Page 9 of Accidental Roommates

“Who are you?” she asks, sniffling.

Her nose is red and mascara is running down her cheeks. Even though she’s a mess, she’s kind of cute in a girl-next-door kind of way. She has dark brown hair that hangs in loose waves around her face and big brown eyes, which at the moment look so sad that I actually feel a little sad myself.

“I’m Jace,” I tell her. “I live here.”

She glances back at my house. “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t know anyone was home. I’ll go.” She starts to get up.

“Hold on. I wasn’t saying you had to leave.”

She sighs and lowers back down to the step.

“So what’s going on?” I ask.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Worse.”

I look out at the sidewalk, where people are milling about, holding cardboard boxes and plastic bins. Two guys walk by holding a couch that looks older than me. The one guy trips on a crack in the sidewalk and almost drops the couch but catches it before it hits the ground.

“Did someone die?” I ask, then realize that sounds insensitive, but how else do you ask a question like that?

“No one died. But it’s almost as bad.”

My gaze returns to her as she swipes the back of her hand over her dripping nose, then rubs it over her denim skirt. It’s a really short skirt that shows off her legs. She has nice legs; long and lean and really tan. My eyes move up to her shirt. A pink tank top that clings to her boobs and is low enough to show off some cleavage.

Why am I checking her out? I’m done with girls, at least for a while. I need a break from dating and relationships and all the shit that comes with it.

“I had a bad day too,” I say, looking back at the people walking by.

“Can’t be nearly as bad as mine,” she mutters.

“Well, let’s see.” I lean back on my hands. “Today is my two year anniversary of meeting my girlfriend so I got her a dozen roses and was about to make her a gourmet dinner but then found her fucking my roommate who just happens to be one of my closest friends.”

The girl stops crying and looks at me. “What did you say?”

“You really want me to repeat it? Because saying it out loud made me feel like shit and I really don’t want to feel even shittier than I already do.”

She swallows and takes a moment to catch her breath. “She cheated on you?”

I nod.

“Today?”

I nod again.

The girl cocks her head to the side. “With your friend?”

“Friend and roommate. We’ve been roommates for over a year. He was on the basketball team with me until I injured my shoulder last spring. I’m guessing that’s why Nikki wanted him. She wants a jock, and my jock days are over.”

“And you’d dated her for two years?”

“Well, technically, we met two years ago today. We didn’t start dating until later that week. I was going to celebrate that too. Our first date. I had it all planned out, but that won’t be happening now.” I clear my throat and try to act like none of what I just said bothers me, even though it’s killing me just to think about what happened. How could it be over? All that time we spent together. All the plans we made. It’s all just over in an instant.

“I’m really sorry,” the girl says. “That’s horrible.”

“So how about you? Want to tell me why this is such a bad day?”

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