine. Lottie wasn’t in the system. She’d allowed her other half to register so that we were able to room together. The campus didn’t allow mixed gender roommates, only mixed dormitories.

“What the hell? It’s like a stalker’s paradise.” His blue eyes scanned the screen. He was the mirror image of Lottie, only male. “That’s a lot more information than I’m comfortable with. I’ll be heading down to admissions on Monday to sign an opt out form.”

“Right? Except in this instance, we’re the creepy ass stalkers.” I pointed out, as I entered ‘Roxy Lee’ into the search field. It came up with nothing.

“Well, at least we’re not doing it for nefarious reasons. Try Roxanne.” He stood upright to tie his long hair back into a bun.

A search for ‘Roxanne Lee’ brought up Roxy’s information. I let out a sigh of relief. “She lives in residence. She’s in Desmond Hall.” I dug into my pocket for the campus map. “Which is… here.” I pointed to the building across campus.

“Okay.” Chaz reached for the map, taking it from me. “I’ll go speak with her.”

I frowned. “I’m coming with you.”

Chaz’s brow furrowed to match my own. “Do you think that’s wise?”

No. Probably not. Probably not at all. But this was my problem. I wasn’t about to be left behind. “I—I’ll be careful. Besides, she doesn’t even know who you are.” I snatched the map back as I headed quickly out the door before common sense caught up to me.

Chaz sighed as he stepped out to follow me. “Fine. But I want it on record that this is not one of our better ideas.”