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“I’m Nikki, from Rocky’s last night? We exchanged Snapchat handles.”
“Oh right, right.” His tone says he has no memory of this, and it takes all my self-control not to snort.
“So did you not get my messages? Maybe you have to accept the friendship first,” she explains as she reaches for her phone. It’s a bright pink catastrophe with shit hanging off it and fake diamonds and shit glued to it. Pretty sure my fourteen-year-old niece has a phone case like that.
She shows him her screen, and Brendon nods.
“Oh yeah, maybe.” Brendon scratches the back of his neck as she types out something on her phone. A second later, his phone pings. Busted.
“Oh good, my messages are going through.” She stares at him with an intensity that’s uncomfortable.
“I haven’t really looked at my phone today,” he tries.
“Well, why don’t you look now?”
The silence between them is awkward before he mutters, “Okay,” and turns around to grab his phone off the bed. He gives me aWTFlook and checks his phone.
“There they are,” he says, kind of waving his phone awkwardly in the air. “I’m in the middle of watching a game, so I’ll talk—”
“The Bears game? Cool, I’ll watch with you.” She strides into the room and sits on the edge of my bed like she can’t read the damn room. This chick is weird.
“Uh, okay.” Brendon closes the door and climbs back on my bed, carefully not touching her, but she shifts closer to him. My body tenses at her movement, wanting to yell at her to get off my bed and to get away from him. I want to wrap myself around him to keep her away, but I don’t. I sit and stare at my books, sulking.
For a while, the room is quiet. Nikki tries to start a conversation a few times and even lays on her side to rest her head on Brendon’s leg. Something happens on the TV, and Brendon jumps up, jostling her, and I snort at the affronted expression on her face. Brendon is standing on the bed, arms raised, cheering.
Nikki reaches for my crocheted blanket, pulling it toward her, and Brendon doesn’t hesitate, just rips it from her grasp.
“No. No one touches that.” He cradles it against his chest in a ball and turns his body away from her like she’ll reach around his arm to take it back. Fuck, I love him.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She puts her hand on her chest. “I didn’t know.”
I sigh and put my stuff away. Watching this is painful, and since I can’t focus, I’ll go somewhere else.
I swing my backpack over my shoulder and slip my shoes on. Brendon looks at me like I’m leaving him to face a monster on his own. “I’m going to the library.”
Snagging my ball cap on the way out, I put it on and close the door behind me. He’s not interested in anything serious. I know that. He never has been. But watching him with someone else hurts.
6
Brendon
Istare at the back of my best friend as he leaves me alone with this girl in our room. Does he think I want to be alone with her? I barely remember her despite her showing me pictures that she took on her phone at the bar last night. While I had been drunk, I wasn’t blackout. She just didn’t make it past short-term memory.
Unlike the kiss I had with Paul when we got back.
This girl, Nikki, seems nice enough, kind of intense, but I don’t want to be in here with her.
“Is your roommate always like that?” she asks once the door is closed behind him.
“What do you mean? Like what?”
“Quiet? Standoffish? Anti-social?” There’s a judgey tone in her voice I don’t like.
“He’s not any of those things.” I shake my head and struggle not to get defensive. “He’s just trying to work.”
I settle back on the bed and face the TV, but I’m not paying attention. My head is spinning with what Paul is doing, where he really went, what is he thinking? I pop my knuckles and circle my wrists, pop my elbows and my neck. All nervous habits when I can’t get up and pace or tap my foot.
“Are you okay?” Nikki asks, putting her hand on my knee. I stop fidgeting and stare at it for a minute. I am a big fan of human touch, but this feels off.
