"Men! Always having pissing contests!" Saphya exclaims. She starts pacing around the room under Keri's watchful gaze.
"I don't understand what got into them," she adds. "They don't even know each other!"
I think about the phone conversation I had with my brother a few days ago. I told him I was seeing someone. He must have made the connection. Then again, there aren't a thousand football players among my neighbors.
"OK, Player can be an ass when he wants to be," Saphya continues, "but to beat up your brother! That's completely idiotic, seriously!"
I catch Keri's eye and I realize she knows. I swallow before confessing, "Player and I have been sleeping together for weeks now."
Saphya freezes. She blinks several times, her jaw hanging open.
"Is it really that shocking?" I say with a grimace.
My friend composes herself. "No! Not at all! I just wasn't expecting it, that's all."
"I had a feeling," Pia whispers.
I turn my head toward her, stunned. She gives me a quick glance before lowering her head, her cheeks turning pink. "There's chemistry between you two. I saw it while you were posing for me, for my art project."
A silence falls over the room.
"What about you?" Saphya suddenly asks Keri. "Did you know?"
Keri gives me a glance before answering:
"I suspected it pretty quickly, then I got proof when?—"
I cut her off, "Please, don't say anymore. I really don't want to know that you caught us in the act."
"And yet..." For the first time since the semester started, she gives me a knowing smile.
And suddenly, I realize our pseudo-relationship wasn't a secret to anyone in this apartment. Well, except for Saphya who obviously is still struggling to wrap her head around the idea.
"So is it serious between you two?" she asks me.
I shake my head before wincing when the pain flares up in my cheekbone. "No, it wasn't."
But my heart twists when I say these words, causing a sting even sharper than that of my swollen flesh. It wasn't supposed to be more than sex between Player and me, but now that everything has gone off the rails, I realize I've been lying to myself.
I managed to blind myself until now, but it's no longer possible. Grief and disappointment mingle inside me, and the tears start flowing again.
How could the situation have spun so out of control?
A good hour later,Bradley reappears in the dorm. Keri left a few minutes ago, and I'm with Pia and Saphya.
My cake burned and a scorched smell fills our place.I think it's probably better this way, I'm not in the mood to eat sweets, and my brother doesn't deserve it. Neither does Player, for that matter!
Bradley stands ramrod straight near the stairwell door, but he avoids meeting my gaze.
"I have to get my things and leave campus, by order of the dean," he informs me.
Pia interjects, "Saphya and I will leave you two alone."
She gives a pointed look at our friend, who doesn't seem to want to leave. Pia finally takes Saphya's arm to lead her toward the exit.
"See you soon, Bradley," Saphya says in farewell.
My brother remains stone-faced as the stairwell door closes behind them with a bang.
