I slumped down and sat on the end of my bed and stared at my electric toothbrush standing at attention on my dresser. I reached out and turned it to face the wall so I wouldn’t see the light blinking green in the dark. What was happening with my life?
On Monday, I was supposed to run a team meeting to discuss our quarter numbers and divvy up assignments. My old boss used to give assignments based on who kissed up to him the most, but that wasn’t me. At all. I planned to do what I always did. Hand them out by merit and then avoid eye contact. I did not do well with confrontation. I ended up saying too much or too little, and either way, people always seemed offended.
My date with Noah was evidence of that. I’d planned to chew him out and make him answer all the questions that had been needling me ever since he left. He’d even given me an opening tonight. But in the end, I said nothing. I ran away from him and left him with his ugly minivan in the parking lot. His move back here had thrown me for a loop, and I was afraid if I opened my mouth, all of my frustrations and fears would pour out. He would know how deeply I’d fallen for him, and I’d hurt all over again. And he could never know that.
As long as I pretended like I only saw him as a buddy, I’d be fine. I could be mad he ruined our friendship. But that was it.
I took in a deep breath. Right now was not the time to unpack all that. I needed rest, but my body was resisting like a two-year-old on a sugar rush. I’d never fall asleep. Not with candles burning or a box fort in my hallway or Clarissa’s hints about stress.
I hadn’t asked her the right questions before letting her move in. Introverts never ask the right questions. It’s a fatal flaw. I’ve had long (okay longish) conversations with people and walked away realizing I’d never asked them how they were doing even though they asked about me. And I did the same thing with the roommate interviews.
Clarissa was approved by the landlord, the no-overnight-guests rule wasn’t a problem for her, and she smiled a lot. I thought she’d be the perfect fit. I didn’t remember her mentioning the sleepwalking thing, but it was possible. Sometimes I got so caught up in figuring out what to say next that I didn’t listen well. I should write a book on introverts. Except, I’d have to interview people for it…. never mind.
I decided to make my own fort out of blankets on my bed and hide inside of it with my phone. Even knowing it was a bad idea didn’t keep me from going down the Reddit rabbit hole of searching out bad roommate experiences, and there were a lot.
What did I learn? People are absolutely dying to share all their dirty details—no matter what they’ve been through. They had roomed with the homicidal, the thieving, the boundary-pushing, and the downright cluelessly selfish twenty-somethings out there, and lived to tell about it. Was Clarissa destined to be a horror story I’d share at dinner parties in twenty years? Was I overreacting? Was I underreacting? Maybe a few more posts would help me decide.
I blinked and it was almost one a.m. My eyes felt like sandpaper. Now I was exhaustedandterrified. Those stress-relieving lavender candles were a fraud. Shoot, the candles!
I jumped out of the covers and tiptoed to my door, opening it slowly so it could… creak even louder.Way to be sneaky, self. Holding my breath, I waited a few seconds to make sure all was silent, and then tiptoed out to the kitchen. Not a flickering spark was in sight, but I still used my phone’s flashlight setting to check. Then I turned the thermostat up a couple of degrees because for some reason it was set way colder than I usually had it, and went back to bed.
I had to go to sleep. Staying up longer thinking of things to worry about wouldn’t help. Thank goodness tomorrow was Sunday and I could sleep in. By Monday morning this roommate stuff would all be old hat and I’d be ready to face a new week.
Chapter 5 – Noah
Sadie and Dan stared at my van as I pulled into Dan’s side yard on Monday and parked next to Sadie’s black Jetta. I had been shocked the first time I heard they were siblings. Dan was so much older than her, a short, bald guy who was always smiling, while Sadie was tall and striking and intimidated everyone she met. But side by side, looking like two meerkats on patrol who’d spotted something interesting, I could see the family resemblance.
Sadie walked over and kicked one of my tires with her black boot. Her boots were the kind with a zipper down the side and a jaunty buckle, like a biker gang wandered into Nordstrom’s and got recruited to make their own fashion line. “I can’t believe you’re still driving this thing. I bet you were a hit with the ladies in California.”
“I’m doing just fine, Sadie. Where’s Jenny?”
Sadie and Dan exchanged looks, and then Dan pulled a dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it begrudgingly to Sadie.
“What was the bet?” I asked, though I already had my suspicions.
“That your first question would be about Jenny.”
Dan shook his head. “I was rooting for you, Noah. I said you’d ask if Sadie brought muffins.”
“I didn’t.” Sadie said, anticipating my next question. Dan was a fool to bet against her. Thankfully, Sadie was sympathetic to fools and had initiated the one dollar limit long ago.
Unlike my family, whose idea of a good bet ended with someone shaving their eyebrows off, Sadie and Dan were in it strictly for the thrill of winning.
Sadie folded up the dollar bill and stuck it in her purse. “Jenny said she’ll be here in a minute. And she usually means it when she says it, as opposed to the rest of you.”
Proving Sadie’s point, Jenny pulled up moments later and eased her car up onto the dirt, parking next to me.
Back when we formed the carpool, we decided to use Dan’s house as our starting point. His place was the closest to the Connecting Hearts office northwest of us in Peoria. We had the fortune of heading away from the city during morning rush hour, while the rest of traffic was determined to sit bumper to bumper heading in the opposite direction.
Plus, since Dan was a married guy with kids, it gave him the most time to get ready in the morning. His wife was usually backing out of the driveway to take their kids to school just as I was getting there, but it looked like I’d already missed her.
Jenny climbed out of her Civic with a pillow, a blanket, and an ivory colored sleep mask in hand, along with her purse. I didn’t even know sleep masks existed in real life. I thought they were only props on the sets of soap operas or something. And didn’t they usually come with a matching silky nightgown? Not that I expected Jenny to show up wearing one.
She cocked her head at me, and I realized I’d been staring, and possibly also daydreaming about her choices in nightwear. I looked away, pretending I was interested in the doves tucked together on Dan’s back fence. “I take it you’re not driving?”
“He’s a genius, everyone. It’s my week to drive. Let’s go.” Sadie led the way to her Jetta. Dan took shotgun. No surprise there. Those two always sat up front together when either of them drove. I’d never minded, and I was certainly glad for it now.
Jenny climbed into the seat behind Dan and tucked her pillow against the window before buckling herself in. I got in on the other side and stared her down, purposely this time, while she covered herself up with her blanket and pulled the sleep mask over her eyes.
