Page 7 of Accidental Roommates

“Babe, I’m not lying. I swear. You know I’d never lie to you.”

I glance down at his dick. “You’re not wearing a condom.” My eyes go back to his face and I start to see a hint of guilt. Or maybe it’s regret. Regret that he got caught. “You wouldn’t be with a girl you barely know without a condom. You’re too worried about catching something. You always said that’s why you liked being in a relationship. Because you didn’t have to worry about getting a disease.” I point to the door behind him. “You’re in a relationship with her. The question is… for how long?”

“Kenzie, I promise you I’m not in a relationship with her. I—”

He’s interrupted by the sound of the door swinging open. He looks back to see the girl standing there. She’s dressed just like me, in a short denim skirt and tank top. There’s no way that’s a coincidence. He must’ve told her that’s his favorite outfit on a girl.

“Did you tell her?” the girl says to Liam, an angry look on her face as she chomps on pink gum that matches the pink gloss on her lips.

“Tell me what?” I ask.

She looks at me. “Liam and I have been dating for six months. He didn’t want to tell you because he didn’t think you could handle it.”

My eyes go to Liam, who’s biting his lip, something he does when he knows he’s in trouble and trying to find a way out.

“Six months?” I say to him. “You’ve been cheating on me for six months?”

He sighs and looks to the side, still biting his lip, so hard that I expect to see blood soon.

“Liam, is it true?” I ask, wanting him to admit it.

He doesn’t answer. He looks down at the floor and rubs his hand over his eyes and then his forehead. He always did that when he had a headache. I’d notice and offer to give him a shoulder rub to relieve the tension, then I’d get him some aspirin and a drink and stay by his side until he felt better. I was so good to him. Better than he deserved. But I didn’t know that until now. I thought I was it for him. I never in a million years would’ve imagined he’d want someone else.

“Liam, answer me!” I say, raising my voice.

“He wanted me to hide it,” the girl says, “until he could figure out how to tell you.” She chomps on her gum and shrugs. “It’s better this way. Rip the bandage off quickly and get it over with. Now you know and can get on with your life.”

“Could you get the hell out of here so I can talk to my boyfriend?” I say to the bitch who’s now gloating at the fact that she stole the guy I love. She’s seriously gloating, a big smirk on her face, happy that I caught them because it means she no longer has to hide the fact that they’re together.

“Liam, I swear if you don’t answer me I’m gonna—”

“Yeah,” he finally says, his eyes rising to mine. “It’s true, okay? Is that what you wanna hear?”

“No, it’s not what I want to hear! How the hell can you even say that? How could you do this to me? How could you be with someone else for six months and not even tell me? How could you say you loved me and wanted to be with me forever, when it was all lies? How could you do that to me?”

“Kenzie, you don’t understand how hard it’s been for me. How much I missed you. I’ve had to go two years without you and it just…” He takes a breath. “It just got to be too much.”

“Too much? Seriously? Like you were the only one it was hard on? Like I wasn’t suffering too?” I put my hands on my hips and narrow my eyes at him. “We had a deal. It was two years. Just two years apart and then we’d be together forever. You were the one who said it, Liam. You said we could do this. You said it’d be hard but that you loved me enough to make it work.”

“I thought I could, but it just got to be too hard. Every night I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, but I didn’t go find some guy to replace you! How could you do this to me? We only had a few months left before we could be together and instead of waiting, you go out and find someone else? How could you do that?”

I’m on the verge of crying, but I don’t want to do it in front of him. I don’t want to show him, or the bitch standing behind him who refuses to leave, how much I’m hurting. I need to be strong. I need to show him I’m not letting this destroy me, even though right now it feels like it is.

I can’t breathe, and whatever was in my stomach feels like it’s at the top of my throat.

Liam turns to the girl. “Kat, you should go.”

Kat? Her name’s Kat? What kind of name is Kat?

“Why should I be the one to go?” She leans against the door frame, her eyes on me. “She knows the truth now. She should be the one leaving.”

Liam looks between us both. “I really don’t give a fuck. I can’t do this right now.” He storms past her into his room. “I have to get dressed. Stay. Go. I really don’t care. I’m getting out of here.”

He’s playing the victim, like he always does. Whenever we’d have a fight, even if he was the one who caused it, Liam would always find a way to turn it back on me. My friends used to point that out, but I always denied it, defending the guy I loved because I couldn’t stand to hear anyone say something bad about him. But my friends were right. He never takes responsibility when he does something wrong.

“You might as well go,” Kat says to me, remaining at the door to Liam’s room.

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