Part 1She Insisted Her Aunt Live With Us

When I started my freshman year, my new roommate, Riley, insisted her aunt had to come with her to college.

Her aunt had to take her to class and pick her up.

I tried to reason with her a few times:

"We're college students now, can't you be a little more independent?"

But Riley just scoffed, "You're all just jealous I have someone to take care of me. If you're so capable, go get someone to chaperone you too!"

Later, one day when I came back to the dorm, I found her aunt had taken over my bed.

All my personal belongings had been tossed into the bathroom.

I clenched my fists. When I confronted her, she said dismissively, "Alright, alright, I'll have my aunt give you five hundred bucks. You can move out."

Oh, okay, so that's how we're playing this, huh?

Fine. I'll make sure your aunt "takes care" of you, 360 degrees, no blind spots.

* * *

Freshman year had just begun. Lugging bags big and small, I pushed open the dorm room door to find someone had beaten me to it.

After a bit of chatting, I warmly called her Riley, and she pulled a few oranges from her bag, offering them to me with a big smile.

Her aunt, Carol, saw me and only complimented how "fresh" I looked, and even added me on Insta.

As night fell, the other two roommates gradually arrived.

Looking at the scene, it seemed everyone was planning to stay the night.

But we all looked at each other, an awkwardness hanging in the air.

Because Aunt Carol was currently lying on the top bunk, blatantly scrolling through TikToks with the sound on full blast.

A few minutes later, I couldn't take it anymore and politely asked, "Ma'am, it's getting pretty late. Maybe you could get a hotel room for tonight?"

"I know you must hate to leave Riley, but classes don't start until the day after tomorrow. You can spend all day with her tomorrow, okay?"

But she just said, "She'll just sleep here for one night, she won't bother you all! Don't be so stingy!"

Was this really about being stingy or not?

My temper flared, and I almost blew up right then and there.

My other roommates each grabbed one of my hands, coaxing me, "Lily, forget it, forget it. School hasn't even started, we can't make things awkward already."

After popping a few candies in my mouth, I started to feel a bit better.

For a while after that, even though Riley's aunt didn't do anything, I always felt like there was a pair of eyes in the dorm constantly watching the three of us.

It was a feeling that’s hard to describe in just a word or two.

After we’d all pretty much finished our evening routines, Riley’s aunt suddenly announced she wanted to clean. She said she was a neat freak, and if the dorm was too dirty, she wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Everyone tried to tell her the cleaning could wait until tomorrow. We'd all made long drives from out of state; everyone just wanted to wash up and sleep, then clean tomorrow.

Aunt Carol’s face instantly darkened. "How can you young ladies not care about cleanliness? If I clean tonight, it’ll be easier for you all tomorrow. I’m doing this for your own good!"

In the ensuing silence, someone muttered, "Psycho."

I just felt incredibly annoyed.

It was already almost midnight, and everyone was about to fall asleep. If our room started making noises from scrubbing clothes or a washing machine spinning, we’d definitely have people knocking on our door.

But before we could say anything, a few "little pearls"—tears—slid down Riley's cheeks, making her look utterly pitiable.