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I huff with a laugh at her assumption, but only because she’s right.
Lennon: I do, but God invented grocery delivery for a reason.
I’m messing with her, but I like seeing how far I can push her.
Sophie: Pretty sure God would say get off the couch and go see your sisters. Oh wait, he’s talking to me now. Yep, that’s exactly what he said. Picking you up in 20. Gives you enough time to scrub off the couch stench.
I roll my eyes at her message. She definitely plays the older sister role well.
Lennon: Rude AF. But fine. Give me 30.
I shower and dress and am actually ready before she arrives. Doesn’t take that long since I only blow-dry my hair and don’t worry about styling it. For work, I used to always curl it and make it look nice, but while I’m on summer break, I can’t find a reason to.
“You look nice,” Sophie says as soon as I plop down in the passenger seat. “Smell fresh and clean too.”
“You have a very backward way of saying I was smelling like shit and looking like hell,” I deadpan.
Sophie flashes me a smile, then drives out of the parking lot.
“For the record, I’m not feeling the best, so this isn’t me just giving up or anything. I feel exhausted. Probably coming down with a summer flu or something.” I groan dramatically loud as I lean back in the seat.
“Better buy some Lysol then. No one wants your weird bird flu symptoms,” Sophie says, laughing at me. I know she thinks I’m just making excuses, but I do actually feel off.
“Anyway…” I clear my throat loudly to emphasize I’m ready for a subject change. “How’s the roommate situation going? Did Maria’s boyfriend move in, or are they off again?”
“Carter’s moving in this weekend. Can’t you tell how excited I am for it?” She narrows her eyes, frowning. “Apparently, he wanted to wait for his lease to be up and has been slowly bringing his shit over.”
“Did you talk with Maria about making some house rules at least? Figure out stuff like food, cleaning, laundry.” I only ask because I know what she’s about to go through. I know if Brandon’s accident never happened, Hunter and I would still hate each other, and I don’t want that for her. It’s stressful as hell.
Sophie sighs, turning onto the highway. “I tried, but Maria’s too in love to realize this is going to change things. She basically said we’ll figure it out as we go, and that we’ll all be responsible for our own messes and food. Except that asshole always eats my snacks when he’s over. Carter doesn’t even ask; he just takes whatever the hell he wants.”
“Maybe you should get a mini fridge for your room? At least that way he won’t go in there and take it,” I suggest.
“Probably a good idea. Well anyway, I’m going to need you to keep me company and distracted when I’m not at work. Luckily, things are busy right now, so I won’t be home much anyway.”
Maddie meets us at the store with Erin, her roommate from school. They live in the dorms, but it’s set up more like an apartment. Maddie has her own bedroom and only shares the kitchen and living space. We’ve met Erin a few times now, and she seems really sweet. I’m just glad Maddie has someone like her to count on because dancers can be cutthroat and competitive during the audition season.
“You have all junk food in your cart.” I snort when I look inside. “What happened to your dietary restrictions?”
“We’re actually going on a beach trip this weekend with a few others, and we’re in charge of snacks,” Maddie explains. “Plus, it’s only a few days. I’ll be back to ice cubes and oxygen on Monday.” She rolls her eyes at me even though she really is disciplined. She’s always had a slender build, the perfect dancer’s body, but we like giving her shit anytime we can.
“Pretty sure I gained ten pounds just looking at all of that,” Sophie adds with a mock smile. “Oh speaking of feeling fat, I need to get tampons too.”
Her comment makes me laugh because I always feel super bloated before my cycle begins too. In fact, my periods were so heavy and painful, I finally went on birth control in college just to regulate them and ease the cramps. However, after Brandon died, I basically gave up on everything and stopped my pills. Probably need to get back on them so my periods don’t try to kill me next time.
“Lennon, you need some?” Sophie asks as she reaches for the ones she wants.
“So glad I don’t have to worry about that every single month,” Maddie singsongs. Since she’s been a dancer for half her life and trained so much, she developed late. In fact, training takes such a toll on her body that she rarely gets a period at all.
