Grad School Girl Fight

I was forced to get my first roommate after moving to New Orleans for grad school because of the crazy post-Katrina prices. Older than me, she was also starting law school and had the same breed of dog as I did, and they got along well. She was shy and reserved when we met and I thought would make a great roommate. First weekend there, she and her long-distance boyfriend invited me to the French Quarter to “show me around.” Except they got so plastered that when I woke up the next morning, I found the apartment filled with purple vomit. Even worse, there were feces smeared on the toilet and wall. I tried to keep an open mind and never mentioned it, but things got steadily worse. Her dog was sweet, but completely untrained. He’d get into my room and destroy my shoes, clothing and things (total damage: over $400) and she’d just shrug. One time he got out and I spent 40 minutes dodging cars trying to catch him. She never made other friends and would sulk if I tried to talk to other people on campus. As time went on, she kept more and more to herself, leaving the common area as soon as we walked in.

She would cry to me how her parents only loved her sister and had long, loud, drawn-out fights with her boyfriend. As long as they were on good terms, she’d be jovial and friendly. But as they began breaking up on a weekly basis, she became downright rude. As living there became unbearable, my now-husband and I bought a place with the plan to move in after exams. But a week before exams, she told me, “I think it’s a given, but your boyfriend can’t come over during exams.” I was dumbstruck. I didn’t trust myself not to explode so I wrote her a long email explaining that I was an adult and paid as much rent as she did and she had no right to tell me who I can see and when. Next thing I know, I see her leaving our landlord’s place in tears. I don’t know what she told him but he called me seconds later, screaming and threatening me and actually forbidding him from coming over to our place! I was shaking when I hung up. At home, I heard her crying hysterically on the phone, telling them that I threatened to kill her dog. We ended up overpaying several thousand dollars just so we could move into our new house early and I was moving boxes a day before my first exam instead of studying.