“Regionals,” he explained. “So pretty big.”
“Guess you won’t need me Thursday night then, yeah?” I asked quieter.
“Wrong,” he matched my pitch while everyone else started talking around us. “I’m going to give you a key to my apartment and I want you to monitor the Thursday night games until I get home. You can just hang out, keep an eye on everything, and write down the stats like you have been doing. I’ll leave my credit card and you can order some food.”
“You don’t need to do that,” I shook my head quickly. I felt like I should complain about working when he wasn’t going to be there, but then I realized that my time would count and I wouldn’t have to spend time with him.
“Obviously I do,” Fin nodded at my plate.
“I’m fine; I just get tired of the same thing. It’s nice to have a little variety.”
“Then let me give you some variety. I want to Ellie. Don’t tell me I can’t help you.” He practically leveled me with the intensity behind his eyes. He was so fierce, so commanding. I nodded because I couldn’t do anything else. Fine, he could buy me dinner. I would order a whole pizza and then eat it myself. I hoped he wasn’t expecting me to have something waiting for him.
“So, Els, I have good news for you!” Britte announced from across the table, bringing my attention back to her.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“I’m moving in with you!”
“What? What about your student loan?” Britte and I talked lots about moving in with each other over the last year but part of her student loan was designed specifically for on campus housing. She hated the dorms as much as I had hated living with Tara, but there wasn’t a whole lot she could do about it.
“My dad said he would help some with the cost of living and with as much time as I’ve been spending at Bailey’s I can work it.” Her eyes were lit up and she was bouncing in her seat. I was just as excited as her.
“So when? When can you move in with me? Tonight?”
“How about next weekend? I need to get through midterms and pack. And then we need to find boys to help do the heavy lifting,” she raised her voice on the last part and Jameson and Fin both broke out into smiles. Charlie and Gunner averted their eyes…. smart boys.
“Yes! No more skeevy roommates!” I smiled and then said purposefully. “Just don’t steal my identity B, and this will be the greatest partnership of all time!”
“That’s not real is it?” Jameson asked, his expression skeptical.
“What? Tara the Terrible? Oh she is very, very real,” Britte said with conviction.
“What’s real?” Charlie asked.
It was obvious at this moment that Fin explained the situation to Jameson but not to any of his other friends. I wondered what he would do now that I had Britte as a witness.
“My old roommate stole my identity,” I explained dryly.
“Holy shit!” Gunner said sympathetically.
“Did you lose a lot of money?” from Charlie.
“Seven thousand dollars and almost all of my furniture,” I replied honestly.
“Holy shit!” Gunner repeated with more enthusiasm.
“I know!”
I chanced an “I told you so” look at Fin. He met my gaze but just shook his head like he didn’t believe me.
“She was such a bitch,” Britte reiterated.
“You met her?” Jameson asked. He seemed thoughtful over the whole thing, not sure whether to believe me or the story Fin told him.
“Lots of times. She never paid her rent on time, she turned their apartment into a gigantic mess and then when she left after hocking everything that was worth something of Els, she booked it out of town and only left a note. She didn’t even tell Ellie she was leaving, she told her she was going out to dinner! All Ellie had was a stupid note.”
“On the back of my Biology notes,” I groaned, remembering that awful night.
