The Sticky Note Chronicles

Sighing in content as the last box slammed into the ground with a deafening “thud”, the young woman with pale skin and freckles threw herself onto the fluffy bed. Laying face down on the naked mattress, she closed her eyes – the tedious task had finally been completed!
“Perfect!” She shouted, rolling over with a bit of trouble on the bed. She smiled up at the ceiling of her room, her own room!
The campus dorms were not the best, she had discovered in her freshmen year of attending The Swedish Institute in New York City. So this year, she decided to room outside the dorms, and was fortunate to find, not only a reasonably nice apartment only two blocks from campus, but also a roommate to split the cost with!
She couldn’t help but let the smile spread across her mouth.
Sitting up, her green eyes scanned the room that was unusually plain, and scattered with boxes and bags, containers of her possessions.
“Wonder where my roommate is…” She murmured, swinging her legs back and forth. The bed was about a foot and a half off the ground, which was weird, but this way she could store all the boxes underneath the bed, instead of stacking them into a castle in the corner of her room like she had done the previous semester.

Trudging through the narrow hallway, she emerged into the living room, which was connected to the small kitchen that leads to the front door.
Apparently, the girl she was rooming with had moved in a long time before her, because everything was already in its place.
A toaster, a microwave, a coffee machine – still half full with the lukewarm caffeinated beverage. Clean dishes stacked in the sink to dry, pots hanging over the kitchen island.
Glancing at the silver fridge, something caught her eye. Three things were stuck on the door of the refrigerator; one was one of those magnets that had a repair man’s number on it. The next was a Christmas card from 2008 with a family of five smiling in red and green sweaters – the card read “Merry Christmas and a Happy New year from the Robinsons!” in loopy lettering.
But what really caught her eye was a picture. It was of two girls, one was the one holding the camera up to take the picture. She had bright blue eyes, with flecks of grey around the center. Her hair was choppy and brown, almost black, and was styled into a very short, boyish style. Her smile was wide and bright, obviously she had been laughing when the photo was taken.
The other girl had hair that was obviously dyed a shade of redish purple, which hung just below her ears in a wavy style. Her eyes were green, kind of like her own, she was laughing even harder than the brunette.
Reaching up one hand, she pulled the picture down and read the back.
“Emma and Mel 3/12/09” had been written in blue pen on the back in neat cursive.
“Hm,” Norah made a noise in the back of her throat, replacing the picture underneath the magnet on the fridge again. Her green eyes turned again to scan the living room.
Two white couches, one with three seats, the other with two, were in an L shape surrounding the television on the wall. In the corner, an overstuffed armchair, paired with a bookshelf practically overflowing with books and a tall lamp, looked particularly cozy.
Smiling, the pale girl allowed her feet to lead her over to the chair and curl up on the seat. Sighing in content, she laid her head back and stared out the window beside her.
The neon lights of the city were blinding to any new comer, but she had lived in the city since she was thirteen. The move from Dublin to New York City had been a weird one, she felt so obscure in this place at first. But she grew to love it.
The distant sounds of cars screeching and honking, people yelling loudly, and music from the club down the street were almost comforting to her as her head lulled and she fell into a drifting sleep.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Norah startled awake at the sound of the door closing. It was subtle, but still loud enough to cause alarm. Stifling a yawn, she rubbed her eyes and cracked her neck in a very attractive way.
She stood, and a green blanket fell to the floor in front of her.
She stared at it dumbly for a moment, trying to remember how it had gotten there, but failed to remember even seeing one the previous day.
Scratched her hands through her tangled, auburn hair, she thought on it. “Oh!” She concluded, “My roommate musta come home sometime when I was sleepin’.” She muttered, the conclusion fitting with the door closing.
Walking to the kitchen, she stared at the clock dumbly. It read 3:18, but there was no way it was the morning. The sun was still outside, high and bright in the September heat.
“Whoa, I slept all day.” She murmured, her Irish accent slurring the words together ever so slightly.
Turning around, she stopped suddenly. Something was different.
The fridge had four objects on it.
The same three she had seen the previous day, but she stood dumbstuck staring at the newest addition.
Taking a moment to process the sight of the yellow sticky note, she finally read the words that had been written in blue pen.
Morning sleepy head. I went out to meet
some friends for late lunch. Don’t sleep in
that chair too much, it’ll kill your neck.
I’ll meet you some other time.
–Mel
“Mel…” She repeated, staring at the cursive for a moment. She looked back over to the picture.
“The question is… which one of these girls are you..?”