Inspired Fiction

I had never had my own room before. I have shared a bedroom with my brother since he was born. When I came to Ohio University, I was randomly placed in a single dorm. Obviously, this was very exciting for me. I figured that this would be a whole new experience. My brother is extremely into music, whether playing piano, singing, or playing music on his computer. I thought it’d be nice to get some quiet time with my own room.

When I moved into Brough House, I met my modmates. I had two next-door neighbors. The guy on my right moved away after a few weeks, as he was ROTC. Then there was the guy on my left. While moving in, my mom pointed out that he carried a keyboard, guitar, and speakers into his room.

It didn’t take me too long to realize the biggest problem with my dorm room: extremely thin walls. My next-door neighbor did not seem to notice. He turned out to be a musical socialite. Night after night, day after day, he would be singing, playing his guitar, blasting Jack Johnson, or having loud friends over. Based on some pungent smells, it seemed that he also had a few illegal habits. The walls were so thin; I could hear entire conversations as if I were sitting in the room with him and his friends, or sitting in the Front Room, watching him perform, or even sharing a pair of headphones with him, listening to music. Seriously, had this guy ever heard of headphones?!

The more time that passed, the more aggravated I became. There were several times where I had to plug my headphones into my laptop, just to be able to hear the TV show I was watching over their conversations. A few times, I resorted to pounding on the wall with my fist to try to get the “shut up” message across. He once actually played the same song on loop for 6 hours. It was even worse when I was trying to do homework. I have trouble focusing when someone sings.

One night, around 12:00, during quiet hours, I head him return to his dorm room with a group of friends. They were laughing, talking, and playing music as if it were 3 in the afternoon. This went on for almost an hour. The smell was making me sick. Enough was enough. Finally sick of it, I went to my RA’s room. I hesitated outside for a minute or so, as I did not want to me “that guy who complains about noise,” but my sanity was at stake. I knocked on the door and explained the situation. My RA told me to go back to my room, and that he’d come down in about 5 minutes so that it would not look like I was a snitch.

I went back to my room, and, after about a minute, I heard my neighbor saying goodbye to his friends. I heard his friends all leaving, and then the distinct sound of him walking down the hall with an aerosol air freshener. I then heard his door close, followed by silence. I was shocked. A few minutes passed before there was a knock at my door. Opening it, I saw my RA looking very confused. I tried to mumble and explain what had just happened, but it all went so fast. We both said good night and went to bed, as I struggled to go to sleep, doubting my sanity and wondering if my next-door neighbor ever actually existed.

            The first thing I did the next morning was text my brother, apologizing for ever yelling at him or getting upset with him for playing music.