She threw me a dirty look, knowing what I was referring to. Somehow, staying with Denver was just fine, but the mere offer of spending the night at my apartment had her all up in arms. I didn’t have an extra bedroom and bathroom like Denver did, but if keeping her safe meant I slept on my couch for a few nights, I’d do it.
We waited behind her like a trio of guardian angels while she put her keys in the lock and opened the apartment door.
When we stepped in, I was immediately hit with the scent of old clothes. I’d volunteered at a women’s shelter thrift store a few times in college, and it was like I was right back there, opening up garbage sacks full of forty-year-old pantsuits.
“You’re not staying here,” Denver said, wrinkling his nose. “It smells even worse than yesterday.”
It was the first thing we’d ever agreed on.
“So, that smell is not your… normal thing?” Sadie glanced around.
The roommate was nowhere in sight, although there was evidence of her. Dirty dishes on the coffee table. Socks too big to be Jenny’s on the floor. Two jarred candles burning on the kitchen counter. Even though Jenny had described her roommate as pretty, with big blonde hair and blue eyes, I was still expecting Gollum to jump out from a corner and snarl at us at any moment.
“Clarissa?” Jenny called out.
“In my room,” her roommate called back.
“Okay. I have friends over.”
There was no response, but a few seconds later Clarissa walked out and stared at us, hands on her hips. She didn’t look like Gollum, but she did have the creepy eyes thing going on. Somehow they managed to be both beady and large.
“Clarissa, this is Noah, Denver, and Sadie.”
Clarissa frowned at the three of us. “I don’t want them using the bathroom. I have everything back the way I want it.”
There was an awkward pause and then Sadie took a step forward. “Too bad, I have to use the bathroom.”
“Sadie.” Jenny reached out and held her back. “Nope. Everyone in my room.”
“Even me?” Clarissa asked, looking confused.
“Not you.” Sadie said, leaning into her face as we passed by. “Definitely not you.”
We followed Jenny to her bedroom, only pausing to take in the box wall Clarissa was so protective of. It was exactly how Jenny had described it, and I felt terrible for ever questioning Jenny’s sleep deprivation. No wonder she’d clung to Denver like a lifeline. It made me feel grateful and jealous and helpless, all at the same time. I should have been the one she leaned on. The one she trusted. My past was never going to stop finding ways to haunt me, was it?
After shutting us inside her bedroom, Jenny walked straight to her twin bed and stripped the sheets off before shoving them inside her comforter along with her pillows in one round heap. Then she sank down on the bare mattress and sighed, resting her elbows on her knees.
“Anything missing?” Denver asked, looking around.
Jenny did a slow perusal before shaking her head. “No. But I didn’t expect there to be. She’s not looking to get kicked out.”
“Are you sure?” Denver asked.
“I’m sure. She said she could afford to live here without me. And I believe it. Even though her clothes smell, she has name-brand everything. Her parents are loaded, I guess.”
Sadie had been walking around studying things, including Jenny’s signed Boys II Men poster and a collage board stuffed with photos. Jenny’s room had a lived in feel to it, exactly the way I’d expected it to look based on what I knew about her. Cozy and cute and slightly messy. She kept things out as she used them, but I could tell she didn’t eat in here or let laundry pile up. The smell from the rest of the apartment was only a faint echo. Her vanilla cupcake scent was in here, along with something uniquely Jenny.
I could picture myself sinking into her red armchair in the corner and grabbing one of the books from the tiny side table next to it. Well, maybe not. The book spines were color-coded, going from deep red to a pale pink. Of course she’d use books to decorate.
“You mentioned your landlord had another apartment available in a month.” Sadie leaned against the chest of drawers and crossed her arms. “And if you moved there, you wouldn’t have to pay any fees for breaking your lease.”
“Yeah, a one bedroom. But even at that, I couldn’t afford it on my own. The rental market is crazy right now. It’s not like I could find a roommate by tomorrow.”
Sadie took in a deep breath. “I’ve actually…. I’m ready to move out. I still live with my dad.”
Denver snorted, and in a blink, Sadie picked up a black hair elastic from the top of the dresser and snapped him with it.
He rubbed his arm and eyed her warily. “Jen, I don’t know that you want to go from one unpredictable roommate to another.”
