Page 15 of Roommating

Adam also beats me to Marcia’s door, gently pushing Rocket away and throwing it open. “What’s wrong?”

Marcia’s in her pajamas with her back to us at the small desk in the corner of her bedroom. She rotates her black swivel chair so she’s facing us. Her blue eyes are wide. “They found my information on the dark web! What does that mean?”

My tight muscles relax in the knowledge she’s not having a heart attack or being held at gunpoint by a robber. “Let me see.” I lean over the desk so I can get a good look.

She points to the open email from McAfee—an identity-monitoring report. After I’d lived with Marcia for about a month, she mentioned all the pop-ups she was getting from McAfee and Norton about protecting her computer from viruses and hackers. She referred to them as “junk mail,” and that’s when I realized she had zero protection on her computer and helped get her set up.

“Was my identity stolen? A fake sex tape emailed to all my friends?” Her voice is shaky.

Adam’s eyes bug out.

“No,” I say, trying not to laugh. “It just means some of your passwords have been breached. We just need to change them. Let’s see what they say.”

Marcia stands and gestures for me to take her place on the chair. With Adam and Marcia hovering over me—Adam’s arousing grapefruit scent mixed with her comforting floral—and Rocket circling in and out of my legs, I wait while McAfee generates a summary of all the breaches. I nod. “It’s what I thought. Your password has been exposed on three sites.” I jot them down on the yellow Post-it notepad on her desk. “Let’s go to these websites and change yourpasswords.” I flash a stern look at her over my shoulder. “Something besides Adam0925, please.”

Over the next few minutes, she gives me some stronger options. I suggest adding hashtags and random numbers, and when we’re satisfied, I go to the sites and make the changes for her.

“You need a password for everything these days,” Marcia says from behind me. “But what’s the point if they’re so easy to steal?”

“That’s why you don’t use your birthday!” I say while changing her password on a flower-delivery website. “Or your grandson’s.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she gushes.

Adam, who’s been otherwise quiet, says, “I didn’t realize Sabrina helped you with this sort of thing.”

“She sure does… even set me up with a password manager app so I don’t have to worry about memorizing them all! She’s a godsend.” She squeezes my shoulders.

My chest swells. “I’m not sure about that. I’m just happy I can help.” I keep my stare straight ahead while I continue to type so they don’t see that I’m on the verge of silly, choked-up, feeling-validated tears. When I’m confident my complexion has returned to its regular pallor, I spin around. “We can update the password manager next.”

Marcia is beaming at me. “Thank you.”

“It’s not a big deal!” I give a bashful glance to Adam, but he’s staring into space, all contemplative. “Everything okay, Adam?”

He shakes out of his trance and blinks at me. “Yeah. Fine.” He smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Just glad everything is straightened out.” He pats Marcia’s arm.

I cock my head and study him. I don’t buy that everything is fine, but I’m also not confident he’d confide in me even if I pressed him. I decide to move on for now. “Meet you back on the couch to resumeLove Is Blindin five?”

He scrubs a hand through his hair. “Actually, I’m exhausted. You mind if I turn the TV off?”

My shoulders drop an inch before I hitch them back up again. “Oh. That’s fine. I should get ready for bed anyway. Big day tomorrow with work and school.” I stop short of faking a yawn, hoping my disappointment isn’t obvious.

After I finish helping Marcia fight the good fight against the villainous dark web, I spend the rest of the night in my room, reviewing the discussion board from my youth literature class and reading the required articles. Before I know it, it’s time to get ready for bed.

When Adam first moved in, I didn’t change into my pajamas until I was in my room for the night, but I’ve since decided that it’s perfectly acceptable for me to walk around in shorts and a tank top in my own home. I keep my bra on because my nipples have a mind of their own, especially around hot guys. But it doesn’t matter that I’m still wearing my nude front-clasping bra under my pink ribbed tank top because Adam isn’t even in the living room. I assume he’s either in the bathroom, in which case I’ll have to wait my turn, or the kitchen, when I hear his voice. It’s coming from Marcia’s room, where the door is open just a crack. Marcia tells him how happy she is to have him there. She still says some version of this at least five times a day, but I love to hear it. Then Adam says he wishes they didn’t waste so much time letting his dad keep them apart. He says this at leastoncea day.

My throat thickens at this touching moment, as it always does, until a wave of guilt crashes over me for eavesdropping, even though it’s not on purpose. It’s a two-bedroom apartment, not a mansion.

The talking stops and there’s a faint “squish” sound. I’m guessing Marcia went in for a hug. She does that a lot too. I close the bathroomdoor behind me. After washing my face and brushing my teeth, I’m about to return to my room when I hear my name mentioned. On instinct, I take a step closer. In case they see me, I pretend to look for a new container of body moisturizer in the closet next to Marcia’s room where we keep our unopened toiletries.

“Sabrina keeps me young. We have fun together.”

Warmth rushes through me and I smile to myself. I think we make a great pair—my youthful perspective balanced with Marcia’s more experienced and mature one—but it’s validating to hear it directly from her. It’s a dynamic I’m not used to, since my mom wasn’t around much and my grandma… well… if I let my mind go there, I’ll never fall asleep.

Adam says, “I’m happy you have a roommate you like, but you do have to be smart.”

I frown. Smart about what?

“Seriously, Adam. There’s nothing to worry about,” Marcia says.

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