An Unknown Number

Emma looks at her phone. An unknown number. Why in the world would she answer that?

Because it would the social thing to do. Her brain snaps back. Alright, but that's not a good reason to— and she just pressed accept.

"Hello, Emma here, what can I help you with?" Wow, she was out of practice in answering the phone.

"haah, haah, haah," A deep voice was panting over the phone, not responding.

"Hello?" The voice just kept panting. "Who is this?"

"Urgh!" The voice grunted loudly. Then, the line went dead.

"This cannot be happening."

When Emma got to her dormitory the weirdness didn't stop. She pressed her fob against the pad without looking and tried to open the door. Locked.

"What?" She looked down and pressed it again. Instead of blinking green and the click of the door unlocking the pad flashed red and beeped angrily at her. She tried again, and again. Same result. "Ugh, fine." Emma pulled out her phone and dialed the number taped to the door's window to contact her RA.

"Hello, Carmine's RA. Chrissy speaking."

"Hi Chrissy, it's Emma, from 402. For some reason my fob isn't working, can you let me in?"

"Um, sure. Are you coming to visit someone? I can tell them you're here."

"No, nothing like that." Emma started to pace outside the doorway. "I just need to get into my dorm."

"Uhhh, Emma, did you not finish clearing it out? Because I thought that was supposed to be done last semester." Emma stopped about ten feet from the entrance to Carmine.

"Chrissy," Emma laughed nervously. "What are you talking about?" She did not need this shit today too. Emma heard the ruffling of Chrissy getting off her bed.

"Emma, you don't live here anymore." Emma could hear Chrissy's RA voice kick in. "If you're not visiting someone and you've already gotten your stuff, I can't let you in. I know we're friends and I hate to do this to you, but it's the same rules for everyone. It's a safety hazard. And, to be frank, I got more noise complaints in the three months you lived here than in the following six, and I don't appreciate you using our friendship to get inside and jump some poor freshman's bones." Then, as quickly as it came, Chrissy switched back to her bubbly friend voice. "I hope that's alright, Em."

"Yeah, sure Chrissy. See you around." Emma didn't even wait to hear Chrissy say goodbye. She just hung up. If Chrissy was going to be a bitch she could at least be real about it. And what was with that backhanded comment at the end?

Emma waited on the steps to Carmine with her legs level with her chest and her arms resting on her knees. If the RA wouldn't let her in, she'd wait for a friend to swing by.

"Em?"

And what was up with that new nickname? Emma looked up. It was Marceline. Marceline was a close friend. She wanted to be roommates with Emma, but Emma wanted a single after a bad roommate experience last year. She was wearing sky-blue jeans and a frilly white top. Her long auburn hair hung down to her waist. A tote bag was hanging off the curve of her elbow. Detergent and some other groceries poked out.

"Hey, Marceline, could you let me in?" Emma smiled at Marceline. Marceline shifted her weight to be on her back foot, dropping the hand that held her key ring to her side and smirking at Emma.

"Did you leave your keys in some guy's dorm again?"

"Ha," Emma laughed and waved her hand at Marceline. "No, nothing like that. The strangest thing happened. I went to open the door," Emma threw a thumb over her shoulder to gesture at the door. "And it wouldn't open." Marceline frowned. "Yeah, and when I called Chrissy she got all mad at me and basically called me a slut trying to fuck freshman!" Marceline looked taken aback but had a weird expression on her face. The way she was looking at Emma; she couldn't. No. She thought Emma was the weird one.

"Oh, well, um." Marceline was suddenly very interested in her grey Converse. "Can't anyone from DDC let you back in?" Now it was Emma's turn to furrow her brow. Never mind Marceline deflecting from Chrissy's behavior. DDC? Like, Delta Delta Chi? The sorority? That place was filled with nothing but drunk bitches, troublemakers, and sugar babies. No, she couldn't have meant that. But what else could Marceline mean?

"Why would any of them have a fob to Carmine? They live in the Joyce House up on the hill." Emma extended her arm to point in the general direction of the infamous Joyce House. Marceline looked uneasy now. She was swaying from foot to foot, her tote was now being held by both her hands, as she fully extended her arms to hide her body.

"Look, Em, I know we don't talk much nowadays," What? They had movie nights every Friday. "But you're still my friend, and I appreciate you." Okay, weird intro. "But I think Chrissy's right. It's really below you to be showing up here without even a date to let you in. What, are you just going to be prowling the halls for dick?" Marceline put a hand on Emma's shoulder. Emma just stared straight on. She had said and thought it a lot today, but one response came to mind: What. The. Fuck?

"Marceline, what the hell is going on?" She shook her apparently former friend's arm off her and scrambled to get up. "All day people have been treating me weird! First some girl I don't know throws her iced coffee at me," Emma gestured to her damp everywhere.

"Shouting about how I stole some boy named Tyrone, a name I've never even heard." Marceline's jaw went slack in surprise. "Then Darcey and Gwen seem to hit on me." Emma fully extended her left arm to gesture at the road she came down from. "Then I get a call from an unknown number, which I for some reason answer, and it sounds like he was just masturbating to my voice. Then, you two," Emma pointed a finger at Marceline. "You two, my supposed friends act like I'm some floozie who doesn't even live here." Emma was red with anger. Her day started off bad, and it only got worse. She was panting as Marceline actively looked scared.

"Wait, you fucked Tyrone?"

"I don't know who Tyrone is!"

"Okay, shut up Em!" Marceline shouted. Emma stood up straight. She'd never had Marceline shout at her before. "Look, I know you have pretty low standards," Marceline jabbed her pointer finger into Emma's chest. "But Phoebe is a friend of mine, a good friend of mine, and anyone who knows either of them knows she and Tyrone are dating. I don't know what side of someone else's bed you woke up on today, but you have no right being indignant when Chrissy and I were right. If you're going after men who are practically engaged, and before the cum even dries in your twat you sitting out here like a panhandler just to get back in the dorm you ditched for party central, why should we believe you're here for any reason but to be the prowl for your next easy lay? Well Em, college isn't just sex and booze and partying. Some of us like to get to know the people we sleep with, instead of forgetting their names the second we're done with them.
"You." Marceline jabbed her finger in Emma's chest again. "Use." And again. "People." And again. Emma felt the back of her feet hit the stone of the next step. One more and she'd tip over. "So why would we think otherwise right now? Now scramble back to the sex pit you live in now and leave the college students who are here for their education alone." Before Emma could respond, Marceline hurried up the steps, opened the door with one quick swipe of her fob, and slammed the door behind her so Emma couldn't get it.

Emma slowly sat back down on the Carmine steps, pulled herself into a ball, and started crying.