I open my mouth to answer, but my dad gets there first, yelling out, “Bugs, Julia! He’s got bugs!”
“Bugs?” she asks, and immediately, her eyes go wide as she scans my living room, her body tight with fear that said bugs are going to start crawling up her legs.
“Uh, yeah,” I ad-lib. “Remember the bug I was trying to kill with the fire? Well, turns out he’s not alone. There’s a whole family of bugs.”
“A whole family of bugs?” Julia screeches and jumps back two steps before immediately reversing the action to get as close to me as humanly possible as her gaze darts around my apartment.
Okay, so maybe this bug plan isn’t such a bad plan…
“Yep. Practically seventeen generations worth of bugs,” I answer, really laying the fake bug thing on thick now. Hell, maybe she’ll jump into my arms next. “They found them in the freaking walls, Julia, while they were doing cleanup from the fire. Now I need tohave the place fumigated. Which is no bueno for the lungs, so they say I need to stay somewhere else again.”
“You’re kidding!” she exclaims, but she’s still huddled close to me. “How long?”
“Three days,” I lie, going with the first number I can think of on the fly.
“Jeez, Ace.”
“I know, I know. I just moved out. You just got your space back. I understand completely if you’d rather me go to a hotel or try to stay with Finn and Scottie or something. I can be a lot.”
“No, no. I mean, of course you should stay with me. You know I love being around you. You’re my best friend.” She shakes her head as if trying to clear it, and selfishly, I’m really hoping she’s shaking whatshisface all the way out. “And how about we go ahead and head on over to my apartment, like, now?” A shiver rolls up her spine. “I’d prefer not to come face-to-face with the bugs.”
“Yeah,” my dad chimes in. “I wouldn’t hang around in there too long. The exterminator said these bugs like to cling to shit and go from apartment to apartment.”
“Oh my God.” Julia cringes and grabs a hold of my shirt with a tight grasp. “Let’s go, Ace. Let’s freaking go.”
“I’ll talk to you guys later,” I say, glancing down at the screen of my phone where both my mom and dad are flashing me secret smiles.
“Bye, Julia!” my dad yells, my mom adding, “We love youuu!”
“Love you guys too!” she says as she practically drags me out of my apartment and into hers.
Three more days, and the next level of the plan officially unlocked.
Maybe, just maybe, I’ll manage to convince her to be with me before we’re actually twenty-five.
Saturday, Aug 23rd
Julia
Ace digs through the cooler in the kitchen of the Tau Kappa Epsilon house, which is an absolute freaking mess, despite the new brothers having only moved in at the start of school. This is something like their eighth party in just under three weeks, and evidently, they don’t have the number for a cleaning crew on speed dial.
I wait patiently until Ace hands me a sealed bottle of Mike’s Hard Lemonade, twisting off the cap before he does. I smile gratefully and turn it up to my lips, excited by the tolerable taste. I know some people are seasoned drinkers by the time they’re my age, but I’m still getting my boozy legs under me.
Ace takes a bottle of beer for himself and nods to Finn, nudging me forward to follow his roommate from last year as he exits the kitchen.
I weave through the crowd of rowdy partygoers, reaching up to hold my ear as we pass one of the giant speakers they have set up in the back sun-room area of the dining room and looking back over my shoulder to make sure Ace is with me. He puts his hand to my back in reassurance, and I smile as I force my way through the last little clump of people to get to Lexi, Scottie, and Finn.
Today was Lexi’s official graduation from grad school. She’s now the proud owner of two PhDs and will most likely be winning Nobel Prizes, curing cancer, and creating the world’s most valuable AI technology in the next year or two.
There’s smart, and then there’s Lexi smart. Trust me, they’re different.
I’ve known Lexi Winslow my whole life, and right now, she looks a little like a fish out of water. That shouldn’t be a surprise, given Ace practically forced her here on the excuse that this will be the last college party she’ll ever attend, but for as rowdy as these Tau guys get and as dirty as this place is, she’s hanging in pretty well.
“Holy shit!” Ace exclaims from behind me, barreling forward to wrap an enthusiastic arm around Finn’s shoulders and rock him back and forth. “Is Finnley Hayes enjoying an alcoholic beverage tonight?” Finn is holding a red Solo cup, which is out of character for him, given his family’s abusive history with alcohol. I’d never judge him for drinking or choosing not to—and Ace wouldn’t either. He just sometimes forgets his damn manners.
Finn rolls his eyes. “It’s Mountain Dew.”
“Fuck me.” Ace groans. “And I thought you weren’t going to be lame for once.”
