“California, you?”
“Here.” He takes a big bite out of his burger and chews it before adding, “Bloomfield. It’s not too far from here. California’s far. Have you gotten home sick?”
“Maybe a little. I didn’t realize how nice it was to always have someone in the house, you know?” I admit.
“Did you score a single?” His eyes are a little wide. “You’re lucky. I’d kill to not have roommates.”
Damn it, I brought this on myself. That’s what I get for opening up so soon. “I’m actually off campus.”
“Huh.” Liam takes another bite of food, and I tuck into mine. “Are you a transfer?”
I was hoping he was just going to let it go, but it doesn’t seem like he will. “No.”
“I thought all first years had to do the room and board thing.” He holds up a fry as if to drive the point home.
I could lie and chance getting caught later if we remain friendly or give him part of the truth. “I don’t think they care if you actually stay in the room as long as it’s paid for,” I tell him and lean back in my seat to gauge his reaction.
“Oh, cool, do you have family close by then? Wait, does that mean your room is open then? Is it a single?”
“I don’t actually know anything about it. I never signed up for a room, but I think I got an email about being assigned one. I doubt it would be a single.”
“Man, your roommates are still lucky as hell. One less person.”
“What are your roommates like?” I ask before he can question me about who I live with. I plan to change the subject as soon as I find another topic to segue into.
“I only have one, thank fu—” He doesn’t complete the word, but he might as well have. “Ben’s okay. I just hate sharing the space with anyone. It’s so small, and I get up early to go to the gym, so I like to get to bed early.”
I wrinkle my nose at the mention of going to the gym but cover it quickly when he looks up from his plate. One thing you will never find me doing is exercising. “Does he stay up late and disturb your sleep?”
“Not really. He’s pretty considerate, actually, but he does stay up later than I do. I’m hoping he will settle into an earlier schedule now that classes have started.”
“Do you get up early on the weekends too?”
“Most of the year,” he answers. “I play lacrosse, so we hit the gym hard for a couple of months before the season actually starts, and that goes until after the playoffs are done.”
“Are you on the team here?”
“Yeah, but I doubt I’ll get much play time this season.” He drops his eyes from mine before grabbing a few fries. I get the feeling that’s something that bothers him.
“You must be really good to make the team. Do you have any more classes today?” I toss the first comment then ask another question, hoping it will alleviate the new tension in his shoulders.
“No, I’m done for today. Do you think you’ll join the study group for math?”
I push my plate to the side. Eating tacos while talking isn’t easy. “I’m not sure yet.”
“They made it seem like it filled up fast. I probably will, I don’t want to get behind.” He takes another bite. His salad, which was mostly meat and cheese with a little bit of lettuce and cucumber, is already gone, as is most of his burger.
“I’ll decide by the end of the week,” I tell him. I don’t have much else going on in my life, so I’m confident I’ll have time to study if need be, plus there’s always the library peer tutoring.
I touch the screen on my phone to check the time, and it doesn’t go unnoticed. “Got somewhere to be?” Liam balls up a napkin and tosses it on his mostly clean plate.
I don’t want to tell him no and seem lame, but I’m kind of ready to get home and decompress a little. Even though I haven’t done much today, I feel a little overwhelmed and a lot tired. “I just need to get going soon,” I answer noncommittally.
“Want to grab lunch, dinner, food, whatever this is, Wednesday after class?” he asks, and scoots his chair back to stand.
“Sure,” I reply, probably answering too fast.
“Save me a seat if you get to math before me.” He loads my plate on his tray, leaving me to carry my cup and empty tray.
