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“Don’t be serious,” she said, reciprocating the smile. “Nothing about this is serious. Even if your roommate wasn’t trying to get her hands all over him, I doubt he’d ever like me back.”
“You kidding?” I grabbed onto her legs, scooting myself closer to her. “If he’s going after someone likeme, you one hundred percent have a chance of being with him.”
She looked me up and down, the same way Vivian had done just days before. Instead of casting a condescending look back in response, she put her hand on mine.
“Thanks,” she laughed. “I’ll try to take that as a compliment.”
Kenny had been drumming his fingers on the top of theSorry!boxfor the past five minutes, and the second I glanced back at him with a guilty smile, he threw the lid onto the floor.
“Done?” he said, already unfolding the board. “Good. We’re playing.”
“Fine.” Tara snatched the blue piece from the puddle of cards he’d thrown in the center of the board. She handed the piece to me. “Kat goes first.”
“Hey,” I said, impressed, “that’s my favorite color.”
“Why does she get to go first?” Kenny whined.
Tara handed him the red piece. “Because she’s the guest.”
“What?” Kenny screeched, throwing his hands in the air. I collapsed back against Tara’s bed in laughter. “She practicallyliveshere.”
“And?” Tara smirked.
Once everything was arranged, I picked up a card, and my pieces ended up remaining in my little bubble of my side of the board. Tara went next, and one of her pieces escaped onto the perimeter of the board. Kenny’s pieces, like mine, were undisturbed.
“So,” I said, reaching for another card, “how do you guys know each other, anyway?” I looked at Kenny. “You’re from Powell, right?”
“No,” he said, dragging out the word as if the thought were an abomination. “The only reason I was at that frat house was because I got lost on my way to a basement party.”
I snickered. “Sure.”
“In all honesty,” he exclaimed. “Maybe it was the weed.”
“Yeah,” Tara replied, rolling her eyes. “How about next time, youdon’tsmoke while riding your bike into unfamiliar territory?”
One of my pieces was finally ahead on the board by about two spaces, a big accomplishment in of itself, considering Kenny’s was still locked into place and Tara’s had to be moved back a space. As Kenny was contemplating his next move, which was between moving one piece forward altogetherorsplitting his advance, Tara reached for her phone and plugged it into her portable speaker.
“You like Billie Holiday, right?” she asked, grinning at me.
I nodded. “Great idea.”
As the sweet jazz began to float through the speaker, Tara stood up to crack open a window. “Should’adone that before,” she said, putting a finger to her mouth. “Oopsie.”
“Anyway,” Kenny continued, “while that ice cream thing was going on, I met this gal while she was sitting under a tree reading a book on the quad, like the shy girl of my dreams. So, naturally, Ihadto go up to her.”
“You’re full of it, Kenneth,” Tara snickered.
“I see,” I said, smiling at the two of them. I had to agree with Kenny on this one—theywerecute together. Acted as if they’ve known each other for years instead of days, just like best friends.
She was too good for someone like Eric.
The night continued on as it was, talking about love and high school, cracking stupid jokes about setting off the fire alarm. Three hours rolled by, then four, then five. Tara fell asleep in Kenny’s arms as we forgot about the game, and I spread a blanket over the two of them, blowing them each a kiss before slipping out into the hallway.
They were too adorable.
Most of all, I was just relieved that Tara hadn’t asked too many questions about Leo, where I’d gone with him, and why I hadn’t made it to her room until an hour had gone by.
If she had, I didn’t know what I would’ve said.
