“Well, I don’t hate this country stuff,” she said as she reached for the knob. “But it’s not my favorite.”
She tuned it to a different station, and suddenly, Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” blared through the speakers. The haunting melody was one I was familiar with, but not a song I’d listened to recently. “Now this, this I can listen to all day long.”
Leaning back against the headrest, she closed her eyes and her head swayed to the music.
“This is the kind of music I listen to at the gym.” I didn’t think she heard me due to how loud she had the volume up, and I wasn’t even sure why I told her. Maybe I was trying to make small talk, or maybe I was trying to make sure my new roommate didn’t hate me. But she reached over and turned it down.
“So you’re a gym rat?” My knuckles turned white as I gripped the steering wheel while I stared at the cars in front of us. It wasn’twhatshe said, buthowshe said it. The ridicule dripped from her voice. Thankfully, the cars ahead started moving and I made it through the traffic light we’d been stuck at. Driving would have to be my distraction, because talking to her couldn’t be. Not anymore.
“Ohh, what’s wrong? The big brawny guy doesn’t like being called a gym rat?” Her wicked, snide attitude was downright mean.
She really was a total bitch.
We drove the rest of the way home in silence. As I pulled into a spot near our townhouse, I opened my door to get out, but she stopped me when she spoke.
“See, words can hurt, Logan.”
This time,I didn’t help her with the door or getting out of the truck. But the frog caught my attention as I passed him. He had what looked like bird shit on him. Using a napkin that had been in my pocket, I did my best to clean it off. He deserved better.
Once inside, I walked straight for the fridge to get some food and was about to head upstairs. That was when I saw both Macie and Becca were in the kitchen as well.
“Hey, Logan,” Becca said. “How was it being back on campus?”
My face was still in the fridge, looking for my protein bowl I’d made earlier this morning. Once I grabbed it, I turned toward Becca.
“Fine, until the end of my last class.”
I tossed my bowl on the counter and searched for a spoon in the drawer. As I was about to explain to Becca what I meant, my driving companion finally made her way inside. Loudly, as she slammed the front door.
“Thanks for nothing buddy, I almost couldn’t get out of that damn truck,” she barked.
“Wait, did you two come home together?” Macie asked as she got up from the kitchen table. She and Becca looked like they’d been working on something together. Yet now they both looked…intrigued.
“Yeah,” I said. “We have Marketing together.”
“And then he stranded me in that monster truck of his, all alone out there!”
Becca leaned against the island, eyeing Ava up and down.
“It was still nice of him to drive you home,” Becca said.
Ava threw her backpack toward the couch and then turned her attention back to her friends, me not included in that.
“I had to jump from the seat to the ground. Literally jump. He had time to stop and talk to the cement frog out front, but he couldn’t help me.”
It took everything in me to not scream “fuck you” at her. I’d never met someone so ungrateful before.
“But did you thank him?” Becca asked. “It was a very nice thing he did as yourroommate.” Her emphasis on the word roommate didn’t go unnoticed.
Ava just stared blankly at Becca and then said, without looking at me, “Thank you.”
Whatever was going on between them, I wanted to steer clear of it. I picked up my bowl, spoon, and bag, and turned to head upstairs.
“Whatever,” I mumbled as I walked away from the girls.
“Did you tell them?” Ava asked, the question directed at me.
I stopped and turned.
