Page 107 of Accidental Roommates

I get home just after ten. When I walk in the house, I hear voices down the hall.

“Kenzie?” I call out.

She comes out of her room. But she’s not alone. Dan is there, right behind her.

Dan was in Kenzie’s room. What was he doing in her room?

“Jace, I didn’t hear you come in,” Kenzie says as she walks past me. “How was work?”

“Good.” I look at Dan. “What are you doing here?”

“I stopped by to see Kenzie. I wanted to take her to dinner tonight, but she had to study so I brought her some food.”

She grabs a water from the fridge and says to me, “He got me tacos from that place we like downtown.”

I walk up to Dan. “You should probably go. It’s getting late.”

“I don’t have class until ten tomorrow.” He goes around me and over to Kenzie. “You want to watch a movie?”

“I would, but I’m really tired. Maybe tomorrow, after we go out.”

“You’re going out tomorrow?” I ask.

“We’re going to dinner,” she says. “Since I couldn’t go tonight.”

“We could go to a movie after dinner,” Dan says, leaning against the counter. He takes Kenzie’s hand and pulls her toward him. “What kind of movies do you like? Comedies? Romance? Thrillers?”

She tilts her head. “I guess comedies are my favorite, although I love romance too.”

He smiles at her. “You choose. We’ll go to whatever movie you want.”

Why am I watching this? If I stand here one second longer, I’m going to storm over to Dan and punch that damn smile right off his face.

He’s flirting with my girl. Holding her hand. Looking like he’s about to kiss her. And I can’t do a damn thing about it because she’s not mine.

I shouldn’t be mad at Dan. He’s not doing anything wrong. He thinks Kenzie is available, and technically she is. He has every right to go out with her.

But it still makes my blood boil seeing him with her. I go in my room and shut the door, then grab my basketball and squeeze the life out of it. I’m so damn pissed. If only I’d ignored Nikki’s call this morning. If I had, Kenzie would know how I feel about her. She’d know I want us to be together. Maybe knowing that would’ve made her turn down Dan.

Kenzie told me not to go to Nikki’s. She warned me Nikki was trying to manipulate me. But I didn’t listen. I went to see Nikki instead of staying with Kenzie, and now everything’s messed up. I was going to come home and tell Kenzie how I feel, but then I get here and find her with someone else.

They’re in the living room now. The TV is on and I hear the two of them laughing. I thought Dan was leaving. Kenzie said she was tired, so why is she letting him stay?

At midnight, he finally goes home. I try to sleep but can’t. I’m so mad at myself for not talking to Kenzie this morning. Why did I rush off to help Nikki? I should’ve known her tears were fake. That one wrong decision might’ve ruined any chance I had of being with Kenzie.

The next morning, I go to the kitchen for breakfast, but Kenzie isn’t there. She’s still in her room. We usually have breakfast together, but today she slept in, probably because she was up so late with Dan.

When I get back from class in the afternoon, Kenzie isn’t home, and she didn’t leave a note like she normally does. I text her just to say hi. She texts ‘hi’ back and that’s it. She usually texts me throughout the day, but I haven’t heard from her all day other than her ‘hi’ text.

Is she mad at me for going to Nikki’s yesterday? Or is she pulling away from me now that she has someone new? Whatever’s going on, I don’t like it. I want to go back to how things were.

That night, I work at the gym until ten, and when I get home, Kenzie isn’t there. She’s still out on her date. I’m tired, but I can’t sleep knowing Kenzie’s out with Dan. I can’t study either. Every time I try, I imagine Kenzie kissing Dan and want to go punch something. By eleven, I can’t take another minute of just sitting in my room so I grab my basketball and go out to the driveway. I need to do something to get my mind off Kenzie. I shoot baskets over and over until headlights blind me as a car drives up. It’s Dan’s car.

“Jace?” I hear Kenzie say. I turn around and see her and Dan walking up to me.

“Hey, how’s it going?” I say.

“What are you doing out here?” Kenzie asks. “It’s almost midnight.”

---