Before he could mention Greg again, the doorknob turned. Jessica tensed up slightly, like they were about to get busted, and in came her roommate in a burst of energy.
“Hey, guys.” She waved at Ethan and the girls, but it was half-hearted. It was a formality, an acknowledgement.
“Did you need to use the room?” Jessica asked. “We can leave.”
“Oh, no. You’re good.”
A thunderbolt of awkward seemed to strike the room, but the roommate wasn’t fazed in the least.
“I’m Lorna,” she said and waved again. Ethan and Anna introduced themselves back. Lorna tiptoed over clothes and papers, half-tripping on one of Jessica’s shoes.
“Sorry, I’ll clean up later,” Jessica said.
“Oh, no problem!” Lorna said. Ethan could tell how hard she was working to be fake-nice. Or maybe it was actual-nice. With girls, he could never know for sure.
Lorna went to her closet, which was damn near immaculate compared to Jessica’s, and flipped through shirts.
“What are you up to tonight?” Jessica asked and made a face at Ethan and Anna while Lorna’s back was to them. Wait till you hear this, she seemed to say.
Lorna selected a funky green top with ruffles that Ethan admired. He wished men’s clothes could be that varied and unique. “I’m going to a stoplight party.”
“What’s that?” Ethan asked. Jessica swiveled her head to look at him. His answer had not been adequately caked in condescension. He turned a shade of red.
“You wear a color to designate your relationship status. Red means taken. Green means single. Yellow—” She pointed to the yellow top she was already wearing. “—means it’s complicated.”
And then she took it off. She wore a black bra underneath, but Ethan only saw it for a second before averting his eyes. Out of respect and lack of interest. His friends also looked away.
“Lorna, do you need some privacy?”
“Nah.” She was still wearing her bra. “We’re all gals here.”
She put on the green, ruffly top, and it fit her curvy body perfectly. She pushed out her wavy, red-tinged hair to flow over her shoulders. “Much better.”
“I guess it’s not complicated anymore,” Ethan said, surprised at himself for coming up with such a Dave-like response.
“Exactly.” Lorna nodded at her new shirt with confidence. “I think complicated is usually just a fancy way of saying, ‘It’s over but I don’t want to admit it’s over.’ Nope, tonight I am all green.”
“Great,” Jessica said. She and Anna held in snickers.
Lorna swabbed her face with a cleanser pad while looking in a small mirror she’d stuck up to the closet wall. “Delta had the same exact party last spring. Of course, most of the guys wore green, even though not all of them should have. There will probably be three drink rooms again, each a different color. Red, yellow, and green. So red, yellow, and green Jell-O shots.”
“Very clever,” Ethan said. He imagined the setup of the party, and it sparked something within him. He wished he could go to something like that. His party experience was limited to gatherings at upperclassmen apartments with assortments of wine, which he and his friends never drank. Someone had thrown a Roaring Twenties party once, so there was that.
“And get this. Some guys go in red shirts because they know they could get more girls that way. How shady is that? I only dance with green and yellow people.”
There was dancing, too? He had a vision of a rocking party, like New Years Eve meets a rap music video. And on a Tuesday night!
“So yellow people can dance with green people?” Anna asked, and she sounded half-curious.
“Yeah. It’s complicated. As long as it’s not red, you’re safe!” Lorna tossed her hair around to get it perfect. She checked the time on her phone. “And I’m late!” She snatched a clutch purse hanging on the wall and gave a giant wave to the entire room. “Have a good night, guys!”
Ethan waved her goodbye. Once the door clicked close, his friends giggled to each other.
“And that’s my roommate,” Jessica said. “The good news is that she’s never here, so it’s like having a single.”
“She has quite a life,” Anna said with a large dose of sarcasm.
“If getting drunk and grinding against random boners is what you want your life to be.”
