My Crazy Roommate… (part 1?)

Okay, this one is a doozy guys. This is the story about my crazy roommate that I had during my sophomore year of college. For privacy sake we will call her Ashley.

I met Ashley during my freshman riding lesson at school. She was my usual type of friend. Shy, quiet, seemed super sweet. She even fit my normal horse friend of ‘barn girl’ vs. ‘horse girl’.

(Barn girls are usually the ones who work their butts off at the barn to earn their riding time, board, lessons etc. ‘Horse girls’ are usually the ones who don’t have to lift a finger because their parents are well off and pay for everything, thus being snooty and high on themselves. This is just how I differentiate the generalized attitude between horse riders, this is not necessarily true.)

So we became friends super quick, hung out all the time and became really close. So for our sophomore year of course we got a room together! The first semester was awesome! We had each visited each other over the summer and nothing had changed. Then second semester rolled around and BAM. Shit got real.

Now really quick. Ashley didn’t have what I call an emotionally healthy childhood. She was a naturally affectionate child and she told me she could remember twice in her life that her dad had hugged her. And let me tell you after I met him I didn’t doubt it. Her parents also had a younger son who they treated like a porcelain doll and a prince. He was beyond spoiled and they did everything for him and not as much for Ashley. They also were forcing what I saw as a broken marriage. They had not shared a room since her brother was a baby, they avoid each other constantly, and the tension between them was palpable when I visited.

Ashley came to school and I recognized some emotional issues she had and encouraged her to seek help. She started going to see a therapist and after a few weeks was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I was so happy she was getting the support she needed and she decided she would like to try some medications to see if they helped her mental state out along with the therapy sessions. She was showing signs of being suicidal a couple times (i later found out it was about getting attention). So this was a real thing, she wasn’t perfect and she had her reasons. But that doesn’t discount the crazy things she did that year in school.

So the first crazy thing was if we had a little argument or I told  her to leave me alone close to bedtime, she would not be able to sleep. One night I woke up and she was just standing next to my bed wrapped in a blanket staring at me. She said she felt lonely and just needed to be closer to me. I didn’t know what to do really, so I told her her bed was three feet from mine, she was close enough I could pelt her with a pillow with my eyes closed. She giggled and got into her bed. She sat cross legged in her blanket and stared at me until I finally rolled over and went back to bed.

Second crazy thing was I had left for the weekend to go home and visit my parents and dogs. When I cam back late Sunday night I stripped and crawled into bed as quietly as I could so as not to wake her up. But as I glanced at her bed I noticed it was empty. It was well after 11 at night and the door had been locked so I know she wasn’t in the bathroom. The next thing I know something moved UNDER my bed. I rolled over to look ad there was Ashley curled up under my bed staring at me. When I asked her why she was there, she simply said ‘I needed to feel closer to you so I slept under your bed while you were gone.’ I was baffled. I had no idea what to say or do for a few minutes. I finally told her that since I was back she should sleep in her actual bed since she needs to get a good nights sleep before classes in the morning. She sighed but got back into her bed and laid down.

Third crazy thing was my breaking point and when I stayed with a friend who was lucky enough to get a suit that year for the rest of the semester. I was going over to my boyfriends for the night one weekend. She knew this which was normal, and I also told a couple other friends so they could keep a little eye on her. I didn’t leave until late, maybe 10 at night. Ashley was already getting ready for bed as I was packing. We had general conversation about this weekend and that I would be back late morning to go to the barn with her where we had our horses boarding. (I was still trying to be friendly, she had no one else.) She nodded but was pouty that I was leaving for the night to stay with my boyfriend. I shrugged it off as her normal self and grabbed my bag before saying goodbye and heading out. I got to my car and realized I forgot something, i can’t remember what now, in my room. So I parked on the street near my building to run back in and grab it. When I open the door to our room I stop dead as I see her in my bed, hugging my pillow and wrapped like a caterpillar in the blankets. Turns out that she sleeps in my bed when I am gone overnight/for a weekend so she can feel closer to me…

So that was my crazy roommate. I know her emotional issues didn’t help and I genuinely felt bad for her most of the time. But those actions are not okay and they really effected my year academically. I know that was a lot so thanks for riding this roller coaster with me as I relived the body wracking shivers that I felt during that year in school!