Page 10 of After the Siren
‘I live with you,’ Xenos said. ‘You can’t blame me.’
‘Besides,’ Riley added, nudging Jake with his shoulder, ‘he likes me best.’
Xenos snorted. ‘I wouldn’t go that far, but you’re definitely more house-trained.’
Great. I bet Cunningham snores. Or smells. Or takes annoyingly long showers.
Cunningham’s aviators had slid down to the bridge of his nose. He took them off and hooked them on the neck of his singlet. ‘Hey, roomie,’ he said as Theo stopped in front of him. Which still definitely wasn’t ‘sorry’.
‘Hi. Kat said you knew the way?’
‘I do.’ Cunningham swung a duffel bag over each shoulder. He gave Theo’s free arm a speculative look. ‘Give me a hand with the board?’
Theo couldn’t find words for a moment. Then he found ‘sure’, which wasn’t the word he wanted, but was the only sensible option. He hoped Cunningham couldn’t hear in his voice that he was gritting his teeth.
‘Oval in thirty,’ Kat yelled after them.
Theo unzipped his suitcase and extracted the packing cube with his training gear in it. Cunningham had tossed both his duffel bags onto one of the beds (the only one with a bedside lamp, Theo noticed) and vanished into the hallway. The muffled sounds of combat from the room next door suggested he’d gone to visit Riley and Xenos.
The room was pleasant, if a little faded. It was wide enough that there was a decent amount of space between the twin beds, and there was a desk under the window. The navy curtains billowed gently in the sea breeze. Theo changed quickly, pulling on shorts and one of his new training singlets. That done, he flopped back onto the bed and texted Priya to let her know he’d made it. A couple of other friends had messaged. His parents hadn’t.
Priya responded within seconds.
Priya
How’s it going? Any ab updates?
He sent her a thumbs up. She hated that.
Priya
Sharing a room?
Theo
Yeah. The theory is it helps with team bonding
Priya
Who’s your roommate?
Theo
Guess
Priya
not your nemesis?
Theo
Nemesis is a strong word
Priya
Idk seems fitting.
They texted back and forth until the door bounced open and Cunningham re-entered. Was he constitutionally incapable of moving through the world without making it a performance?
