The Roommate
Diana, Kimberly and I walked together towards the main art gallery on our campus. On a wall right in front of us, a large painting was displayed complete with a luxurious frame.
I was stunned, looking at the figure in the painting. A toddler girl wearing a pink dress and smiling sweetly. The details, colors and everything looks absolutely perfect. The person who painted it must have been incredibly talented. A painting that is even more like a portrait.
"It looks like this gallery isn't open at the moment, can we just go in?" I asked, feeling bad if I entered without permission.
"It's okay, don't worry. Do you see that painting over there?" Kimberly said.
"Yes, very nice. Is that a photo or-"
"Painting, really amazing, isn't it?"
"Yes, I made a mistake, I thought it was a photo, but it turned out to be a painting."
"When I first saw it, I also thought it was a photo, but if I looked closely, I realized that this was a painting," said Diana, who was standing in front of the painting.
I stepped closer to the painting on display, it was true, if you looked closely, the painting was very good, even too good. L.W Stanley, that's the name written in the painting. The same name as the one I saw in a London art gallery last year.
“Great, absolutely amazing,” I muttered. Now I understand why that lecturer is so concerned with perfect details, because he creates amazing works like this.
"But who is this toddler?" Diana asked. She, who had looked at this painting several times, was more interested in thinking about who the angel-faced toddler was who was the model for this painting.
"I don't know, maybe his daughter!" Kimberly said casually.
"His daughter? Is he married?"
"I don't know, but most likely this toddler has a special relationship with him."
"But what I know is that he is not married, let alone has children." Diana felt disappointed to think that it was true that the toddler who was the model for this painting was the daughter of the most handsome and most charismatic lecturer on this campus.
"Hey, what are you guys doing?" Said David, who had just entered this gallery with James.
Diana, Kimberly and I looked back when we realized someone else had entered this room. It felt as if he was being caught sneaking in without permission.
"Tch, it turns out you two are really surprising!" Kimberly put on a panicked face that made her look cute.
"Hahahaha...who do you think you are? By the way, what are you doing here?" James asked.
"We want to see the masterpiece of Levi William Stanley, what are you doing?"
"Just like you, we also want to see the paintings!"
"Oh, so this is that phenomenal painting? It turns out to be truly extraordinary!"
"David, did you just see that too?"
"Yes, I wanted to see it, but I haven't had the time. Besides, this is the main gallery on campus, not just the art faculty. So it's normal if not everyone gets to see it."
"You're right, but David, who do you think the little girl in this painting is?" Diana still wanted to know about the figure in the painting.
"I don't know, maybe his daughter or a friend's daughter. Who knows?"
"But I feel like I've seen his face, as if it's familiar to me," I said, trying to remember when and where I had seen a similar painting.
"I've seen it too!" said Kimberly.
"Is it true?"
"Yes, five years ago, I saw it at an auction. A painting of a toddler whose face was similar to this painting."
"Auction event?"
"Yes, the painting sold for a fantastic price, bought by a businessman from Scotland."
I gasped, sure enough, the familiar face of this toddler was something I had seen before. A painting that was displayed in my teacher's house in junior high school.
"You're right, I once saw that painting at the house of one of my teachers, but I didn't know that my teacher was a businessman who could afford such an expensive painting."
"I don't know about that, but what I remember is that the person who bought it was a very rich middle-aged man. Maybe your teacher was a friend or relative."
"Yes, maybe,"
"But, why does it have to be paintings of small children? Of all the objects that can be painted, why are the paintings you see both paintings of toddlers?" David asked, starting to get curious.
"But the paintings in the London art gallery that I saw were not paintings of toddlers," I said.
"So?"
"The painting of a boy with very sad eyes, I still remember it clearly."
While we were busy speculating, a sudden sound of footsteps made the hair on the back of our necks stand up. It seemed ridiculous if we were so scared for no apparent reason just because we sneaked into a gallery that wasn't open at the moment.
A man appeared from behind the door, staring intently at the five new students who were doing whatever they wanted in what could be said to be his favorite place on campus.
Our hearts were beating fast, seeing the cold and flat expression on his face that seemed ready to ask us a question.
"What are you guys doing?" Sure enough, this classic question came out of his mouth. Diana and I looked at each other, confused because we realized that we had dared to enter this room without permission.
"F-forgive us!" I immediately looked down to show my regret. Meanwhile, Kimberly casually stepped forward without feeling guilty.
"We want to see your painting which is said to be very famous, sir!" Kimberly said very calmly and bravely.
"So?"
"Yes, because of that, we apologize if we entered without permission!"
Levi looked at his five students one by one and walked towards the wall, where the painting was displayed. His blue eyes looked very cold, staring intently at the objects in his paintings. There was no meaningful expression which made it difficult for me and my friends to guess what he was thinking.
"Okay, all of you can go if you're done looking around!"
"Sir!" Diana called him.
"What is it?"
"Why is the gallery closed today? We thought we could go in as usual. Because of that, we really didn't mean to-"
"This gallery is currently under the care of the campus, because many new students come in and out of this gallery, it is feared that statues, paintings and other very valuable works will be damaged, whether intentionally or not. However, when things return to normal, this gallery will return opened as usual."
"Is that so? Thank you, sir! One more thing, you are really great. Your paintings are really good!" Diana stated excitedly.
I, who didn't have the courage to praise my teacher directly, could only nod in agreement. However, every time that pair of beautiful eyes turned to me. The nervousness and fear returned.
"He saw me." My mind couldn't respond to his beautiful gaze any longer.
"Your roommate has arrived, I hope you two can get along soon!" Said Mrs. Carla, the head of the dormitory who is very kind and treats students on this campus like her own children.
I nodded slowly, even though I didn't mind sharing a room with someone I didn't know. However, my worry sometimes arises if my roommate is not a friendly person.
"I understand."
"You look worried, what are you thinking?"
"Ahahaha...no, I'm just a little nervous. Maybe it's because I don't know her, so-"
"You don't need to worry, your roommate is a freshman psychology major named Kerry Smith. I heard she's a nice girl, so you two will definitely be good roommates."
"Is that so? Thank goodness, thank you. Then, excuse me!"
"Okay."
I stepped quickly towards the third floor, the floor where my room was. I was standing in front of the door, feeling nervous because I would finally see my roommate's face.
"Okay, it's okay. Like Mrs. Carla said, she's an ordinary, good girl," I muttered as I knocked on the door.
Knock...knock...knock...
Realizing that there was someone in my room, I had to knock on the door first. A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal the face of a young woman with red hair and green eyes who looked at me sadly.
"Yes, What is up?" Asked the young woman.
"I'm Soraya Chamberlain, your roommate!"
"Oh, so you're Soraya? Sorry, I didn't know. Earlier, Mrs. Carla gave me the room key, so I went straight in without waiting for you first."
"It's okay, I understand. Then, nice to meet you."