Friends Are Benefits

So it was all set.  I was supposed to move into a dormitory at the university and live like a real college kid for the first time in my life.  I was nervous and excited.

I had an appointment to meet with the Religious Studies department in Palo Alto.  It was scheduled for early in the morning.  I knew that the guy I’d met at Ren Faire early on, the one I spent a disappointing night with, had moved to San Jose, which is much closer to Stanford than Olivehurst.  I called him and asked him if I could crash on his couch for the night While I was in the area for my meeting.  He said that would not be a problem, so that was set.

I took him to dinner for letting me borrow his couch.  He was telling me that he manages the complex, but that his roommate was moving out and he was looking for someone to move in and help him.

Shortly after that weekend, I learned that my funding had fallen through.  My tuition would be covered by student loans, but my dorm and meal plans would have been paid by a second loan.  Thanks to my mutilated credit, that second loan was revoked.

I panicked for a moment but immediately thought of Jason, the guy who was looking for a roommate to help him manage the apartment complex.

I called him and told him my situation and asked if he’d consider me as a roommate.  He told me he’d think about it and get back to me.

Really only a few minutes later, Jason called me back and told me that he didn’t need to think about it and that would work for him.

In the couple of weeks before I moved to San Jose, I spent a lot of time with Rick.  He’d started telling me that he loved me.  I didn’t know what to do with that.  But it sure felt good to hear it.

Living with Jason wasn’t easy.  He was a little bit uptight about tidiness but did not communicate his expectations.  For example, one night he bit my head off for putting the dirty dishes in the sink.  He told me that he likes to keep them on the counter until one of us can get to it.

Having been a teacher for a few years, by now, I stayed calm and said, “Oh, I’m sorry.  I don’t remember when you told me that.”

Jason looked a little sheepish.  “Yeah, I guess that’s because I didn’t.”

I said, “Oh.  I’m not psychic, you know.”

He laughed, a little embarrassed.  “I just don’t like confrontation.”

”I can understand that,” I said, gently.  “but do you see that by not communicating that to me in the first place, confrontation is exactly what resulted?”

He nodded and laughed again.

”I’m a pretty reasonable person,” I said, “if you just communicate with me.”