Page 17 of Fostering Chemistry
That didn’t seem right.
"I should do dishes too,” I protested. “I only helped set things up in here."
Aaron shushed me. "Don’t say that. That’s all I did too, and I don’t want to do the dishes."
“You’re off the hook, Mia,” Jenna said. “Unless you want to take my place. There’s not really room for more than three of us in the kitchen at one time anyway.”
“There are other things you could do if you have the energy,” Evan said, looking like he had energy for days. “What position are you on for the chore chart?”
"What’s that?" I asked.
"It tells you what else you have to do in the communal spaces each week,” Aaron said. "Like one of us will be in charge of dusting and sweeping the living room, another one the downstairs bathroom, and so on."
That didn’t sound so bad—I’d done chores like that all my life. “Where is it posted?”
"I can walk you through it," Diego offered.
I panicked. Every time I was in the same room as him, I worried he was going to remember what we did at that party. "Aaron can show me."
My words had come out in a rush, and everyone was staring at me. I realized how that must’ve sounded. "Or Jenna," I added quickly. "I mean, because you’re taking all those graduate classes," I said to Diego.
Everyone was still staring. This was hell.
"Is the chore chart in the kitchen?" I was babbling now.
Diego watched me steadily. Finally, he said, "It’s online."
"I’ll send you the link when I add you to the group text," Jenna said, and I thanked her.
Diego studied me a moment longer. I wanted to sink through the floor, past the basement, and to the center of the earth, never to be heard from again. But that never happened when you wanted it to.
"One more thing," he said. "Next week’s meal. Again, there’s no pressure. Just as long as there’s food, we’ll be happy. It needs to be either Cody or Mia. Cody, since Mia’s new, I think it would be only fair if you took next week."
"No." That was all Cody said.
I should have been grateful the attention was off me now, but for some reason, I felt sorry for him.
"We’ve been through this. We all have to take a turn."
"I’m busy next week."
"We’re all busy," Raymond said. "We’re students. I had a test the morning after it was my turn to cook, and I still made BLTs.”
“And they were excellent,” Evan said. “Way to toast and slice.”
I bit back a grin. It was funny as hell to see our youngest roommate throwing shade.
Diego had his eyes on Cody. “You know the rules.”
Cody returned his gaze. “I can’t cook next week.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Raymond challenged.
Diego seemed as if he was finally losing patience, but with Raymond, not Cody. He shifted in his seat, reaching into his pocket. "We’ll flip a coin."
Cody met my gaze briefly before he looked down. Even from across the table, I could see the tension in his shoulders. He was on the edge of his chair and actually looked poised for flight. It was hard to believe it, but there was someone more averse to cooking for the group than I was.
I let out a breath. "I’ll go next week."
