February, 2016

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            Jacob traced the lines of his face carefully with his finger, as if he pushed harder, the image would break. He put his hand down but continued to stare at his reflection in the speckled mirror. He counted six. Six big pimples. He grabbed his long, black hair and pulled it all the way back, pretending like he had a man bun. Shit. Now there were eight. He let his hair plop back down on his forehead and leaned in close to stare into his own eyes. In the dim, yellow light of the bathroom his normally brown eyes looked almost hazel.

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            “Hey Jake? Are you almost done? I sort of have class soon and gotta shower.”

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            “Oh shit, sorry dude I’ll come right out.”

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Jacob opened the bathroom door and was greeted by a wall of hair. His suitemate Henry was standing uncomfortably close to the doorway with a slight frown and a bath towel wrapped around his waist.

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            “My bad, dude.”

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            “It’s whatever.”

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Henry quickly walked past Jacob and shut the door of the bathroom. A few seconds later, the sound of running water floated through the confines of the suite.

 

Jacob didn’t know when he and his suitemates started to drift apart. Actually, that was a lie. He knew exactly when it started. He just liked to feign innocence and pretend like he didn’t know what happened. How could he forget?