Page 22 of Puck You Not

“’Cause he tries to hide it.Get a few drinks in him, and he’s as South Texan rancher as they come.Forget about him.Let’s get out of here before someone else hits on you.”

“I… They won’t but…okay.So…I didn’t know you lived in a frat house.”

“That?No,” I laughed.“That’s not a frat house.A couple years ago, me and a bunch of guys I know rented the place rather than do campus housing.Then when the guys who were seniors left, a couple new ones came in.It’s a revolving door, and despite that party, it’s definitely not a frat.”

“That’s cool.I live in one of the quad-plexes a little less than a quarter mile from Nash.I only have one roommate, but I swear she has seven personalities, so it could be eight of us there, too.”

“That sounds…challenging,” I said, heading back toward Porter and Nash’s apartment.

“You have no idea,” she sighed.“She’s…a lot, but like I’ve mentioned in our emails, I had trouble finding a place this past fall when my other apartment fell through.Not much time left until graduation, though.I can deal with her until then.”She pointed.“Up there you’re going to turn right.”

For the next couple minutes, I followed her directions to her place.

“What the hell,” Avalon muttered as we approached.

I followed her stare to the pile of things strewn on the grass.

“Why’s all that stuff in the yard?”I asked slowly.

“That bitch…” she whispered, shaking her head as she stared.When she took a shuddering breath, I had a feeling she was crying—or trying hard not to.

I pulled to the curb, and she got out of the car just as a girl with long blonde hair, an abbreviated tee, and tiny shorts came out with a laundry basket.She dumped the contents onto the lawn.

“What are you doing, Sheena?”Avalon yelled as I rounded the car, taking in what was apparently her life discarded on the lawn.At least, it was somewhat contained.Immediately, I started calculating if it would all fit in my car.Probably.I drove a crossover with plenty of room in the back for my hockey gear.If I shifted my stuff out of the way, I should be able to pack in Avalon’s life.No way was I leaving her here, homeless.

“You’re out,” the blonde sneered, she kicked at a pile of Avalon’s clothes.“You’re the worst roommate I’ve ever had.”

“You can’t do this!I didn’t do anything wrong!I’ve always paid my rent and my part of everything.You know that.But then you dumped all my stuff in the yard?What the hell!”Avalon argued.

The other woman crossed her arms, still holding the laundry basket’s handle in one hand.“Your name’s not on the lease.I can do whatever I want—and I want you out.You’re so…you.Boring and so…” She waved her red-tipped fingers at Avalon.“Ew.”

“Hey, now,” I protested, anger rolling through me.How dare she!No one should talk to Av like that.

The roommate ignored me, still spouting her shit at my girl.“Tilly needs a place, and she’s moving in.”

Avalon’s mouth dropped open.“Are you serious?”

“Yeah.You’re out,” this Sheena chick said as I came up beside Avalon and put my arm around her trembling shoulders.“Who areyou?”

“Avalon’s boyfriend.”

“Pfft.Klutzy, here?Klutzy, nerdy Avayuck doesn’t have a boyfriend, and if she did, he certainly wouldn’t look likeyou.”

“Baby, you didn’t tell her about me?”I asked Avalon, tipping up her face.My lips brushed over hers.Then I brought my mouth to her ear.“Don’t worry about this troll.You’re coming home with me.”

Six

Avalon

When Parrish called Sheena a troll, I almost laughed.It was laugh or cry at that point, and my despair was trying to win.Sheena had stood there sneering while Parrish and I had packed up my stuff.I’d refused to let my tears fall while Parrish helped me load my things—mostly clothes, papers and books—into his car.Breaking me would only fuel her nastiness.Thankfully, there were a few baskets and my suitcase amongst the items Sheena had tossed out, and my clothing wasn’t in jumbled piles on his backseat.

I was doubly thankful that my mom’s ring and my personal documents were in a fire safe at Nash’s.Even at the beginning of the school year, I hadn’t fully trusted Sheena, and clearly, I hadn’t been wrong.

Though I’d told him he could take me to Nash, we’d gone back to Parrish’s house after my stuff was in the car.He never let go of my hand all the way there.Maybe, he knew I was one sideways glance from falling apart.Who knew?All I knew was an untethered feeling of being whipped about in a storm when I’d thought I was anchored.How quickly things could change, but I should have seen it coming.

Parrish didn’t try to offer a bunch of platitudes, just silently offering his resolute presence once he was driving away from my old apartment.My heart just about burst, thumping wildly in my chest, when he’d brought my hand to his lips, pressing a kiss on the back, and simply said, “It’ll be alright.”

But would it.I was homeless with a month and a half of school left.

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