Jacket Over Hoodie Over Shirt

By Lelaina MacDonald

“Coy, come on, dude!” my roommate, Parker, yells at me while I’m standing on my bed looking at the ceiling in my room. I’m still in the process of putting glow in the dark stars on my ceiling. I’ve been doing this since three in the morning and it’s almost six now. Nonetheless, I have got to keep going because I almost have my entire ceiling covered!

“Five more minutes!” I shout back. I just need to put up ten, twenty, maybe thirty more stars? I have planets hanging from my ceiling that I made earlier last night. I used styrofoam balls and lots of paint. To make my solar system complete I need stars! I don’t have the stars in any particular pattern. I just place them where it feels right. The ones I have in my hands make their way to my ceiling one by one right above my bed. This way, when I go to bed at night, I’ll feel like I’m out in the backyard staring at the sky with Parker beside me. Well, he would never be right next to me, shoulder to shoulder. He would be a couple inches away from me. I would want to pull him closer. He would never let me.

I shake my head and put the last few stars on the corner of my ceiling. The last one slips from my fingers and I hop off my bed to stare at my creation. My space ceiling is almost as flawless as Parker. No, stop it. Don’t think that.

I look over at the mirror beside my bed and see an average height male before me. He is wearing a bright green t-shirt with jeans and his converse. He has stacks of bracelets that he made on his wrists, a few silver rings on his fingers, a necklace with a brontosaurus charm, and black stud earrings. His dark blonde hair is an absolute mess; pieces flying in every direction. The boy has splatters of paint on his face and on his neck—definitely the outcome of the painting he had done on the planets. 

“I know, dude, I look like a mess,” I say as I walk out of my room finally. Parker is sitting on the couch in the living room with his backpack next to him. His jet black hair has perfect curls and he is wearing the same earrings I have on. He has on a jacket over hoodie over shirt. He always runs cold so he wears as many layers as he can at all times.

“Do you want to wash any of that off before we head out, bro?” Parker asks, looking at my face and waving his pointer finger at me. He gets up from the couch and walks over to me.

“Nah, bro, I look awesome! I’m an awesome mess!” I exclaim. I have no energy to wipe any of this off. I’ll just take a shower later. “So, what exactly are we doing today? Where are we going?”

“Dude, I told you this last night,” Parker replies, rolling his eyes at me. “We are going to that abandoned mansion I found.” A smile immediately spreads across my face. Is this really happening? Please let this be real!

“Aw yeah!” I place my hands on Parker’s shoulders and start shaking him. “Bro, this is going to be amazing! We haven’t been on a mission in ages! Just think of all the rooms there’s going to be in this place! I should bring my spray paint cans, my paint pens, and maybe some stickers if I want to get a little crazy!” Parker shoves my hands away but smiles a little.

“Sure, dude, go grab your supplies.” I do a little jump and skedaddle back to my room. I can’t believe this is really happening. Parker and I haven’t been on a mission in so long. Ever since we’ve started our first semester of college we haven’t had time to explore abandoned places. Parker is always studying or taking tests or doing homework. He never leaves his room anymore, up until today.

During high school we always explored abandoned places. We’ve been to abandoned houses, schools, hospitals, and restaurants. Even though we had a jumble of schoolwork in our high school years, we always found the time to go on missions. Sometimes Parker would text me at two in the morning with a location in mind. He would show up to my house a few minutes later and then we were off. Other times we would go after school or on the weekends. But there was always something about our two in the morning adventures that I loved the most. It was sweet knowing he was thinking of me in the middle of the night. However, since college has started, we both got busier. 

Especially Parker.

Parker all of a sudden got obsessed with the idea of having a perfect grade point average. He began doing nothing but school work all day and all night. I would often ask Parker if we could go to an abandoned place. Parker used to always say yes, but since we became college students, a “yes” has never left his mouth. I know that Parker is taking way more courses than he should right now. But he has always been so excited about college and I don’t want to take that excitement away from him. However, I rarely ever see him anymore because he is always in his room or in class. I’ve really been missing him lately. A lot more than I should.

I quickly grab my art supplies without even paying attention to what I’m gathering and throw it all in my dinosaur backpack. Parker always tells me that the dinosaur is a diplodocus, but I know it is a brontosaurus. I’ve been studying dinosaurs my whole life. In a matter of seconds I dash back into the living room with Parker.

“That was quick, dude,” Parker laughs.

“Bro, I know! I’m just so excited for this!” I squeal. “I am going to make this mansion look so pretty! Like you, Parker!” Oh. My. God. I did not just say that. Did I? I’m probably blushing so hard right now. 

“Uhh, thanks?” Parker questions, cocking his head to the side.

“Umm, you’re welcome,” I whisper. Is Parker okay with me calling him that? Or does he think I’m saying he’s beautiful in a brotherly, platonic way?

“Well, anyways, I’m hoping to find some ancient artifacts at this place. Every time we visit an abandoned place there is never anything interesting enough to take as a souvenir. Or everything is just…disgusting,” Parker explains, getting off the couch and grabbing his backpack. I nod my head aggressively and start heading towards their apartment door. 

“Let’s get to work!” I say happily as I’m running out the door. Maybe Parker won’t catch on and we will be okay.

By Lelaina MacDonald