Page 5 of The Future Play

We end up back in the boys’ room, where there’s barely enough seats for all of us.

“I think this calls for a weekend at the lake house,” Joel says.

My eyes flit to Rae. “Lake house?”

“Yeah. Joel’s dad has a lake house off campus. We hang out there on weekends sometimes. In case you were still wondering whether or not to be our roommate.”

“I think that was already decided.” I don’t want them for their stuff. I want them for their friendship.

“How about a crash course in this crazy group of ours?” Sarah asks. “Up for a weekend of shenanigans?”

A weekend with all of them together in a house will either send me running in the opposite direction or indoctrinate meinto this crazy hive mind. I really,reallyhope it’s the latter. Only one way to find out.

I grin up at her. “Count me in.”

I’ve officially been inductedinto the hive mind.

The weekend at the lake house was a ridiculous amount of fun, and I was surprised to find myself bonding with not only the girls, but the guys too. They all seem funny and kind with varying levels of sarcastic streaks—which are important for me as someone who speaks fluent sass and snark.

I feel at home with this little group. They’re my kind of chaos. Wild and sarcastic, but with a warmth beneath it all.

The only downside of the weekend was that I didn’t get to bond with Mackenzie as much as I hoped, but I’m sure if I were in a long-distance relationship and finally got to see the person I love, I’d want to spend as much time as possible with them too.

Other than that, the girls have worked hard to include me as much as possible. They’ve already invited me to eat lunch with them and added me to their girl gang group chat. The girls even said that if I can deal with all their shenanigans, I could live at the lake house with them when they all move in their junior year, but I’m not going to hold my breath. I love that they want to include me and welcome me into the group, but I’m going to give it more than two days before I accept an invitation to live in the lake house with them in a year and a half. I want to make sure this sticks.

As we walk into our dorm, all laughing and chattering, disappointment washes over me. This weekend has been fun, but now I have to get back to reality. A roommate who wants nothing to do with me and treats me like an inconvenience. Who knows what will happen with this little group when the bubble of this weekend pops? I hope the friendship will stick. I hope living withthem next semester will be great, but it’s hard to trust it’ll be as great as this weekend was. That they’ll still seek me out in the next few weeks before I move in.

“I guess I better head to my room and see what hell awaits me.” I put my playfully sarcastic mask on to hide the melancholy I’m feeling.

“We’ll walk with you,” Rae says.

I stop and blink at them a few times. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, of course,” Mackie says.

“That way we can make sure your roommate isn’t mean to you. If she is, we’ll fight her.” Sarah smiles at me, eyes dancing.

I’m fine. This is fine.

Why is it that people being nice to me and actively choosing to support me makes me want to cry?

Probably a great question for a therapist.

Deep breath in. Push it all down.

“Sounds good.”

I lead the way to my room, but when we get there, I’m unsurprised to find the door is locked. Not the handle lock that I have a key for, but the flip lock, so I can’t get in.

“Seriously?” Rae asks. “This is what she does?”

“Yeah. Usually it’s during the day, but there have been a few nights where I’ve slept in the study room downstairs.”

“Fuck that,” Sarah says, banging on the door.

“Go away! I’m busy,” my lovely roommate calls.

“You know what? Screw this. Come back to our room,” Mackie says.

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