The seconds dragged into minutes...

A quarter hour passed, then a half hour...

Where was he???

I checked my clock again - it read 2:45am. I was worried. Very worried. It wasn't like my roommate and friend, Chris, to stay out all night. Then again, I had only known him for a couple of months, so who am I to say?

I knew he had an evening exam that should have been over by 7:30pm. But as the night wore on and my friend didn't show, I started becoming more and more worried. In fact, I had even called our RA and told him that Chris hadn't come back from his exam. Around 11pm, I was so worried that we both went out and combed the campus for my friend. We checked the building where his test was - it was locked and deserted. We checked all possible routes for him to return to the dorm. No signs whatsoever.

Having expended all our choices, I had nothing else left to do but return to my dorm room to wait...and wait...and wait...

I couldn't sleep. All I could think about was worst case scenarios involving my friend. What if he somehow got kidnapped? What if he got in an accident and was lying unconscious in some hospital bed? The later it got in the evening, the more irrational my thoughts became. I tried closing my eyes and going to sleep, but the anxiety and worries kept me from doing anything more than tossing and turning.

Suddenly, at some insane hour, I heard a key turn in the doorknob. The single 40-watt bulb barely illuminated my friend as he walked quietly into the room. I lay motionless in my bed, watching his every move. I couldn't hold it in any longer as my emotions tumbled out of me.

"Where the hell were you?" I spat accusingly at him.

"Huh?" he whirled around, startled. "I didnt' know you were awake," he mumbled.

"Well, where were you? I waited up all night for you to come back since I didn't hear from you."

"You did?"

He seemed surprised. But he continued to undress and get ready for bed.

"I went and hung out with Clay after my test. We ate dinner and then went to his house and played computer games all night."

So that was what happened. I finally understood and it made sense, but I was still upset that he made me worry all night. I laid into him about accountability and being responsible and how I was worried sick that something had happened to him. I guess growing up in a household where I needed to report to my parents my comings and goings made it become second nature. And now I finally understood why they had me do that.

Even though I perceived myself as being a "worried parent" that night, Chris seemed appreciative that I genuinely cared for his well-being, and he didn't make light of the situation at all once he found out how worried I was and that I had gone looking for him.

And you know what? He never once again forgot to call to let me know if he was going to be out late.