“Really, bro?” Mike said. “I don’t know what’s up with you, but why don’t you open a beer and we can…”
“Move, Mike!” Jack repeated.
Mike tried to stand, but I grabbed his arm and held him back. “He’s staying right here, Jack. You can go sit somewhere else.”
This went on, with Jack saying he wanted to sit next to me, me telling him I didn’t want him to, him telling me he didn’t care, and Mike trying to still the waters, until Jack and I were on the verge of screaming. I shouted at him to shut up, he called me a child and blamed me for hitting him in the head with a door, I told him I hadn’t done it on purpose, and he went back to the subject of Curtis, which was clearly his real issue. Jack tried to take his anger out on Mike, telling him to go sit in the chair, that it was his couch, his apartment, and so on, and we wound up yelling juvenile insults:
“Bitch!”
“Loser!”
“Narcissist!”
“Asshole!”
“Enough!” Will shouted, standing up. “I’m tired of this bullshit. You’re both acting like children. I feel like you’re trying to outdo each other tosee who can be less mature. Well, it’s time to grow up! You, Jenna, go to your room and yell into a pillow or something until you can calm down. And you, Jack, go grab a smoke and see if you can get your shit together.”
That did the trick. Will was a sweetie, but he was a big guy and could intimidate anyone. So we both walked off, slamming the doors. When I was alone in the bedroom, I grabbed my phone and tried to entertain myself. I slipped between the sheets and watched TikTok videos of people drawing. That helped me relax.
An hour later, though, I was hungry. So hungry that my stomach was growling. I walked to the door and pressed my ear to it. The only voice I could hear was Naya’s, and I decided to risk it, opening up the door and tiptoeing down the hall. I felt relieved when I saw she and Sue were the only ones in the living room.
“The men are up on the roof,” Naya said. “Here, I saved you some pizza.”
“Thanks,” I said, grabbing the beer I’d left on the counter and sitting on the couch. “I was starving.”
I heard something coming from Sue’s corner of the room…was I crazy? That was my own voice. Sue chuckled, then noticed I had caught her and quickly tried to tuck her phone away.
“Are you serious? You actually recorded us?”
“It’s for one of my Instagram stories. I need content.”
“And you thought recording me in secret was appropriate?” I asked.
“What if Ross gets famous like the Kardashians?” she replied. “I need to get ready. This could go totally viral. I might be sitting on a gold mine. But whatever. I’ll delete it if you want. I’ve already got more embarrassing material.”
“Thanks,” I murmured. “Please keep me out of it, but if it’s just Jack, go wild. You’ve got my permission, after the way he treated me.”
“I don’t know,” Sue said, “we’ve actually made a lot of progress. Youmay not realize it, but it’s been forever since Ross has opened up like that. He’s barely spoken a word for the last two months. I guess it would be better if he hadn’t gotten all jealous and made a scene, but still, it’s something.”
Naya said talking was good, but he’d need to control himself in the future. Sue nodded along, and when I agreed, she offered to help out: “If he acts like that again, Jenna, just tell me and I’ll stuff his head in the trash can.”
5
Senssssational
The first day of class came upon me faster than I had imagined, and I spent the morning before with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. It had been a year since I’d set foot in a classroom, and I worried I’d never catch up, especially because I’d registered for almost all the same classes Curtis was in, even though I didn’t know the upper level material too well.
I remember walking in and seeing him there with his friends and listening to our literature professor describe our project and exam schedule. I got my first syllabus, looked at the list of books, prayed they weren’t too expensive, made endless notes, and all the while, Curtis just yawned and doodled and entertained himself by poking me with his pen.
On our way out, as we were discussing the midterm paper, which we had to pick a topic for soon, Curtis joked about our teacher and how she said our readings for that semester weresenssssationalas she swished her hips in her tight skirt. He had already repeated the word several times while we were sitting there, and it had been nearly impossible for me not to laugh. I’d had to hide my head and pray she didn’t notice.
“Poor woman,” I said. “She’ll never hear the end of that.”
“I doubt it,” Curtis said. “Someone else will say something stupid, and we’ll all forget about her.” He held the door open, and I followed him tothe parking lot. As I walked off toward the light rail, he asked if I wanted to meet him after lunch.
“Sounds cool,” I responded. “Your room?”
He frowned. “Maybe not. My roommates are being a little annoying. Maybe we could do your place. Or do you think your boyfriend will try and beat me up?”
