I walk out of the office and stop on the corner at Blank Street Coffee. I am jonesing for a caffeine fix, and I can’t wait until I get home. Plus I was too anxious to eat this morning so I should probably grab a breakfast sandwich or something.
The barista is pretty, with green eyes and long black hair, a combo you don’t see too often. I order my drink and a croissant sandwich I can eat on the way back home. My therapist is only a twenty-minute walk from my place, so I eat on the way. After scarfing down my sandwich—I was apparently hungrier than I thought I was—I drink my hot Americano.
The building’s main entrance buzzer is busted, so I let myself in manually with the key and walk the three flights up since my building also doesn’t have an elevator. It’s annoying, but it also gives me thighs of steel, which come in handy when I need to lug my camera equipment around.
I open my apartment door, and my roommates are hanging out in the kitchen-living room. Liz is making a smoothie, and Rachel is lying on the couch humming. Frisky is tucked under the coffee table and only peeks his head around to look at me before going back to sleep.
“Hello! How was therapy?” Liz smiles as she pours her smoothie into her reusable cup.
“It was fine,” I mutter.
“That bad, huh?” Rachel asks, frowning.
“I don’t wanna talk about it. What’s going on here?”
Rachel and Liz exchange a glance but change the subject anyway. “I’m on my way to the gym,” Liz says. I notice now she’s in her matching spandex workout outfit.
“I’m not doing anything.” Rachel shrugs.
“Except waiting for that girl to text you,” Liz scoffs.
Rachel glares at her while I ask, “What girl? Gimme all the tea,” I tease.
“It’s nothing. I met a girl last night and we hit it off, but she hasn’t texted me yet.” Rachel sighs.
“Did you text her?” I ask.
“I can’t do that!” Rachel gasps.
“I think it’s hot when a girl texts first, it takes some of the pressure off,” I say as I join her on the couch.
“I told her the same thing, but she said she can’t,” Liz adds. “I’ll see y’all later!” She clicks the door shut behind her.
Rachel is quiet, so I take the opportunity to check my phone. I still have it on silent from therapy, and not sure if I’ve missed anything. Turning off the ‘do not disturb’, a few texts from Cari pop up.
We haven’t really talked since last weekend, and I’m not even sure if she’s still mad at me, but I guess not.
CARI: Busy this weekend?
CARI: R u going to A & R’s party?
ME: Prob, I didn’t get a costume yet tho
CARI: I still have to get mine too
CARI: Wanna go shopping together?
I hesitate before responding. I don’t know why something like shopping for a Halloween costume gives me so much pause. It isn’t like we’re getting matching costumes, and I go shopping with my friends. But I know it feels different with Cari for whatever reason. Plus, it doesn’t help that I ignored her asking if I was busy. She’s persistent, which just means she’ll follow up on that later.
ME: Might grab a witch hat online and call it a day tbh
CARI: U know R would never let that fly. U need a real costume
ME: Halloween’s not really my thing
CARI: What if I pick u out something? I bet u’d look hot in a Scream mask
I blush, thinking about last Halloween when we hooked up using the iconic Scream mask. I asked her if she liked scary movies and she rode me until she was literally screaming my name. It was back before we actually spent a lot of time together.
