The Story of a Man, A Woman, and the Corpses of 1000 Evil Students

Gerard was elected to be the one to make a beer run when the six pack I brought had disappeared. Frank chose to ambush me the second Gerard walked out the door.

“Please tell me you guys made up,” he begged, scooting next to me on the couch.

“We talked. He apologized-”

“You didn’t?” He elbowed me. “I’m just kidding, you do you.”

“What do you want from me, Frank? What do you want me and or Gerard to do?” I asked Frank frankly. He pondered on this question for a few minutes, resting his chin on his hands.

“I want you two to be happy. You looked happy before. And now,” he said with a sly smile, “he technically isn’t your professor anymore.”

It was like a light bulb had gone off over my head. I understood why that was such a commonly used term; what I should do suddenly became illuminated.

“Oh my god, you’re right,” I whispered. Frank nodded slowly next to me.

“Of fucking course I’m right. I was sick of seeing you two miserable, and also sick of just plain not seeing you.”

“I don’t think he wants anything to do with me like that anymore,” I said, terrified at the notion.

“Shut the fuck up, Charlie, and ask him yourself. You two are grownups, you can do it yourself.”

“Oh, and so trying to get us together is us doing it ourselves, then?” I asked, shooting Frank a quizzical look. He just shrugged.

“Whatever totes your goat.”



We hung out way too late into the night. I was exhausted from my first week of class, as were they. Eventually we wrapped it up, saying goodbye to Frank at his apartment door. We both assumed he promptly fell asleep after we left.

“I am just so hyped UP after that last brawl match. God damn it!” I said in spite of my obvious exhaustion.

“You kids have so much energy,” Gerard said wearily, “I don’t know how I’m supposed to keep up with you.”

“Can’t say you’re trying too hard,” I teased, sticking my tongue out at him. Gerard clutched his
chest, drawing a sharp intake of breath.

“Don’t taunt me like that, you fucking vixen.” I smirked at his frustration, skipping down the hall towards the elevator.

“Old people like you have to take the elevator, I can just hop up the stairs!” I sang, probably louder than I should at three in the morning. I didn’t have time to glance behind me when I heard the hurried footsteps, and suddenly I was lunged at from the hip and thrown over Gerard’s shoulder. He twisted as we fell so I landed on him, and not the other way around. We collapsed into a fit of giggles and long hair tangled in eyelashes. “I’m so tired,” I admitted, laying my head on his chest. His heart was hammering at lightning speeds.

“Hi Tired, I’m Gerard,” he whispered.

“I don’t want to get up.”

“Me neither.”

We stayed like that for a few minutes.

“Someone’s going to think we were murdered,” I said into his chest.

“Guess I got to get to stabbing you to death,” he grumbled, hauling both of us to our feet. He spun me around so I was behind him and crouched down. “I’ll give you a ride to your apartment.”

“Ooooh, I get to ride you?” I joked. He threw his head back in frustration.

“Charlotte, I swear to God, get on the fucking back or you’re walking.” But I heard the strain in his voice. A few minutes later, he set me down outside my apartment. “I’m not unlocking it for you, you can do that all on your own, you big girl you!” He pinched my cheek, reddening it even more.

“Dick.” I unlocked my apartment and held the door open, waiting for him to come in for some reason.

“What, is there an after party I don’t know about?” He asked, sticking his head through the frame.

“You’re not driving tonight, you can stay here or stay at Frank’s. But I,” I fished around in my jacket pocket for his keys, “have these.” I dangled them in front of his face. To my surprise, he just nodded while pursing his lips.

“Fair enough. You crashed at my place, I crash at yours. Then we’re even, the prophecy is fulfilled, and we never have to talk to each other again.” He began emptying his pockets of his phone and wallet, setting them on my dining room table. “What, is that not how it works?”

“I wouldn’t know,” I muttered. I actually hadn’t expected him to be so open to this idea. I was beginning to panic as my alcohol induced braveness was subsiding. “I still have your sweats from when I was covered in blood. I’ll go grab ‘em.” I strode into my room, clawing through my dresser drawers. Soft footsteps indicated Gerard had followd me into my room.

“So this is Charlotte Payn’s room.” I glanced up through my hair at him.

“Do you hate it?”

“It’s amazing.”

I had a rather large room for the price I was paying for month. I had a sky blue floral jacquard wallpaper and my entire ceiling was covered in rows and rows of fairy lights. I sighed as I remembered the fortune I had spent on them. I just wanted it to look the night sky in my room. My queen bed had many pillows, few blankets, and a canopy hanging from the ceiling. I had DIY-ed it myself, so it wasn’t perfect, but it made me feel like a queen. In my far corner from my bed was all of my musical instruments and art stuff, the rest was spilled out into the living room.
“I needed a safe space from college. This is it,” I tossed his sweats at him. “Don’t have any boxers, sorry.”

He smiled. “This is a really cool room. I’m jealous. You’re artistic in both photography, drawing, interior design, and organization. You’re the second coming of Christ, I’m convinced.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” I shoved a towel into his hands. “You smell nasty. Go,” I pointed into the bathroom.

“Your hospitality skills could use some refinement, I will say that,” he joked before shutting the bathroom door. I leaned back against the wall with a loud thunk. I was about to say how much of a mess I was in, but once I took a step back and actually thought about it, nothing about this was really messy. I felt high around him. I hadn’t felt so good in such a long time.

I wasn’t prepared for when he stepped out of the bathroom. The towel I had given him hung around his hips, and he was pink from the heat of the water.

“I, uh, I set the clothes down in your room. I was going to try and sneak out but...okay,” he grabbed the clothes from my dresser right inside my doorway, shutting the bathroom door quickly behind him. I was still staring at the door a few minutes later, just trying to process...him.

And that was when I realized I only had two armchairs in my living room and nowhere else for him to sleep.

Notes