“It’s not my money. I didn’t ask for it.”
“Sure you didn’t,” mumbles Kara.
“I didn’t. I told him about my new job.”
Robbi asks, “Is Luke still an asshole?”
I shrug. “Pretty much.”
“God, I’m so sick of you holding court about this guy,” grumbles Kara as she stands up, taking a step or two closer. “You think the world revolves around you.”
Yeah, well, I’m sick of you being here all the time.“No, I—”
Kara keeps right on going. “You’re pathetic. You’re stroking his fragile ego, and now he’s paying you.” She stops. “Wait.” She snorts. “Priceless.”
“What?” Do I want to know?
“Are you sexting him?” She starts to cackle.
“No, of course not.”What is sexting? Oh, wait.“No!”
“Well, if he’sjustyour friend, then why not spend it? It’s a gift.”
“Kara, it’s not my money. I can’t just spend his hard-earned—”
My words are cut off the second Kara reaches out and takes the card from me. “ThenIwill. He said you could give it to your ‘mates,’” she sneers.
“Well, you’re not my mate, Kara.” I look around the room, wondering if these women are truly my friends. My eyes focus on Susanna. “Are you just going to stand here and let her do this?”
“Me?” Susanna squeaks. “B-But her sister….”
Oh, wow, seriously? “So, she gets away with treating me and probably lots of other people like shit because her sister died?”
“Quinn!” Patsy finally speaks.
“What? That’s the reason, right?”
The room is silent for way too long until Lindsay finally says, “Karawas supposed to move in.”
I look over at Lindsay. “Who was?”
“Kara. She was told she could have the room downstairs.”
I look at Kara, who has her arms crossed in front of her and a smirk on her face, then back at Patsy. “Is that my fault?”
Patsy looks sheepish as she says, “No, it’s mine. I, erm, didn’t realize it was promised to her.”
“I see.” Because I do. She’s the roommate they wanted. Not me. I turn to Kara. “I’ll start looking for a new place to live.” I look for the letter that is now on the coffee table. Picking it up, I step toward Kara, who backs up like I’m going to hurt her. “Give me the card.” She places it in my outstretched hand.
I start marching out of the room, then turn back to her. “Enjoy the spiders.” I pause. “And whatever is lurking around at night. I named it Aragog.”Let’s see if Kara gets that Harry Potter reference.Then I’m out of there, getting back in my room so I can sulk in private because I’m sure as shit not going to cry. Not over Kara. I can’t get over what an emotional roller coaster this semester has been, and it’s only October.
I flop onto my bed. “I miss my best friend.” If I could talk to her about everything, she’d… she’d probably tell me to stop being a pussy and tell those people upstairs to suck it. But I’m not Tayler, no matter how much I wish I could be.
I roll over to my side to face the faux wood–paneled wall. Or walls. All four of my walls are covered in brown paneling. I’d call it vintage or even retro if I weren’t positive it’s been here since the seventies. I had plans to make this room more personalized. Covering up the paneling was stage one. I planned to use posters. I have a bunch of them in my room at home that I was going to bring back after the holiday break. But there’s no reason to do that now.
Sighing, I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to think of something other than my roommate issues. I do my best thinking—or meditating, as Tayler likes to call it—when I’m lying on my bed, eyes closed, so I do just that. But just as I’m about to get into the zone, my phone pings.
Cooke:It’s just money.It makes me happy to help you, but if you don’t want to spend it right now, save it and buy a plane ticket to the UK for a visit sometime soon.
