It could happen to anyone. You live off campus and get paired with that random roommate. She’s a senior about to graduate, and you’re a freshman just starting out. It’s weird at first… well it’s always weird, you’re both weird people. But, within a few months, it’s beautiful. You love each other. Your relationship is a fragile baby bird, and your messy student apartment is a love nest. You cook for each other, have Netflix binges together, have the most exclusive of inside jokes, share clothes, go on road trips together, and get very belligerent at the club. What started off as the girl who you shared a home with became the girl you shared your heart with—and your food.
But now, she’s graduating. Your love nest is no more. You feel empty and desolate. You wonder, “Is this what it feels like to be Jack from Titanic?” She promised to never let you go that one weekend when you were both wasted; and now, here she is moving on with her life while you’re still a student. So what do you do?
At first you’re in denial—no, this is just like that one long weekend when she went home and you were by yourself. She’ll come back. She always comes back. You two are a match made in roommate heaven, there’s no possible way she could actually move on with her life without you—you guys have memories.
Then you’re angry—oh, those memories must mean nothing to her if she’s so willing to just pick up and go. A REAL friend would have gotten a job in town and waited for you to graduate. A REAL roommate would have started her masters here. She would have been an eighth year senior for you—you would have done it for her!
Your anger subsides, and then you bargain. “If she stays, I’ll actually study for my finals this semester,” you say. Or, “If she doesn’t move away, I promise to spend less money at Starbucks and donate money to charity.” Or even, “I’ll go to office hours, I’ll do extra credit, I’ll call my mom more often, just don’t take her away from me!”
Bargaining aside, you get depressed. You listen to My Heart Will Go On, Don’t Cry for Me Argentina, and Cher’s Believe, just to try to come to terms with the fact that she’s gone. The apartment feels so empty and cold—like your heart, which you’re sure will never have room for another roommate. The pain is so real, you feel like Bella Swan in the first half of New Moon—useless and pathetic. All you wanna do is watch Netlix and eat, but then you remember that’s what you used to do together and just cry harder.
Once the tears finally stop flowing, you accept that your roommate is moving on. Yeah, she was your literal housing soul mate, but it’s for the best. She’s starting her big girl life now, and you’re still her biggest fan, even if you can’t go knock on her door at 2 am to ask if she wants a late night snack, or have caffeine fueled all nighters together. She’ll always have a special place in your heart, even if she doesn’t have a place in your apartment anymore.