Page 34 of Never Have I Ever
“And that’s not even the worst part,” she continued.
“There’s worse?”
“Well, I yelled at her and told her to put it out, so she grabbed the first bottle she could see, which was vodka.”
I gasped. “Oh my god.”
“I nearly died. If I did, I’d bring that hijueputa with me,” Leila says.
I don’t know whether to laugh or be worried for my best friend’s safety. “That’s… insane,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. “How has she not gotten kicked out?”
She groaned. “I complained to the housing department, but they said I have to wait until next semester to check If there are available rooms.”
Once again, my money makes me feel guilty. Leila has to deal with a dangerous roommate, and I live alone in a big apartment. “If I had an extra bedroom, I’d let you move in,” I tell her. “Unless you want to sleep on the couch?”
She sighs. “I’m tempted. I’m really tempted,” she says, but then her eyes drift to the one bag in my hand. “Why did you barely get anything?”
I shrug. “I didn’t need anything new, really.”
“But you needed jeans?” she asks, laughing. “I’ve never seen you wear jeans, Rosie.”
“I needed a change.”
“Yeah. About that. Where have you been lately?”
I look up at her, furrowing my brows. “What do you mean?”
“You haven’t been hanging out with us. I’ve seen you maybe once this week, and now you’re buying jeans because you need a change. What’s that about?”
“Where are the girls?” I ask her.
“Madi is at an audition, and Gabi’s at dance class. But stop avoiding the question. What is going on with you?” she asks.
I don’t know how much I should tell Leila about Grayson. I should tell her. She’s my best friend, and it would be fun to have someone to talk to about this. But what if she judges me for doing this? She won’t understand why I need this, why I need Grayson.
“Nothing much,” I tell her.
“Nothing much?” she questions, laughing. “Sounds like something, and you just don’t want to tell me.”
I ignore her comment, and my eyes lock on the store across the street. The woman in the window storefront makes me wonder what I would look like wearing something like that. “Let’s go in there,” I tell her, already crossing the street.
Leila scoffs. “You know I could just get you some for free, right?”
“You get clothes for free?” I ask her. “Then why are you buying the whole damn store?”
“I get some clothes for free, but Bare Lush has been trying to get me to do an underwear shoot, so they’re bribing me with free lingerie,” she says.
“And you don’t want to do it?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I don’t know.”
Her voice quiets when she answers me, so I don’t push her on the subject.
“Let’s go,” I tell her instead, walking her over to the store. “You can help me with this.”
This is one of the things I can learn from Leila. I would die before asking Grayson about lingerie, but then I remember that I already asked him for sex, so how embarrassing would that really be?
We enter the store, and the amount of choices overwhelms me. There are so many different types of underwear and bras I don’t know where to start.
