Party for One [solo; closed]

Once upon a time, her room had been plain, tidy, impersonal, unassuming. It'd always reflected her that way. People would always glance over her as part of the scenery, so it only made sense that her dorm didn't carry any trace of her. There had only been telltale signs that someone lived there in that room. Clothes in the drawer, uniforms in the closet, the faint whiff of perfume in the air. It wouldn't have surprised her even if her roommates forgot she was there at times. She'd slip in and out like a ghost, or spend the days inside reading or studying.

Not anymore.

Bottles, carpet stains, plates and empty cups. The signs of neglect were strewn across the floor and furniture in the form of dirty laundry. Evelyn was lying across the bed, half-dressed, staring at her fish. Sushi's tank was the only source of light in the room. Rain lashed against the windows, but she didn't bother to get up to switch on the light. Ever since summer had begun to seep into autumn, every day felt darker than the last.

She watched him through dull violet eyes, listening to the low burble of the filter, the drone of the tank light. His scales flashed in vibrant reds and blues as he circled round the tank, letting himself get pulled by the weak current of the filter or darting between the stalks of plastic plants that sprouted from bright colored pebbles. He'd been doing the same thing for hours.

"D-Don't you get bored...?" she muttered to herself. Her teddy bear from last year's fair sat on the corner of the bed, staring at her with beady black eyes. Sushi lived a ten gallon hectagonal tank. His entire world had a circumference of twenty inches.

Maybe he was unhappy in there.

"Are y-y-you lonely...?"

He only had her.

What a shitty life she gave him.

But as pathetic as it was, she could never let him go. That fish was all she had.

Maybe she'd get another fish. She could at least make one thing happy.