Page 7 of Overachiever
He wants to room with me? “What happened?” I ask, trying to cut through his bullshit.
“My roommate is horrible. He snores and don’t even get me started on the ocean sounds.” Owen’s flair for the dramatic is in full swing.
“Are you maybe overreacting just a little?” How bad could the man be? It’s only been one night.
Pleading eyes look into mine. “Remee, please, you don’t understand. The guy sounds like a motorcycle fucking a monster truck and there were whales and seagulls and a bird shit on me—
“You aren’t making any sense.”
He pauses at my interruption. “He’s terrible. The worst roommate ever. I’d rather sleep naked in a pile of porcupines than go back to that room. Now’s your chance to be a hero and save me, Remee. Don’t mess it up.”
“You want to stay in my room for the whole summer?” I clarify, turning the idea over in my head.
“Yes, thank you so much for offering. Really, Rem, you’re the best.”
Last night wasn’t great for me either. I’ve never stayed in a motel room alone and I woke at every sound. Doors opening and closing, people laughing and talking outside. It felt creepy even with the door locked. I’d be a lot more at ease if I wasn’t alone. And all his joking aside, Owen does seem desperate to get away from the roommate. If I say no, he might want to head back home and then I’d be here alone.
“Fine,” I relent. “I suppose I do have an extra bed.”
“Thank you,” he sighs.
“But you’ll have to find somewhere else to take whatever poor girls you pick up to defile. I don’t want a room full of skanky spring breakers.”
“Defile skanks elsewhere. Got it.” His smile is wide as he digs into his pancakes.
“We have orientation in an hour.”
“Mmm.” He swallows a mouthful. “Are you nervous?”
“Not about that, but in general, yeah. I’m not a handy person. I’m going to make an idiot of myself.” My concerns come spilling out.
“I’m not exactly Bob the Builder. Everyone will be learning. It’ll be fine. Once we get the first day or two over, you’ll see.”
I’m not the best at branching out and trying new things. Everything I do is with my ultimate career goals in mind which means I can’t screw up. I can’t afford mistakes that might affect the rest of my life.
“Yeah, it’ll be fine.” Just because I’m out of my comfort zone doesn’t mean I can’t excel. I’ll do what I always do. Work hard.
We have enough time before orientation to move Owen’s stuff into my room. It was a little disappointing that his roommate from hell wasn’t there since I’m curious to see what the guy is like, but it’s probably for the best. There’s no nice way of saying you don’t want to be around someone.
Orientation is being held at the worksite which is barely a quarter of a mile away. It isn’t hard to find. One whole side of the short street bears construction in different stages of development. A couple of houses look nearly finished, while two of the lots are still being cleared.
A man in a hard hat calls out to us and waves us over where we join a group of others standing around the frame of a house. “Good morning,” he says. “Remee Shaw?”
“Yes.”
“And you are?” He turns to Owen.
“Owen Wright.”
“Great, good. I’m Jim.” He hands us both a hard hat. “You need to wear these at all times on the jobsite. We’re waiting for two more to show up, then I’ll show you around.” His gaze falls to my feet. “You’re going to want to get some more protective shoes, boots preferably. A nail could go right through those soles.”
“Oh, okay, I will,” I sputter.
He looks around and singles out a few others who don’t have the correct footwear, and after the last two of our crew show up, we’re treated to a lecture on how to dress. “This isn’t a day at the beach,” he says, glancing at a guy in a tank top and shorts. “You’ll want boots, jeans, clothing that can take a beating.”
We’re led around the jobsite and introduced to a few other workers and supervisors. The two guys supervising us are Jim and Jerry. Owen instantly dubs them the J’s. Jim is straight to the point and matter of fact, while Jerry seems a little more laid back. One thing that’s stressed over and over again is safety and how fast they’ll kick our asses from the program if we don’t follow the regulations.
After we’re shown around, the group is split up and we’re assigned to a builder.
