Page 14 of Jump on Three

Squatter: I have several brothers and sisters, so you’re wrong. And it’s not entitlement. I play by the rules so I get rewarded.

Me: And you’re truly unwilling to compromise?

Squatter: I’ll think about it if you do me a favor and tell me who you are.

Me: I give head before I give favors, and I don’t even give my best friends head, so the chances of you getting a favor are pretty fucking slim.

He went quiet for a minute. Then two. I thought I’d lost him when he finally replied.

Squatter: You could have just said no.

Me: No.

Squatter: You sent me a movie quote. I looked it up.

Me: I thought it fit the circumstance. To be clear, I’m not giving head or favors.

Squatter: You’re the one who brought up giving head. By the way, do you know who I am?

Me: No. I do suspect you’re a boy.

Squatter: What makes you suspect that?

Me: The disgusting mess you left behind the first time you used the room.

Squatter: Girls can’t be messy?

Me: They can, but not in that way. Besides, Ms. Martin used “he” when referring to you.

Squatter: Ah, so you know I’m male, but you wanted to throw in that I left a disgusting mess.

Me: Yes.

Squatter: All right. I’m going to dinner now. Is there anything else we need to discuss?

Me: Not if you persist in being an unbending, egotistical asshole.

Squatter: Ouch. I looked it up to see if that was a movie quote as well. No, those are your words.

I threw my phone in my bag and marched out of the library. My chest was tight with tension. My head rang with frustration. With time, I could get used to anything, but in this case, I didn’t want to. Why should I have to adapt to a new circumstance I hadn’t asked for?

The tears I’d blinked back earlier stung my eyes. I swiped at them and bit down on my bottom lip. The walk to my dorm was too long to let myself cry now. I had to make it back to my room before I allowed the tidal wave of my emotions to knock me down.

When I finally arrived, Delilah and Rhys were snuggled on the small couch in our shared living space. They were so sweet I wished I could have turned invisible so I wouldn’t bother them as I passed.

But that wasn’t possible.

Delilah looked up from her boyfriend as soon as I entered, and she knew. My sister and I hadn’t spent even one night apart since we were conceived. She could read me like a book and saw right through my masks to the true me.

I beelined to my bedroom, waving absently at Rhys. Snatching my headphones from my desk, I slipped them over my ears and retreated to the corner of my mattress, a blanket draped around my shoulders.

Within a minute or two, Delilah quietly entered, taking a seat near me but not touching. When the world got too big, I often wished a hug magically cured me, but it did the opposite.

I needed less.

Less noise.

Less movement.

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