Midnight Movie Club Ch. 01

After taking a moment to enjoy the view, Julie turned to the task at hand. She put her rucksack and the two duffel bags on the bed. Unzipping the duffel bags revealed the entirety of Julie's wardrobe - shirts, jeans, underwear, shoes, jackets. Each item of clothing had been expertly folded to be tight and compact, allowing every square inch of interior space to be fully utilized.

Julie was halfway through transferring her clothing from the first duffle bag into her dresser when a voice called out from the hallway. "I think this is it!" She turned to see a middle-aged blonde-haired woman with tanned skin stepping into the dorm room, a battered light blue suitcase in one hand. She was just over the threshold when she noticed Julie looking at her. "Excuse me," the woman asked, "is this Room 334?"

"Yes ma'am," Julie replied crisply.

"Oh good." The woman turned back to the hallway, beckoning with her arm to someone unseen. "Yes, this is it right here!" Turning back to Julie, she asked, "May I come in?" Julie nodded. The woman sighed with relief as she walked to the second bed and half-lifted, half-swung the suitcase onto the bare mattress. "I am too old to be bringing suitcases up three flights of steps," she told Julie. "Next time I'll wait for the elevator."

"Coming through!" This time it was a male voice calling out. Julie and the middle-aged woman looked up as a man with thinning blonde hair, tanned skin, and a hint of the inevitable middle-aged gut despite his muscular frame walked into the room, a suitcase in each hand. He nodded to Julie as he made his way to the foot of the second bed. "Whew," he said as he set the suitcases on the floor, "it's like hauling logs. Next summer I'm going to pack you out before you go to college!"

"Oh come on Dad," another feminine voice said, responding from just inside the doorway. "It's not that bad."

"You use three suitcases when you just need one." The man was wiping the sweat from his brow when he laid eyes on the two duffel bags on Julie's bed. "Now see, here's someone who knows how to pack. Tight, compact, and more importantly less baggage to carry."

"Please forgive my Dad. He's finally getting a case of empty nest syndrome." A young woman stepped into the room, a satchel over her shoulder and a bright smile on her face "Hi!" she proclaimed, extending her hand. I'm Eleanor Freeman."

"Julie Wyndham," Julie replied while giving her a firm handshake. Eleanor's hand felt rough and cracked. Her new roommate was taller than Julie by a few inches, with light dirty blonde hair and freckled skin. She wore a faded blue denim skirt and a black sleeveless top along with a pair of hiking sandals that had seen a lot of love, both through use and through the various designs that had been drawn on the leather. After shaking Eleanor's hand, Julie motioned to her duffel bags sitting on the bed. "I put my bags down on the first bed I saw," she explained to Eleanor. "I can move them if you want to sleep on this side."

"Nah." Eleanor waved a dismissive hand. "My bed's always been against the left wall. It'll help with the homesickness... yes Dad," she said, rolling her eyes playfully as her Dad opened his mouth. "I'll be homesick."

"I promise you," the middle-aged woman said, extending her hand to Julie, "they're normally not this bad. Amanda Freeman," she said as she shook Julie's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Ma'am," Julie said politely.

"And I'm Matthew Freeman."

"Sir," Julie said as she and Eleanor's father exchanged a handshake.

"Don't call me that," Matthew said, grinning. "I work for a living. What's left in the truck?"

"Two suitcases," Eleanor said, already having dropped her satchel onto her bed, "my laundry basket, and the TV."

"Got it," he replied to his daughter. "I'll grab the rest of the stuff so you guys can start unpacking."

"I'll give you a hand," Julie said, following Matthew to the door before he could say otherwise. "I was stuck on a bus for two days, my body could use a workout. Plus," she added, "it'll save you a trip."

There was relief in Matthew's voice as he said, "Can't argue with that."

"Thanks, Julie!" Eleanor gave an eager wave of gratitude, to which she nodded in response before following her new roommate's father out into the hallway.

X X X X X

Sitting down on the edge of her bed, Julie glanced around before sighing in approval. "That's all of my gear," she said to Eleanor. "How are you coming along?"

Eleanor scratched at the nape of her neck for a moment before answering Julie with a shrug. "Close enough," she concluded. "The rest can wait until tomorrow after orientation."

Julie nodded in outward agreement. On the inside, however, she was fighting the urge to get up and help Eleanor get the rest of her stuff unpacked before turning in for the night. Julie's side of the dorm room was devoid of anything but the barest essentials, which included a small lamp on her nightstand and a blotter on her desk. Also sitting on her desk, on a shelf above the blotter, was a framed picture of a stern-looking man in a dark navy suit coat, black necktie, and a white combination cap. Everything else had been neatly organized and packed away in either her dresser, her desk, or her closet near the door. Her bed had been precisely made, sheets tightly tucked underneath the mattress with a light blanket pulled snug atop of them. Her smartphone as well as her smart pad were currently charging on her nightstand.

Eleanor's half of the room, however, was a lesson in chaos. Even as she had that thought, Julie silently chastised herself. Not everyone had Julie's mannerisms. It was especially unfair to judge her new roommate for being more casual than she was. Eleanor's suitcases were unpacked but most of her clothing was on the floor or atop the dresser. Her school supplies and toiletries were sitting on her desk, still in their plastic shopping bags. Her bed was made, however, and the TV stand they had bought from Target was sitting in the middle of the outer wall, put together by Eleanor's father, a contribution that made him feel a little better about hugging his youngest daughter goodbye and leaving a few hours earlier. A sizable flatscreen television, top of the line and fresh out of the box, was in place atop the stand. According to Eleanor, it had been a graduation present from all four of her grandparents.

"Thank you again for letting me hitch a ride to Target with you and your parents," Julie expressed gratefully. "It saved me from having to grab a Lyft back with everything I bought."

"Again, you're welcome," Eleanor said. She collapsed onto the bed and slid herself back so she sat against the wall, facing Julie across the room. A sigh of exhaustion escaped the young woman as she rested her head against the wall and closed her eyes. "What was I going to do, turn down the girl I'm going to be living with for the next eight months? Besides, you needed the extra hands to carry all the stuff inside. You sure did pack light for college."

"I did," Julie admitted. "I grew up keeping my personal belongings to a bare minimum." She motioned to the pair of empty duffel bags, standing on their ends in the corner next to her window. "I've always been able to pack my essentials and mementos into two duffel bags at a moment's notice. Everything else I either have on flash drives or pick up when I get to where I'm going. Toiletries, bedsheets, towels, things like that."

Eleanor's eyes went to the framed picture sitting atop Julie's desk. "You said you were tired, but if you're not going right to bed are you up for knocking out all the 'getting to know you' stuff?"

"Sure," Julie said, rubbing her face. "I'm so exhausted I have to work my way up to tired before I can get to sleep. Want a bottle of water?" Eleanor nodded in the affirmative. Julie pushed up from the bed and grabbed two bottles of water from the small mini-fridge that sat in Eleanor's closet, opposite the microwave that Julie had purchased from Target. As she underhanded one to Eleanor, who easily plucked it from mid-air, she asked, "Mind if I get comfortable?"

"Not at all," Eleanor said.

After giving Eleanor a sigh of thanks Julie eagerly kicked off her shoes before pulling her t-shirt over her head and kicking her jeans to the floor of the dorm. She used her toes to pick up the jeans, tossing them in the air with a snap of her leg and easily snatching the denim from mid-air. Eleanor clapped lightly in amazement as Julie tossed both articles of clothing into the laundry basket at the foot of her bed. "That's pretty impressive," she told her roommate.

Now clad only in a pair of high-waisted black underwear and a dark blue sports bra, Julie brought her feet up to sit cross-legged on her bed. After taking a drink, savoring the cold, clear water as it soothed her throat, she dove right into a speech she had given many times in her young life, updated for her new home. "My name's Julie Wyndham, no middle name. I'm 18 years old. I've moved around my entire life but spent the last four years going to high school in a ski resort town called Emerald Pines, about half-an-hour south of Aspen, Colorado. My Dad, Lieutenant Commander Nathaniel Wyndham," she said, pointing to the picture on her desk, "is career Navy and currently the Executive Officer on the fast-attack submarine USS Illinois out of Pearl Harbor. My Mom, Linda Smith Wyndham, passed away five years ago from congenital heart failure. I'm an only child. I like running and I love watching movies. Good movies, bad movies, really bad movies, I'm a fan." She paused for a moment. "And I'm planning on double majoring in media studies and film studies for a career behind-the-scenes in either movies or television."

"Whoa," Eleanor remarked as she absorbed the essentials of Julie's life. "You sound like you've given that speech a lot."

"Every time I attended a new school. The only details that changed were where I lived before and where my Dad was currently stationed."

"Was your Dad ever stationed at the base out on the lake?"

"Yes, he was," Julie answered. "That's actually how I found out about Farragut College. My father's been with the submarine arm of the Navy since he graduated from the Naval Academy. He was assigned to the Acoustic Research Detachment... seven, eight years ago on an over compliment tour between postings," she calculated. "I remembered this place from when we lived here. I looked it up online and it had all the classes I wanted without being a huge state school where I'd get lost in the crowd. I prefer smaller class sizes and getting to know my instructors as best I can."

"You came to the right school, then. Welcome back to Idaho," Eleanor said with a warm smile. The smile turned into a gentle frown after a moment. "Oh, I'm sorry about your mom. I know it's five years later and I never met her, but please accept my condolences."

"Thank you," Julie said sincerely. "I appreciate that." The fatigue was finally, after a long day of bus rides, shopping for essentials, and unpacking, beginning to touch upon Julie. She felt her eyelids growing heavy. In response, the young woman reached into her lap and gave the inside of her thigh a sharp pinch. The brief flare of pain shoved back the weariness, hopefully long enough to let Eleanor have her turn. "So about you," Julie asked. "What's your story?"

"Well, my full name's Eleanor Flower Freeman..." Eleanor chuckled as Julie offered her a quizzical eyebrow. "My mom's parents are hippies and they passed it down to my mom who handed it down to me. I'm a third-generation flower child," she proudly proclaimed. "I'm a local girl, born and raised in Sandpoint up on the north end of the lake. Mom works for the state doing reforestation and Dad's a lumberjack, so I know how to plant a sapling as well as use a chainsaw. What else... I've got five older brothers, I'm debating between environmental science or pre-law as a major, I like gardening and landscaping...oh yeah, and I'm bi."

Julie gave Eleanor a slow nod as she absorbed what her roommate had told her. "Good to... know?"

Eleanor's response was a hearty chuckle, which brought about a relieved sigh from Julie. "We're going to be living together so I figured I'd just get it out there now in case I ever bring a girl back here. Or a guy. Or a guy and a girl."

"It's OK," Julie laughed, waving a hand for emphasis. "I'm not used to someone being that upfront with their sexuality."

"I'm very open and honest." Eleanor put on a big smile as she bounced slightly on her bed. "I'm all warm and fuzzy but I don't beat around the bush either..."

"No," Julie interjected, "apparently you dive in headfirst into the bush."

A full-body snort escaped Eleanor. She put a hand over her mouth as she laughed. "I think you and I are going to get along just fine, Julie."

Julie found herself nodding in agreement. "I believe you're right, Eleanor." Her roommate's name was more yawned than spoken. "OK," Julie said after taking another drink of water, "I'm about to crash. The past two days are finally catching up with me."

"I'm gonna go brush my teeth," Eleanor said. "I'll get the lights when I come back. Um... one more thing. I sleep naked. If that's a problem..."

"If it's a problem I'll say something, but it shouldn't be," Julie responded as she reached for her smart pad. "I'm a deep sleeper and I usually have earbuds in. You're going to have to shake me if you need me to wake up."

"As long as you're not a puncher." Eleanor slid off the bed. "Good night Julie," she said, a friendly smile on her face. "See you tomorrow morning."

As Eleanor grabbed her toiletry basket from the closet Julie pulled her pair of earbuds from her nightstand and synced them to her phone. After turning off her bedside lamp she slid underneath her covers. The sheets and pillowcase were a bit stiff for her tastes, but they'd get broken in over time. Even as she was getting comfortable, her eyelids grew heavy as her body began to shut down for the evening. Julie quickly scrolled through her collection of movies, trying to find a light movie that she could easily pass out to. She managed to find one and get it started just as sleep finally took over. Her last conscious action was to put her phone on her nightstand before rolling onto her side. By the time Eleanor came back from brushing her teeth and turned off the lights to the dorm room, Julie was fast asleep, the opening scene from the 1981 slasher Hell Night was playing to an audience consisting solely of her subconscious.

X X X X X

The sunrise was beginning to peek over the cliffs on the other side of the lake when Eleanor's alarm went off.

Groaning with dissatisfaction at the electronic recreation of an old-school wind-up alarm clock, she reached out, managing to grab her smartphone and snooze her alarm for nine more minutes. Another groan escaped her as she saw the time. 6:15 AM. She had forgotten to set a new wake-up time for her first day at college. Dropping the phone back on the nightstand, Eleanor's head fell back onto her pillow. Orientation didn't start until 9 AM. She could snag at least another hour's sleep, maybe 90 minutes if she pushed it.

Unfortunately, the habit of waking up with the sunrise mixed with the sunlight streaming directly through the window onto her bed was enough to drag her into semi-wakefulness. A final groan accompanied Eleanor's throwing off of her blanket. She pushed herself into a sitting position and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. First and foremost on her mind was a cup of hot, strong, black coffee with nothing added save a pinch of salt. Her second thought, however, was the realization that the dorm room didn't have a coffee maker. "Ugh," she said in disgust. She had meant to get one at Target the night before. She'd have to order from Amazon...

"No," she told herself. Purchasing stuff online instead of going to buy it in person was a great way to give in to impulse shopping and quickly go broke, especially as a college student. She'd just have to endure until the next time she went to Target.

With no coffee on the immediate horizon, Eleanor's mind went to the next item on her morning checklist - a shower. She had always gotten up early to take one before her older brothers woke up and stole all the hot water for themselves. Eleanor slid out from under the covers, enjoying the feeling of a warm carpet under her feet as opposed to cold wooden floorboards. Standing naked at the foot of her bed, Eleanor stretched her arms above her head, working out the kinks from the first night of sleeping in a new bed. The sun was above the cliffs by now. Eleanor enjoyed the warm caress of its rays as she carefully bent over, loosening up her hips and back by shifting from side to side as she reached for her toes...

Roommate. She had a roommate now. And if she was awake, her roommate would be getting a full view between Eleanor's legs.

Eleanor casually straightened up. Being roommates she and Julie were bound to see each other naked at some point, she just hadn't meant for the first time to be so accidentally blatant. She had the feeling, however, that Julie wouldn't mind. To Eleanor, she came off as proper, not stuck up - a military brat vs a spoiled rich kid. Hell, for all Eleanor knew Julie might appreciate the view. After all, Julie didn't say last night if she was straight, lesbian, or bi... or curious... and she was awfully cute with that runner's body...

She put a little more of an arch in her back, giving an exaggerated sigh, before turning around to face Julie's bed. "Hey roomie," Eleanor said with a bright smile, "good..."

Julie's bed was empty. The covers were tucked tightly in between the frame and the mattress with the quilt and top sheet folded down just below the pillow sitting at the head of the bed. Looked like Eleanor wasn't the only early riser in the dorm. Julie had gotten up, made her bed, and probably left to take a shower. No, jogging. She was probably squeezing in a run before a full day of orientation. Well, if Julie was an early riser like her, then they wouldn't have to quietly tiptoe around each other while getting ready in the mornings. Another point in her roommate's favor.

Eleanor pulled her train of thought into the station with a firm nod. She grabbed her thick gray bathrobe from her closet along with her toiletry basket. After making sure the door wasn't locked behind her Eleanor headed for the communal bathroom situated in the middle of their floor. The eagerness of her first full day at college led to Eleanor giving off a light, airy hum as she made her way to the showers.

X X X X X

There were six residence halls for on-campus students at Farragut College. Four of them were located near the middle of campus, set next to and across from each other, one at each of the cardinal compass points. At the center of the buildings, where four sidewalks came together in a roundabout, stood a bronze statue of the school's namesake, Admiral David Farragut. Aside from a pair of roaming security guards who had given her a puzzled look when she had stepped out of Samuelson Hall just before dawn, Julie had been the only person on the square. The rhythmic smack of her running shoes against the concrete echoed through the pre-dawn as she ran along the sidewalks that made up the boundaries of the square.

Jogging had been a constant in Julie's life since the sixth grade. No matter where she was, be it a new school, a military base halfway around the world, or a college campus, there was always the opportunity to slip on a pair of sneakers and go for a run. She had planned to throttle back this morning, working out the final kinks from her two-day bus ride and getting a feel for her new surroundings. However, the air was nowhere near as thin as it had been back in Colorado. Bayview being four thousand feet lower in altitude than Emerald Pines meant she was able to breathe much easier. With the freshwater scent of Lake Pend Oreille drifting in from less than a mile away, Julie was energized enough to push herself harder than she had planned.