Orphans discussion

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Reagan looked around the dorm. She wondered idly if she was sharing it with someone, then wondered why she had wondered. The room was split in half, a bed on each side, with a door leading to the bathroom in the middle, and several large windows on the walls. Beside Reagan's bed was a dresser and a desk. Besides that, her side of the room was entirely empty. She hadn't brought anything besides her cat, Jane and the clothes she wore, but clothes had been donated to her so she had at least one thing to unpack. She dropped a blue sweatshirt, a pair of jeans, and socks into her dresser, then changed into shorts. The room was unbearably hot. Reagan wondered if there was air conditioning.

Katie walked into the room, a smile on her face. "Good morning," she said to the other girl in the room.

Not entirely shocked, Reagan nodded at the girl. "Who are you? You seem to have walked in without knocking, so presumably you have keys here. Or you picked the lock, but I doubt you'd do so. But then again, no one really knows what another person is thinking." She sat down on her bed, and leaned against the pillows. They were soft, clean, and white.

"I was assigned this dorm," she said, suddenly shy.

"Aah, yes, that seems most likely. I was about to suggest that you were a serial kidnapper, but I suppose you would have been more discreet about coming in here." Reagan crawled under the sheets of her bed, aware that it was morning, but not exactly caring. She was new, so she was being given a day to get used to Rainbow Creek before getting sent to school. "Perhaps I will just take a nap."

Katie nodded, and started unpacking, she was really shy and an introvert. Why did she have to be assigned a dorm with another girl?

Reagan watched the other girl unpack. She had quite a lot more things than Reagan, or that is to say, she had some things, which was more than Reagan, since she had brought only a cat. She crawled deeper under her covers till only the top of her head was visible. It was warm, but perhaps a bit too much. She scooted upward, and asked, "do you know whether there's any air conditioning? It's uncomfortably hot."

Katie shrugged, "I have no idea," she said.

Reagan nodded. "Okay," she said. She wasn't disappointed, because she couldn't be disappointed, which she was aware of, but she wished that it wasn't so hot. Finally, after several minutes of suffering, she leaped out of bed and started to search the room for an air conditioning, or a fan. Just anything that would cool the room down.
((Do you know how to italics writing on goodreads?))

((yes, you have to do ))

Katie finished unpacking and watched the girl.

((sorry, that doesn't work!))

Reagan nimbly climbed on top of her dresser, and felt around the ceiling for a nob. Perhaps there was something hidden? She doubted it, but it was so hot in the room. After searching for fifteen minutes, she gave up her search and jumped onto her bed without going under the blankets. It would have to do.

Katie simply took out a book and started reading, it was around 1,000 pages long.

Reagan lay on her bed for several minutes till she realized that she was incapable of sleeping at the moment. She stood up, and walked back and forth around the room. "If I cannot go to sleep on command, I will simply tire myself out," she announced, and began to do push ups, sit ups, and pulls ups (from the bar that holds the shower curtain).

Katie watched from the corner of her eye, but still read.

For a few hours, Reagan vigorously exercised. She had done one thousand, four hundred, and fifty two pull ups when her arms gave in and she dropped to the floor. Not entirely alarmed, she managed to arrange her arms as a pillow before falling asleep.

Katie was still awake, it was already 5:00 and she still was not sleeping.

Reagan slept. As usual, she had no dreams, only the warm, comforting sense that she was sleeping. She turned on her side, still lying on the bathroom floor, (which had luckily been cleaned that very day) and smiled as she felt something fluffy and warm near her head. It was Jane, her pet cat.

Katie was still awake at 6:00. she rarely ever slept.

"Hey, Jane..." Reagan mumbled, voice slurred by sleep. Her tiredness was quickly interrupted by Jane's scratching her on the face. She ignored the bleeding, and stood up. The scratching meant that Jane wanted to go outside to use the bathroom.

Katie turned to look at her, "Awake?" she asked although the answer was obvious.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, of course. Do I look asleep? I suppose it is possible to sleep walk with your eyes open...or is it? I will have to research that." Reagan picked up Jane, blood still dripping from her forehead where Jane scratched her, and deposited her outside.

"Do you need a band aid?" she said and pointed to the cut.

"What cut?" Reagan asked, oblivious to the blood dripping down her forehead. She touched her head, and when it came back red, she was shocked. "Oh, this. Um, yes, a band aid would probably be nice." She sat down by the door, and waited for Jane to scratch it, as a sign that she wanted to come back in.

Katie jumped up and went to the bathroom, she came out seconds later with a band aid and said, "Would you like me to put it on for you?"

"Okay." Reagan stood up and presented her forehead to Katie. "Have I introduced myself? I suppose not...My name is Reagan."

Katie pasted the band aid on her forehead, "Nice to meet you, Katie!"

"Is it?" Reagan said thoughtfully. "How does that feel? By that, I mean, how does it feel to feel something pleasant or nice?"

"It feels very warm and sometimes uncomfortable," said Katie.

"Warm? Physically warm? Would it heat you up if you were in somewhere very cold? Wait, no, that doesn't sound possible, and I would've heard that if it were so..." Reagan scrunched her eyebrows together and thought for a moment, oblivious to the confusion on Katie's face.

Katie shrugged, "It can feel like anything," she said finally.

"I wonder what that feels like..." Reagan stood up at the sound of scratching, and let Jane inside. "You're not allergic to cats, are you? I'd hope not."

"Not at all," she said with a smile.

Reagan petted Jane's head, then paused to look at Katie, remembering that her father Jared had told her to tell people she was introduced to about her brain. "When I was born, the part of my brain that allows me to feel emotions wasn't properly developed, so I can't feel like most humans, in case you're wondering, which I doubt you are." She said.

"That's all right," she said with a smile, "And yes, I was sort of wondering but that is quite fine."

"Hmm, okay." Reagan picked up Jane by the scruff of her neck, and sat down on her bed.

Katie nodded, and sat back down on her bed.

Reagan stood up abruptly. "I forgot! I haven't eaten all day. That isn't healthy...Is there a fridge in here somewhere, or do we have to go to the Cafeteria?"

"I have some food in my bag if you want." she said and motioned to a small bag on the floor.

"Really? That's very nice of you. I would like it. Is it polite to say so?" Reagan stepped toward the bag of food.

"Yes," she said with a smile.

(( i gtg!))

((Okay, bye!!))

Reagan reached inside the bag, and her arm came back with a sandwich, which she promptly ate. "Thank you."

"It's perfectly fine," she said with a smile. "Enjoy."

Reagan sucked the last bits of peanut butter and jelly from her fingers, then tried imitating Katie's smile. She'd never smiled before besides on command, and she wondered how it felt, not being in control, and suddenly realizing that your lips were curving upward. She glanced away from Katie. then walked back to her bed. "Thank you, again," she said. She didn't try smiling. It would just look fake.

"It's really no problem," she repeated with a smile.

Reagan nodded. "Does it feel nice to smile without trying to?" She asked.

Katie thought about that, "Sometimes," she said thoughtfully. "I really don't know..."

Reagan didn't understand that. "Shouldn't you know, though? We're just atoms and molecules and particles..."