I Keep Coming Up Short

[Keri Rocha]

Your time will come if you wait for it, if you wait for it
It's hard, believe me... I've tried
But I keep coming up short

Keri went home directly after practice, not bothering to take her nightly run. She got back to the room, before Sam, thankfully, and threw her bag towards her bed. Sam's dog was wagging her tail at her, hoping to play catch or join Keri on her run. Keri sighed, shaking her head to the little animal. Not tonight. She said to her, walking past her and towards her bed, grabbing the towels off of her closet door and taking off her flip flops. She walked into the bathroom, turning on the shower and stripping off her clothes. As she waited for the water to warm up, she started to arrange her items on the counter, starting with the dental care. By the time she had looked up, every singly thing on the sink counter had a spot, and it completely slipped her mind that every item was in alphabetical order. She was just that unobservant tonight. She stepped into the shower and started to rid her body of all the sweat she had poured out that evening.

She started to think about the day, reminding herself what had happened. She immediately wished she hadn't. First period, she received her test back and saw a nice fat D- at the top. That wasn't like her. She'd had good grades since Kindergarten. After that, her day had only gotten worse. She'd skipped lunch so she could lunge Cruise, since apparently he was getting bored in his stall, and she also wasn't jumping in her lessons that day, so he wouldn't be used. She'd zoned out in last period and lost all of her participation points for the day, which with that teacher meant a lower letter grade for the week. By the time practice came around, she had zero energy left, but had to go on and practice anyway. She'd fallen off the bars for the first time in her life besides when she hurt her ankle, and thankfully she hadn't hurt herself.

By now, she was dead. She was lucky to still be awake when she got out of the shower. Once she dried off and wrapped herself in her towel, she walked out to get her clothes which she'd forgotten when she went in. She was so ready for this day to be over. She grabbed a pair of sweats and an old t-shirt before heading back in and pulling them on. She rubbed the towel over her hair and walked back out into the room.

[Samantha 'Sam' Lawrence]

Sam lugged herself into her room, nearly ten minutes after Keri. She immediately caught sight of her ignored puppy. Usually Skips would be mauling Keri by now, but Sam shrugged it off as she wasn't even in the mood to play tonight either. Sam patted the pup on the head quick and set her bag on her bed, pulling out her clean change of clothes and some water bottles. She set the bottles on the bedside table, and folded her clothes neatly, placing them in the dresser drawers. The bag was thrown under the edge of her bed, and Sam sorted through her pajamas. If you can even call them pajamas. Most of them were just tank tops and shorts, sometimes she would wear her longer pajamas on cold nights.

Once Sam had picked out her outfit to sleep in, she turned to the school bag that had been flung up against the wall after her last class. She lifted her bag up and set it on her bed. Then she proceeded to pull of the jacket of her track suit and left it on the corner of her bed. The girl began sorting through the bag and pulled out all of her homework, laying each one in its own pile.

After Sam's many nighttime preparations, Keri walked out of the bathroom and retrieved some of her clothes. Sam was collecting her clothes and towel when Keri came back out of the bathroom. Sam offered no words as she walked into the bathroom to take a shower. She felt as if she was crawling with filth and desperately needed to wash.

Steam poured out of the bathroom after Sam finished with her shower. Her hair was wrapped tightly in the towel. She walked out of the room, heaving out a large dramatic sigh. "Longest day of my life."Her voice filled with complain. She glanced at Keri as she sat down heavily on her bed, slightly disturbing the next pile of homework. Keri looked completely worn out. "Long day too?" Sam hadn't noticed Keri in practice, besides hearing the thud.

[Keri Rocha]

She hadn't even noticed Sam was back when she had gone out to get her clothes. When she was headed over towards her bed she heard footsteps and turned to see Sam head into the bathroom which she had just walked out of. Funny how someone could be so close to you without you even realizing they're there. She turned back to her bed and sat down, trying to dry off the tips of her hair to at least keep them from soaking her shirt and her pillows before she fell asleep that night.

She finally threw the towel over into her laundry bin and pulled out her journal. She refused to call it a diary, considering that wasn't the only thing she used it for, but in a sense, yes, that's what it was. She started writing, realizing she hadn't written in it for almost a month. As soon as the pen touched the paper, it didn't stop. She had a million and three things to say and had no idea how to get them all out. Writing was good for her, it helped her relax, get things out of her head, though of course, it didn't solve any problems, it only kept them out of her mind for a bit.

By the time Sam had walked out of the bathroom, she had written almost three pages. She offered a small smile at her words, nodding in response. Must just be one of those days where the whole world is out to get us. She sighed to her with a shrug. At least she wasn't the only one who'd had a bad day. Right then, she heard her text notification go off... again. She looked over at it and sighed quietly, turning the sound off, fed up with it. She had 8 unread messages, all from the same person. Why was she so naiive to think that they'd take a hint sooner or later? So what was yours unfavorable? She asked her quietly.

[Samantha 'Sam' Lawrence]

Sam raised her eyebrows in agreement with Keri. Today had been a particularly suckish day. With a slight shrug she grabbed the things on her bed she had upset. Readjusting them, sorting them back out and putting them in their place. A large yawn came out, causing Sam to cover her mouth and muffle her words. "Oh, you know, the whole, school part of it." Her hands ran down her face, stretching the skin over her cheek bones. If it wasn't for the fact that she had homework and Skips needed to be fed, she would have been asleep by now. "Your 'best' part?" She formed quotation marks with her hands as she went to retrieve dog food for her pup.

She returned to the food bowls for Skips, with one hand holding a scoop containing dog food. The bits of food made pinging noises as they hit the sides of the bowl. Sam set the empty scooper on the bedside table, leaving it until the next morning when it would be needed. Sitting down on her bed again Sam frowned. Keri must have been writing, Sam had a journal to write, and needed to write her mother. She figured her mother would love to get a letter actually written by Sam instead of a text message saying 'I'm still alive' or 'Just heading to class'. The two hadn't really spoken much since Sam left.

Sam crossed her legs on her bed, pulling a text book over one leg. She attempted her homework but couldn't focus on it. A heavy sigh escaped her as she stood up to stretch. Sam looked over to Keri, and decided to ask her a question. "I know you have been here for quite a while but, how are you liking everything here? She paused a moment before adding, "with our busy lives and all, we haven't talked much." Her lips formed a light grin as she spoke.

[Keri Rocha]

Keri sighed and nodded in agreement with her roommate. School just stunk, no matter what you took, at some point in time, you always stopped wanting to go. When Sam asked her what her 'best' part of the day had been, she actually thought about it, not having an answer ready as usual. I think I'll have to say my morning. And then I woke up. She mumbled to her. Waking up was probably the hardest part of her day, having to get out of her warm and cozy bed, stepping into the arctic air and running across the ice cold floor to find her clothes before she became an ice statue.

She didn't pay attention as Sam fed her dog, instead she went back to writing about the past few weeks at Blue Ridge. She almost wished there were people back home to miss, but there weren't, and that wouldn't change. She only missed the horses, but they were all sold off by now, which was good, considering her aunt would probably end of killing them with her 'knack for horses'.

Sam asked her a question that she hadn't really expected to hear, and suddenly her mind flashed with all of the memories from the past few weeks, speeding by her eyes, and not too many of them were with her roommate who she was supposed to end up being very good friends with. She shrugged in response, not knowing what to really say. It was a nice school and all, the people were nicer here, but it still didn't feel like 'home' and she was fairly certain no place ever would. It's different, but it's nice. I like the people here. She said to her. What about you?

[Samantha 'Sam' Lawrence]

Sam grinned lightly at Keri’s comment about her morning. That was the basic down fall of her day, the whole waking up part of it. For some reason though, Keri had seemed particularly down lately, which was different because the girl usually was peppy and fun no matter what. Sam felt bad for not being around as much for Keri as she should, but attempted to think nothing of it being her fault. It did not work in any way shape or form, other than to help sooth her own conscience which was pretty selfish.

After Sam had finished feeding her pup, and angered herself on how she was not focusing she glanced back up at Keri. She laughed sarcastically out her nose as Keri’s reply. ”I love it here, but I don’t think I get enough time to myself. I am in the barn, school, or in the gym which may make me rip my hair out.” She paused for a moment, thinking of what to say next. ”I think it is really hard to be me without as much free time to myself. The only time I get to relax is when I come up here after school.” Her voice losing its original volume level. ”I think you and I need to plan a day where we just get the heck out of our daily rut, and have some fun.” It was a large hint to get the girl to talk, even if it was a horrible hint. She really just wanted to as ‘Keri, what the hell is wrong!’ but figured that might lead to an argument. ”Maybe just talk and hang out but something.” She paused allowing Keri to talk since Sam had basically read an essay.

The girl huffed lightly listening to Keri quietly. Her eyes never left her roommate as she tried to read her, without making it to obvious that, that was what she was doing. She tried putting two and two together. Keri is worn out, a lot thinner, seems depressed and just different. Sam had seen a girl wear away like Keri is, into a completely depressed girl that almost had no life to her. The blonde clenched her eyes shut for a moment, then looked at her roommate sternly. ”What’s wrong Keri, I can’t figure it out. I want to, I am trying but I just can’t.” Her voice almost sounding desperate for Keri’s answer. ”I just need you to talk to me.” Sam looked at the girl with a full, opened hearted look. Hoping she could get Keri to open up.

OoC: It’s not the best. Sorry.

[Keri Rocha]

Keri saw the girl's smile out of the corner of her eye and knew she'd gotten a kick out of her comment; the same way she had when she'd first seen it on one of those memes or whatever they're called. She continued to write as her roommate started to laugh about something in her head. She suggested they take a day to just have fun, get away from school, from practice, from everything. Keri stopped writing for a moment, thinking about it. Doesn't that sound like fun, Keri? To get away from it all, just for a day? She shook her head, however, continuing with her writing. That'd be a lot of fun and all, but our teachers would kill us, and then Antione would reincarnate us just enough so that he could kill us again. She sighed with a half smile, trying to show some sort of emotion.

She could feel the girl's eyes on her, stuck like glue, seeming to scrutinize her every movement. She ignored it however, knowing that sometimes she felt that way even when she was alone in a room. She then heard something change, shifting into a pleading tone, obviously frustrated with something she'd done. Her questions confused her, and met her unprepared. [color-aqua]What's wrong?[/COLOR] She asked, not sure what she meant by it. What seems wrong? She asked her, now a little scared.

OOC: Not a problem! Sorry I'm taking so long to respond to this... things are hectic here right now.

[Samantha 'Sam' Lawrence]

Sam sighed lightly at Keri’s comment, which must have implied doing it during the week. She stayed quiet for a little bit and smiled lightly. ”Well, we go on the weekend, so our teachers won’t kill us and Coach can’t tear our heads off.” She had never actually skipped school purposely before. Sometimes she was sick, other times it was her horses or animals being sick or put to sleep. It killed her to have to face people bugging her, ‘are you ok?’. No she wasn’t ever ok, her best friend was gone.

She bit down on the inside of her lip when Keri asked what seemed wrong. Just about everything was wrong with her roomie. ”Well for starters, you are completely worn out, which I understand from practice. I have noticed that you seem kind of down lately, and don’t take this in a weird way, but I have noticed you are getting horribly skinny.” Sam took a deep breath to keep calm. It was slightly annoying that Keri didn’t say anything, but she was going to crack her before the night was out. Even if she literally had to crack the girl. ”I am actually getting really worried about you. Normally you are the peppiest person on earth, now I don’t know. Your just not you.” She glanced over to the girl, instead of staring out the window like she had been the whole time she was talking. ”I saw a girl do the same thing you are starting to do, and I am not letting that happen. Maybe I am just being a freak or something.” Sam really wanted to start banging her head against the table. Why had she even said anything? Couldn’t she have kept a closer eye on her roomie for a few more days?

OoC:It took you a whole hour to reply. Oh no!! :- p No worries, I will be patient.

[Keri Rocha]

OOC: Didn't even notice that you'd only posted that night, haha! Thought it was days before! {I need to be more awake}

She raised an eyebrow at that, nodding her head. That makes a lot more sense. She said, nodding at her words. Why would she have thought Sam meant during the week? That was a stupid thing to think. She sighed internally at herself.

Sam then answered her questions about what she thought was wrong, and Keri almost winced at her words. ... horribly skinny. Was she really? She fought the urge to look for herself, and instead kept her eyes on her journal. Six pages. She already written six pages.

Sam seemed determined about something. Was she angry at Keri? What reason did she have to be angry at her? The fact that she wasn't doing things as Sam would? She shook these thoughts from her mind. Being angry and jumping to conclusions wouldn't do her any good.

Worried about her? Why? She was fine. Maybe she just needed to back off, take a chill pill, she might get some gray hairs if she kept this up.

Your just not you. Sam said. If only you knew... Keri thought to herself, sighing externally now. Then, something Sam said sparked her interest. Something happened to a girl Sam knew, something like this? What happened to her? She asked her quietly, not sure whether to be scared or annoyed. Most of her was leaning towards annoyed, but at the moment, maybe she should be afraid.

[Samantha 'Sam' Lawrence]

Sam raised her eyebrows in surprise that Keri wanted to know more about the girl. It really was sad seeing the once fun loving girl change so much. She had actually been a great friend of Sam’s at one point in time, when both girl were much, much younger. They had grown apart once they hit middle school, realizing that the other was completely different than herself. Sam usually attended her Halloween parties, but they never really hung out much after that. She sighed quietly, thinking were to begin in the story. ”Well, where should I start?” No answer was necessary, as she was just asking herself loudly.

”We were best friends when we were little, but we kind of grew out of each other. We talked sometimes and went to each other’s parties but I hung out with jocks more, and she hung out with a different group. I still kept an eye on her in high school, just wondering if we were ever going to be that close again.” She paused a moment to yawn, and cover her mouth before continuing. ”It seemed within a month she had lost about twenty pounds, and she was scrawny even before that. Her eyes got really dark underneath, with what I guessed was not enough sleep in the long month. I got worried, so I talked to her friends, and they all said she had changed. She was quiet, which meant something was up since she almost never stopped talking. The worst part was I never said anything, and she got worse and worse. Finally her family moved far away from our school and no one ever figured it out.” Her lips curled under her front teeth and she bit down waiting for Keri’s reaction.

Her eyes pulled away from Keri and to the dog that jumped on the bed with Sam. She felt bad for trying to figure Keri out already, instead of waiting to see what would happen in the next couple of days. The blue eyes were covered by her eyelids for several moments as she wanted to apologize to her roommate and drop the conversation. Would she tell the counselor? Maybe talk to her mom and see what she would do? ”I am sorry Keri, if you don’t want to talk, you don’t have to.” Her voice quieted immediately afterward. ”Like I could make you anyway.” It was barely audible to anyone who wasn’t in a foot range of the blonde.

[Keri Rocha]

{will reply by this weekend. I've been swamped with homework!}

[Keri Rocha]

She seemed surprised at Keri's question, at how she wanted to know about the girl Sam had mentioned. Keri wasn't sure why she'd be surprised, though, considering she brought it up in the first place. She continued to write in her journal until Sam spoke, when she put the pen down and just listened.

Sam seemed tired as she spoke, which was justified by the time on the clock next to her. It was getting late, but Keri was learning more about a friend Sam had once known, whom she had never heard from again. Keri didn't have much of a reaction, the girl could be alive and getting better, alive and getting worse, or dead. Either of those three options. Keri had no idea which one was true, and neither did Sam. It honestly didn't bother Keri all that much, she hadn't known the girl anyway.

Sam spoke again, after she realized Keri wasn't going to respond to this, and she listened to her roommate apologize for questioning her. She thought about shaking her head, saying it wasn't Sam's fault, that she was just worried for her, which she shouldn't be, but obviously she was. Maybe she should have said something, but instead she just gave a nod of her head, acknowledging that she'd heard her, and picked her pen up and continued writing, hoping that would be the end of the conversation. Her phone buzzed again, and with that, she turned it off for the night, not even bothering to check who it might have been.