Page 36 of Making It Count

Shay looked down into the bag and saw a few things of ramen, some granola bars, individual chip bags, some candy, and something else.

“Coffee?”

“You said you were out, and they’re not delivering coffee to us with breakfast. I don’t know. I thought you might like it. I’m not even sure if that’s the kind you like.”

“Layne… Thank you. I could’ve ordered stuff myself. I just… I’ve been having a hard time adjusting to being alone in here, I think.”

“I’m much more used to it than you are, so it’s not as big of an adjustment for me.”

“Used to what?”

“Being alone,” Layne replied.

CHAPTER 14

They’d developed several ways to pass the time on lockdown. Layne had participated in them as she’d had the time. Studying and graduating were still her number one priorities. She had an internship waiting for her that was a paid gig, would teach her about the job she wanted, and might just come along with a real job later. She’d also be moving to Chicago, and with every week that passed, that move date was getting closer, so she’d started to look into apartments to see what she’d be able to afford. The answer was not much at all, so she wouldn’t be living anywhere near the office and would have to take the train into the city, but it was still a job and the one that she’d wanted most out of everything she’d applied to.

Layne saw the note slide under the door and got up from her bed. The newest game was note-passing, like they were back in high school. Anyone who wanted to pass a note to another room on the floor could write the room number on the note and slide it under the door across the hall. That person would then take the note and try to make it under the door that was diagonally across from their room until it finally reached its destination. There were rules, of course. First, note-passing only happened between five and nine at night because everyone should be out of classes for the most part, at least, and if anyone went to sleep early, the note wouldn’t be stuck under their door all night if it was passed along at ten or eleven. Second, if someone didn’t want to participate in the note-passing or couldn’t for that night, they put a Post-it note on the outside of their door to let everyone know so that their room could be avoided. Third, every note had to be in an envelope of some kind to make it easier to slide under a door. Fourth, there were points awarded to the longest-distance door slide, which meant that they tried to slide it to a door down the hall and maybe ricochet it off a wall to make it under. If they made it two doors down, that was ten points. Three doors down, which was the record, was worth twenty points. Points were also awarded to the smoothest slide under a door, and the person who received the note could award anywhere from zero to five points. Zero would mean they hadn’t seen it slide under their door. Five would mean the thing practically hit the back wall of their dorm room. There were other chances to earn points, and in their floor chat that had been started by their RA well over a week ago now, they would report out the points awarded, and there was a leaderboard on one of the door’s dry-erase boards that people could check on their way to the bathroom. Fifth, and the most important rule, had to do with the doors themselves. To slide a note, the door had to be open, but a mask or a bandana had to be worn by the slider for extra safety. They weren’t allowed to step out of their room at all to slide the note, meaning they couldn’t stand in the hallway and line up a shot. Doing so meant they’d lose fifty points.

It was ridiculous, but Layne had to admit that it was a little fun, too. Silly, yes, but they needed something to do. Other games had been invented. Most of them were being played online with people from the team or from the floor. Anything they could do to pass the time would help them get through this. Layne wasn’t nearly as restless as many of the others, though. She was sure that had to do with what she’d mentioned to Shay days ago: Layne had gotten used to being on her own. Once her dad had died and her mom had started to pick up more and more shifts, Layne pretty much took care of herself, and friends were hard to come by because people didn’t understand her, and she didn’t make much of an attempt to get them to understand her.

She also grew up in a small ranch-style home with only two bedrooms and had always been the kind of kid who liked her alone time in her bedroom, so the small dorm room didn’t feel as claustrophobic to her as it likely did to others. After her father’s death, they hadn’t been able to keep the house, so they’d moved into a two-bedroom apartment instead. She and her mom didn’t need much space, and Layne still had her own room, but the apartment wasn’t exactly in the nicest neighborhood, so Layne hated that her mom was there on her own and came home at odd hours due to her ever-changing gas station shifts. Her mom was also getting more and more work cleaning houses. Everyone, it seemed, wanted their homes cleaned top to bottom. While that meant a little more money for her family, it also meant that her mom was putting herself at risk, and Layne didn’t like that part at all.

She stood up and went to grab the note. Her job now was to check the room number on the envelope, which was really just a folded and taped piece of paper holding the note. That was the other part of the game. People could get points for creativity since not everyone had envelopes. They’d started making their own, and if one was particularly impressive, they could be awarded a few points for it. This one wasn’t just a folded and taped piece of paper; it had flowers drawn on it. It looked like the artist had used colored pencils, and the flowers were actually pretty good. The room number on the outside wasn’t just a scribbled 307, either. It was drawn in bubble letters with the numbers colored in, alternating with green and blue. Layne looked around, as if someone was in the room with her, because she hadn’t seen a note for 307 yet. 307 was her room number. This note was for her.

She moved back to her bed and sat down, opening the handmade envelope slowly so as not to tear it, and found a folded note inside. She unfolded it and placed the envelope on the bed beside her. Then, she read.

Layne,

I thought this game was pretty stupid at first, but I actually kind of like it now. I’m in second place right now, so if you can maybe not give 305 any points since they’re the one that probably had to slide this under your door, I’d really appreciate it. I’m only three behind. Plus, 305 is Madison, and she’s kind of a bitch. She thinks basketball is lame and that volleyball is the best sport at this school. I’m sorry; have they won a conference championship? I don’t think so.

Anyway, I wondered earlier if you’d gotten any notes sent your way and thought that I might be the first to send you one, so here it is. We talk on the phone and text all the time, so I don’t have anything new to say, really. We lead pretty boring lives when it all comes down to it, huh? We can really only talk about school, meals, what we saw online, and that’s about it these days.

Also, if you get this and want to give me a bunch of creativity points for the envelope, I’d love to take Madison down. Turns out, I’m really competitive, even when I’m not playing basketball, I guess.

Shay

Layne wasn’t a cheater, but the slide into her room wasn’t very good. The note had only landed just inside the door, with the tip of the note still under it. The envelope was creative, too. It was the first she’d seen that had artwork on it. So, Layne figured that she could award maximum points to Shay and only one point to Madison because she had technically seen the note come under the door. She went to her phone, pulled up the group chat, typed her points in, and hit enter. Then, she waited for her phone to ding.

Shay: You couldn’t just say you didn’t see the thing slide under the door?

Layne laughed and typed.

Layne: But I did see it. And it doesn’t even matter if we saw it. We can see where it lands.

Shay: Yes, but you don’t know how smooth the slide is unless you see it. It might end up at your wall, but it had to take three ricochets to get it there. The ride counts, Layne.

Layne: You are taking this way too seriously.

Shay: What else do I have to do?

Layne: Study. Graduate.

Shay: Lame. I’m bored, Layne. I’m so bored that I’m drawing you flowers on a note and sliding it under a door to try to earn points that mean nothing.

Layne laughed, and her phone rang. Seeing it was her mom, she knew Shay would have to wait.

“Mom, everything okay?”