Page 16 of Jump on Three

Unless he was trying to get under my skin.

If that were the case, he wouldn’t succeed. As long as I had my room, he could scatter crumbs everywhere and it wouldn’t bother me.

When I exited the room after finishing my and Layla’s assignments, a note fluttered to the ground.

Dear Room 3’s Temporary Occupant,

How did you enjoy my study room?

Yours,

Room 3’s New Occupant

Reading the note led to me sitting back down at a table like the day before and texting him. His reply came within moments.

Squatter: You are complaining when I let you have your favorite room today?

Me: Let me?

Squatter: Yeah. You seemed very upset about it yesterday, so I took my time getting to the library. You stuck me with room 1.

Me: It’s perfectly adequate.

Squatter: It is an icebox. I think I’ll have 3 back tomorrow.

Me: You should try 2. You might like it best.

Squatter: I don’t think I can trust your recommendations since you have a vested interest.

Me: I think you are enjoying this far too much. I can tell we wouldn’t be friends if we knew each other.

Squatter: I don’t know about that. I am a very friendly guy.

Me: Well, I’m not a friendly girl. Stay out of my room!

Squatter: We will see.

Pushing into my dorm suite, I beelined to my room and dropped my bag by my desk. Delilah stuck her head in as I was taking off my uniform.

“Are you up for a movie night, darling?”

I slipped my blouse off and shrugged on my softest Savage U T-shirt. “In the suite?”

“Yes. Just us girls.”

“Us girls” meant Delilah, me, and our two suitemates, Luciana and Bella.

Luc was a local to Savage River and one of the nicest, coolest people I had ever met. She was mad for her boyfriend, Beckett, but fortunately for us all, she didn’t begin every sentence with “My boyfriend…”

Bella, on the other hand, was just mad. With her blonde ringlets and adorable dimples, she looked like a cherub but had the attitude of a one-percenter motorcycle club member. The ones I had seen in movies, at least.

I wasn’t oblivious to the fact that Bella and Luc were my friends because of Delilah. Before coming to Savage Academy, we had been pretty content in our pod. Once we transferred here last year and had lived with Bella, then Luc this year, our pod had somewhat opened up. Of the two of us, Delilah was the friendly one. She could talk to anyone and make them feel comfortable. It took a lot longer for me. By the time I was ready to try, people had usually lost interest in me.

Luckily, Luc and Bella had stuck, but I was aware Delilah was our glue. Without her, I doubted my friendship with them would have continued. Still, I enjoyed being around them, and I was pretty sure they liked me too.

For me, that was more than enough. Having two friends outside my sister was more than I’d ever had, so I would never complain.

“Will there be snacks?” I asked.

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