It’s not that he’s not a good musician; it’s more that he thinks he’s, like, areally greatmusician. And I completely, fully support his dreams.
However, I do think he should have a job in the meantime to pay the bills.
“Stephen?”
I walk past the messy kitchen, wondering if my roommate, Maddie, is out dog-walking. It’s her side gig, and I know the mornings are her busiest times in the summer.
“Stephen, are you—” I gasp at the sight before my eyes as I enter my bedroom.
There, on my grandmother’s queen-size mattress, my boyfriend and my roommate are in the compromising position that teenagers call “sixty-nine.”
I drop the box as my hand claps over my mouth. Maddie screams like she’s drowning, her mouth full of his dick.
Stephen jolts awkwardly underneath her, his legs splayed out on the bed. She rolls off of him, and I cover my eyes to avoid further permanent damage to my retinas.
“Kate! Why are you home so early?” Stephen bellows, and I hear the bed creaking.
I open my eyes back up, letting out a screech. “How dare you! You’re a sick, disgusting pig! Both of you are nasty...icky vermin!”
I reach into the box to pull out the mug he bought me. I hurl it at him, narrowly missing. It shatters against the wall. I’m not a bad shot, but rage is clouding my vision.
“Katie Bug, calm down.” He holds his hands up in defense, but his length is still exposed and shiny from her saliva.
Next is my pen cup, and it lands right on its mark, bouncing off of his head of luscious, long hair as the pens spew across the room.
“Kate!” Maddie is staring at me, wide-eyed. Her tits that are much, much bigger than mine are out in the open.
“What? You’ve been sleeping with my boyfriend while I’m at work, so what could you possibly have to say?” I scream at her.
She reaches down for Stephen’s band shirt on the floor to cover herself, but honestly, I’ve seen all I need to see.
“Bye, asshole. Have fun getting STDs and sucking at your career.”
Closure is overrated. I don’t need to know why. I just need to get out with the last word.
“Katie Bug, please...let’s talk about this.” His voice is high-pitched and desperate.
And to think, in eight years, he’s never gone down on me.
I think he’s starting to realize he can’t bum off of both of us anymore by sleeping here for free.
Now, I know why Maddie never had a problem with his freeloading.
I grab the only thing I absolutely need to take with me right this moment—Speckles’s tank. My pet turtle has been with me through it all. His little green shell has yellow speckles—hence the name. When my dad got him for me, I was three, and my mom had just died. I could never leave him here with a cheating boyfriend and a backstabbing roommate.
“Let’s go, bud. We’re visiting Auntie Mel.” When I look up at the traitors, my voice hardens again. “I want three hours tonight to get my shit without y’all here.” The slam of the door punctuates my words.
Mel insistson me submitting my résumé online before we go out tonight.
“You’ll be able to relax and let loose if you know you’repossiblygetting a job while you’re busy, forgetting your lowlife, cheating ex.”
I don’t know how I’d survive without Mel.
I crush her into a hug before sitting down with my laptop to pore over the Indeed listings. My tear-filled explanation of today’s events is already over. She’s fully committed to my recovery program, which starts with applications and ends with vodka.
“I would rather gouge my eyes out than restart my entire life,” I whine. I get at least a one-day pity-party pass.
Mel is styling her shoulder-length copper-red hair. “Babe, no offense, but restarting your life is something that has needed to happen for a while. Stephen was a little shithead. Your job was a shithole. Your roommate was a piece of shit, clearly. Basically, Speckles, your dad, and I are the only parts you should hold on to.”
