Jay:Taylor, like Lance’s little sister?
Aleeza:You know Lance well?
Jay:Yeah, Lance and I used to be tight. He was my first friend at TCU. He’s the one who told me to join water polo when he foundout I was on the swim team in high school. He introduced me to that whole crowd.
That’s interesting.
Aleeza:Did you know that Lance is Mia’s boyfriend?
Jay:That explains why she was at the party. What are the chances?
It does seem strange that after a falling-out with my friend because she ditched me for a boyfriend, I randomly move into the boyfriend’s ex-friend’s room. But it has to be a coincidence. Jay being gone was the reason this room was available in the first place.
Aleeza:It kind of sucked to see her again.
Jay:Did she do something to you last night?
Aleeza:She made me feel ... small. Like a country nothing in the big city party. She made fun of me for feeling buzzed after two drinks and for liking mysteries.
Jay:Not a very good friend.
Aleeza:We’re not friends anymore. She was being super weird. She hasn’t always been this toxic. She’s ditched me for guys before, but she was never this mean, or passive aggressive. When Jack called me exquisite, she literally laughed. It was humiliating.
Jay:Jack called you exquisite?
Aleeza:He was drunk.
Jay:What were you wearing?
Aleeza:This short tight dress of Aster’s. Not my usual thing.
Jay:I really wish I could have seen it. You show up at a party at Mia’s rich boyfriend’s even richer friend’s house looking like a snack. She’s not used to being upstaged by her sidekick.
Aleeza:I wasn’t upstaging her. And how do you know I looked like a snack?
Jay:Because I saw you two days ago in the library, and you looked like a snack then. All dressed up for a party? You totally turned every head there. And Jack has impeccable taste.
I have no idea what to say to that. Jay thought I looked like a snack in the library in my octopus sweatshirt?
Jay:Anything happen between you and Jack?
Aleeza:Are you jealous?
He doesn’t respond right away.
Jay:Yes, I admit I am. Useless to be jealous, though. I’m just a ghost.
I still have no idea what to say. I suddenly remember something Jack said last night.
Aleeza:Last night Jack said YOU had impeccable taste.
Jay:Of course he did. This is strange. All of this.
Aleeza:Extremely.
The chat is silent for a while. This is proof that the complicated feelings I have brewing for my roommate are mutual, and I don’t know what to do about that. To find out on the same day that a guy likes me and is also dead is a lot. Talk about a doomed crush.
But guys like Jay Hoque don’t fall for Aleeza Kassam. Hell, guys like Jack don’t flirt with Aleeza Kassam either. But then, Aleeza Kassam doesn’t go to posh parties in the city wearing a short dress and drinking mai tais. She doesn’t clap back when people make passive-aggressive comments.
