Page 33 of Never Have I Ever
I find apartment 305 and manage to get the door open without dropping her on her feet. I head through the apartment, finding her bed. I place her on the bed, taking off her heels. She starts to kick her feet, trying to cover herself with the sheet.
I pull the covers back, getting her under them, but she shakes her head. “Pants,” she mumbles. “Off.”
I freeze. Is she serious?
“What?” I ask, in case I heard her wrong.
“I want them off.” She starts to fumble with the buttons, and I don’t know where to look. I can’t look at her, right? I turn around, giving her some privacy, and run a hand through my hair, trying to think how in the hell I got here. Rosie groans, sounding frustrated. “Help me,” she says from behind me.
I curse under my breath, and then I turn around. She mutters those two words, and I do anything she says. Who the fuck have I become? I stare dumbfoundedly at her as her pants are hanging halfway down her legs. I pull them off her and cover her with the sheet. Thank God she didn’t ask me to take off her top too.
“You’ll be okay, Rosie?” I ask her.
She nods, her eyes already closed.
I want to stay here with her, but I can’t. So, I back up from her. “Call me if you need anything,” I tell her from her bedroom door.
I leave her apartment, shutting the door behind me, wishing I would have stayed with her. But I can’t do that. I told her we’d be friends. Sleeping in the same bed would confuse things for her. Things are already starting to confuse me. Lines are starting to blur, and I don’t know what to do about that.
12
Roommates and thongs
Rosalie
“Alright, you’re all set. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
I take the bags from her hand and smile at her. “No thanks. We’re good.”
The woman at the register smiles back and calls for the next person in line.
I glance back at Leila, whose hands are filled with shopping bags. She’s waiting for me at the storefront, struggling to find room on her arms for all of the bags she’s holding.
“Jesus, Leila,” I say, laughing when she tries to get her hair unstuck from her lip gloss. Ultimately failing when she can’t reach due to the mass amount of shopping she did.
“Don’t just stand there, help me,” she says, and I quickly make my way to her, picking off hair dark hair that’s practically glued onto her pink lip-gloss.
“You went a little overboard,” I tell her.
She shrugs. “I just got paid. Thought I’d treat myself.” She looks down at my hands, and her eyebrows raise. “You barely got anything. Who are you, and what have you done with Rosalie Whitton?”
I laugh. I have one shopping bag, which definitely isn’t something Leila is used to seeing. I never went shopping with friends. My mother got me everything I needed, and the rest I made myself. But Leila always bared witness to all the new outfits I bought.
Every time I’d come into school wearing one of my new outfits, she’d first ask how much, which would shock her every time I told her the price.
So, of course, when Leila wanted to go shopping, I couldn’t pass it up. Except all I had bought was jeans. I guess if Grayson is going to be taking me on mountain tops and for late-night speed racing, I could at least buy some pants that don’t cost a fortune. I always preferred dresses or skirts. I love feeling the breeze on my legs, not to mention that my legs look good. I might only be 5’5, but I have long legs and like to show them off.
“God, I needed this.” Leila sighs. “I needed some time away from my psychotic roommate.”
“Tiffany, right?” I remember Leila mentioning her roommate on many occasions. Apparently, she was the roommate from hell, and now I was feeling a little more grateful that I had my own apartment. “What did she do this time?” I ask her.
She scoffed. “What didn’t she do?” She grimaced. “She nearly set the dorm on fire.”
My eyes nearly pop out of my sockets. “What?”
“Yep. I walked in on her cutting up and burning her polaroids. I’m guessing she broke up with her boyfriend, and I hope it’s for good because if I have to hear them argue again, I will kill them.”
Maybe I was being presumptuous in wanting to live in a dorm since this sounds like a horror story
