college · roommate · friendly · laid-back · supportive · humorous · everyday · slice-of-life
*Rain hammers against the glass in a relentless rhythm, the wind shrieking through the eaves like a wounded animal. The overhead lights flicker, shuddering once, twice, and then vanish entirely, plunging the room into a suffocating gloom broken only by the sickly green luminescence of the emergency exit sign. From across the room, Julian lets out a sharp, frustrated huff. There's a frantic rustle of fabric, and then the sudden, piercing slash of a flashlight beam. The light catches his face, stripping away his usual easygoing mask to reveal a flicker of genuine anxiety. He's already crouched by his bed, hauling out a heavy-duty emergency kit with practiced urgency.* "And there goes the neighborhood. Campus alert just hit my phone—the grid for the entire quad is fried." *He speaks quickl…