“Maybe I’ll see you around sometime?” Theo reachesa tentative hand out to stop me, but his ability is limited by the woman still clinging to him.
Looking once at her, then pointedly back at him, I respond, “Yeah, see you around,” lacing sarcasm into my tone. Not wanting to linger any longer, I turn to exit the diner.
I can feel forest-green eyes on me as I push through the doors, but resist the insistent urge to steal a glance behind me. I refuse to be distracted for a minute longer than I already have been this morning.
As I walk to my first class of the day, the rain feels like a much-needed cold shower to remind me that the last thing I need is to be distracted by aman,of all things.
Refocusing my thoughts, I think through my to-do list for the day and go through my mental checklist: apply for more jobs, attend architectural design studio class, make final touches on my senior capstone project, hazel-green eyes with a smile that could blind the sun itself.
Well, shit.
2
THEO
Apillow hits me square in the chest, knocking the air out of my lungs and causing my phone to fly out of my hand.
“What the fuck, man?” I say through a grunt to my friend Matt sitting next to me. Leaning down, I pick up my phone and inspect it for cracks. I really can’t afford to break another phone.
“We’re planning our last party of the year. We have to make it big, and you’re not even paying attention,” Matt scowls at me from his side of the couch.
“When was the last time you got laid? You’ve been tense for the past two weeks.” He throws his hand my way, as if I didn’t feel his aggravation through the sheer force of the pillow that just hit me.
“Finals. Just stressed.” I wave him off. I don’t like lying to my friends, but they’d laugh at the real reason I haven’t been able to take my eyes off my phone lately.
“There’s plenty of time to study for finals. We have one chance to throw a final banger of a party,” Matt says,throwing a grin my way. I flip him off, then go back to scrolling on my phone. The fucker’s lucky he didn’t crack my screen. Otherwise, he’d have to deal with Roman.
“Would you two focus? We only have two weeks to plan this party for graduation, and I’m not doing it myself.” Jessie sets down a plate of mini corn dogs on the living room table as he slinks down in the cracked leather chair across from where Matt and I sit.
“As I was saying, before Theo rudely interrupted my ideas by ignoring me.” I side-eye Matt as he continues, “I think a pool party is the way to go. No one can get in unless they are wearing a swimsuit, and we can have a Slip ‘n’ Slide in the back, a kiddie pool in the living room?—”
Jessie raises his hand. “We are absolutelynotputting a kiddie pool in the living room. I’ll be damned if I have a bunch of drunk people near water, running around my house with no shoes on.”
“Your house?” I look up from my phone at Jessie, raising an eyebrow at him. I admire his confidence in phrasing it that way, but we both know damn well that this isn’t his house.
“You know what I mean.” Jessie brushes off my question and grabs a corn dog off the shared plate. Technically, the townhouse we live in is owned by Jessie’s dad, not Jessie.
Despite the low square footage, we’re all very grateful for Jessie’s dad, who has been letting us rent the place for next to nothing while we’re in school. At least there are three bedrooms, so no one has to share.
Just big enough for all three of us to get on eachother’s nerves but not quite small enough for us to go to prison for first-degree manslaughter.
Jessie and I have been best friends since preschool because our moms were close. Following the death of my parents when I was in kindergarten, Jessie’s parents helped my brothers and me as much as they were able. We met Matt in English 101 during our freshman year of college and haven’t been able to get rid of him since.
“We’re not throwing a pool party in a fucking townhouse that doesn’t even have a pool in the back. It’s Portland. It’ll probably be raining in mid-June anyway,” Jessie says to Matt.
“Yeah, that’s true. I always forget the summers can be so emo here sometimes.” Matt shudders. With his swept-back blond hair, preppy style, and insistence on using an umbrella every time it rains, he doesn’t exactly fit the Pacific Northwest mold. Matt grew up surfing on the West Coast down in Cali rather than hiking to see the mountain views like Jessie and me.
“If you guys bother to visit me over the summer, I’m taking you to all the pool parties. Then you’ll understand.” Matt shoves a mini corn dog in his mouth.
Jessie and I both roll our eyes at Matt. He’s been telling us for years that “not only is the weather hotter in California but so are the women,” and we haven’t been able to see him in his “prime” yet. Which apparently happens at these pool parties.
Jessie’s curly black hair, dark brown skin, and athletic build, combined with Matt’s blond surfer boy hair, slim build, and height, usually make them a dynamic duo for picking up women. That is, until Matt opens his mouth.
Standing from the couch, I stretch my limbs, needing some space from the cramped living room we’re currently crowded in. For most people, it’s not too small, but for someone of my stature, any room that isn’t big enough to fit at least a four-person sectional feels suffocating after a while.
“You guys want a soda?” I ask my friends.
Jessie shakes his head at the same time Matt responds, “Yeah, but you'd better come back. There are details to discuss.”
