Or, rather, surreal/bizarre encounters with strangers.
This time, it was in my dorm room freshman year.
I lived on the third floor of a girls-only building, in an out-of-the-way corner. Despite how stupid this may have been, my roommate and I never locked our door. This was a habit born of the fact that neither of us remembered to bring our key when we left the room.
And, despite how dumb this was, it became a problem only once.
I remember going to sleep one night (I was on the top bunk.) I don’t remember whether Margot (for that was my then-roommate’s name) was there. If she was, she did not wake up for this incident.
I woke up to the door opening and closing. I thought it was Margot, but then there was somebody climbing into my bed and kissing my shoulder. Yeah, he kissed my shoulder. I asked him, “Who are YOU?”
And he asked me, “Who are YOU?”
Me: “I’m Erin [My Last Name]. Who the HELL are YOU?!?”
In a moment, I had climbed out of my bed. He hadn’t answered the question. Instead, he climbed out after me and we proceeded to hold this conversation in the hallway. He was shirtless. I might have been more alarmed, but he looked like a college student and it was nearly impossible to get into this building without somebody signing you in.
So I asked him, “Where are you supposed to be? Who signed you in?”
He couldn’t answer either of those questions. He was quite silent throughout the questioning. In the spirit of getting this random person out of my hair, I walked him all over the dorm, hoping that one of the doors would spark some recognition on his part. I even took him to the front desk to see if we could find his name and that of the girl who had probably signed him in.
Nothing worked. He seemed dazed (people since have told me that he was probably high, but I wasn’t (and am still not) in the practice of pointing high people out, so you’ll excuse my ignorance) and I felt bad, but I left him in the hallway outside my door once it was clear that we weren’t going to find where he was supposed to be.
I made sure to lock the door behind me.
A few days later, I saw him walking on campus. He was hand-in-hand with a girl who lived right across the hallway from me.
Great story! And you’re definitely not the only one. Last year, my suitemates had a sleepwalker with a bladder problem visit them in the middle of the night. There was also this drunk guy who walked into one of my friends’ room (who is a guy with long hair), mistook him for a girlfriend, and tried to cuddle.
@Chris: Yikes.
I’m glad my visitor wasn’t drunk or having bladder problems… that would have made the encounter far more alarming, I think.
Oh man! Thats really scary, but since you’re fine and safe it’s super funny… I feel like a bad person for laughing.
Wow, haha I would have freaked out! You sure were nice to walk him around the building!
@Media Tourist: It was really strange at the time, but I laugh too now that I’m older. I think the preposterousness of the situation makes it all the easier to laugh about.
@Cali4beach: I have no idea why I took that as I had. And… I suppose I walked him around the building because he looked like a stray.
Knowing that the story ended up with everyone safe…that is a hilarious story! Did you ever talk to the girl across the hall about the situation?
I never talked to her about it alone. She had been in one of my science classes, but it was a big enough class that we never really needed to speak. Also, it would have been awkward, I think, after meeting up with the two of them.
I do remember asking the boy if he ever made it back to the room that night. He nodded.