The roommate agreement

Living in a big city had always been a dream of his. He had been born and raised in the countryside and most of his interactions were with his parents or with animals. They lived in a big farm, an hour’s drive away from the nearest village. His parents, sensing his need for independence, had arranged the attic into his bedroom, far from their own. He grew up surrounded by silence.

Having her own apartment had always been a dream of hers. She grew up with five siblings and, as her parents were not very well off, they had to share a room. The three bunkbeds were the only furniture in their bedroom. Their parents shared a couch in the living-room. She grew up surrounded by noise.

He was homeschooled. In the morning, he would learn about history, mathematics and literature; during the afternoon he worked alongside his parents on the farm. His favourite subject was geography: he was curious about those foreign lands and mostly the big buildings where people swarmed, mimicking the ants in his backyard. He hated farming. The sun and the cold wind burned him through every season, and no amount of sunscreen, nor his many scarves and coats could help escape them. As years passed, he came to hate dirt more and more. Each night, he would clean himself and his room thoroughly, removing every stain of the outside world on his inner sanctum.

She attended the public school closest to her home. That was the only time she could escape from the tiny apartment and the incessant background noise. So she took every class available, every extra curricular, to be outside as much as possible. Fortunately, she loved studying. The only things she kept through the years were her old textbooks. Once used, you could not pass it down to the younger ones, so it would remain hers and only hers. When she became older, she would wake up earlier than everyone for a run. The rising sun and the wind were her only companions and the best way to start the day, breathing an oxygen that was not polluted by her sibling’s prepubescent and adolescent sweat. Every night, she would read and bring knowledge from around the world inside her dreams.

For his eighteenth birthday, he took a bus to the city for the first time. Once he was there, he quickly felt overwhelmed by the crowd and the noise. He found a high viewpoint and sat on a bench, observing. Everything he lay his eyes on was so fascinating. A mother struggling with a stroller and a grocery bag, an argument between two drivers, the sound of an elder’s cane hitting the crosswalk. These people were so much more interesting than ants! The sun declined and soon enough, it was night. His eyes grew wide as every window lit up one by one. He felt like he was in his room again, watching the stars appear. It cemented his decision to live here, in the city, amongst these people.

During the summer of her eighteenth birthday, she was busy preparing for college. Thanks to her excellent grades and her multiple extra-curricular activities, she had succeeded in landing a good scholarship. But more than the excitement of going to college, her goal was so close she could taste it. She would finally have her own apartment, her own room, her own bathroom, one she wouldn’t need to share. She found a small studio close to her university, it was nothing fancy but it was enough. She did not have a lot of belongings anyway and it would be easy to clean. The first night, surrounded by old notebooks and her only presence, she had the best sleep she had in years.

He moved. He soon found the perfect job: night guard at the library. No sunlight, no wind, just the silence of the books and tired students trying to meet their deadlines. He loved looking at them. The furrow of their brows when they wouldn’t understand, the yawns searching for a cup of coffee, the pen moving to remember even a percent of the study they were looking at. The only issue he had at first was where to stay. Fortunately, he found the solution easily. He met a student at the library who was quite overloaded with work. She had to study and work during the day and only came home to sleep. Whereas he had to sleep during the day and work during the entire night, she lived during the day and had to use the room at night, to sleep. When one was studying or working, the other would be sleeping, and vice-versa. It was the perfect plan. When he got in the studio the first time, he was pleased to see that everything was clean and tidy. The sun was peeking through the windows and the bed was made. He put his luggage underneath the bed and slept better than ever before. He never met his roommate. Their time were so out of sync that they never even crossed the door at the same time. He was very careful to not disturb their agreement. He was used to clean behind him and so he would leave the place exactly as he found it.

She couldn’t be happier in college. Her whole life revolved around her studies, friends and work. Her home was still her cocoon, even though she couldn’t spend a lot of time there. Still, it was the place she felt safe to sleep, without her siblings’ snoring, movement or even talking. Everything was always clean and tidy. No one would disturb the furniture that she had carefully chosen. Once, she thought she’d lost her favourite mug. The fear was short-lived though, as she found it in its usual spot on the shelf. She sighed in relief and chuckled at the memory of sharing everything with her siblings. She called them that night, smiling all the way through.

The library paid well. Especially when you had to be awake through the whole night. So, soon, he realised he could have his own studio. After a few weeks, he managed to land a pretty good apartment close to the library. He was sorry for his roommate, but he was so glad to have his own place. One night, she came to the library and tried to take a book to study at her house. Since he could not meet her before, he returned the key, saying ‘Thank you so much but I have my own place now, I don’t need to use yours anymore.”

She did not know him. Her key never had any spare.