Page 59 of My Roommate from Hell
He jumps to his feet and offers me his hand. What’s that saying about making a deal with the devil? In every story that’s always a mistake. It might seem like you’re getting something out of it, but the devil always wins in the end.
Those are all stories, though. They’re not real.
I shake his hand, and the deal is done.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
I’m annoyingly distracted.
It’s time for my first class, ENG 101: First Year Composition, and it’s really exciting. The lecture hall is both far bigger and more modern than I was expecting. Instead of wooden paneling and old desks, everything is gleaming white or a shade of futuristic gray, including a hexagonal pattern on the roof that seems right out of a science fiction film. Most of the desks are connected, and the chairs are all high-tech office chairs.
It’s my first-ever lecture. I should be focused on it.
Instead, I’m thinking about what I agreed to earlier this morning.
I am now Zarmenus’s fake boyfriend. I’m in a relationship, even if it isn’t a real one. I did hope that I would get a boyfriend while I was at Point, but I never even remotely considered it would happen like this.
I got to the lecture hall about ten minutes before the class starts, so I’ve had plenty of time to stew. The more I think about it, the more I think it’s a bad idea. It is sure to end in catastrophe.
Then again, it could be a good thing.
I can’t stay in the room with things the way they were. And if I move out, that means saying goodbye to the internship Dean Leeke offered me, and possibly making an enemy of her. Given how important it is to her that I show how humans and demons cancohabitate, if I move out I’ll practically be throwing gasoline on the argument that coexistence is impossible. I doubt Leeke will love that, and I’ve decided there’s no way she’ll still give me the internship if I switch rooms.
If Zarmenus sticks to his word, which he now has a major incentive to do, this could work. I could keep Leeke happy and get my internship, and also not have to deal with Zarmenus being, well, Zarmenus. The risks seem worth it, but it is still a risk, and it’s putting a lot of faith in Zarmenus, something that hasn’t worked out for me thus far.
On my phone I have a message to Ashley drafted where I tell her what happened. I haven’t sent it yet. I’m not sure what’s stopping me. My current working theory is that she’s going to try to talk me out of it because it is, quite frankly, a ridiculous plan. Even so, I’m going to go through with it. If what I need to do to get the future I want is be fake boyfriends with a demon for a semester, then so be it.
I hit send on the message. She reads it right away, then the phone screen changes to a call, which I cancel.
Sorry, lecture’s about to start, can’t talk!
I DON’T CARE CALL ME RIGHT NOW
Sorry, I’ll call later!
I lock my phone and put it face down on my desk.I’ll explain everything after,I think as I pull my books out of my bag. One of them is a thin novel calledThe Sanctuary,which is one of the texts for this semester. I have a few weeks to finish it, but I’m already halfway through, and my copy is covered in color-coordinated sticky notes, each one cross referenced to a page in my notebook. It’s how I studied assigned texts in high school, and I figure it’ll work here as well.
It gives me an idea. I always assess everything I do. Why is my fake relationship any different? Plus, I know how my mind works, and when I’m facing a problem I tend to ruminate on it until I’ve figured out what I’m going to do. I have a few minutes before the lecture starts; I should figure this out right now.
I turn to the first page of my notebook and give it a title:My Relationship.
I write down everything I can think of that could work. If I’m going to be in a fake relationship with Zarmenus, then we’re going to first need to convince people that we’ve moved from being enemies to something closer than friends. Enemies to lovers might be great in fiction, but at least in this case I think it’ll be difficult for people to accept that we’re dating if we don’t at least seem friendly. That should be our first goal, and I write that down. After that, we’ll need to go on dates, and be seen in public acting like a couple.
I keep brainstorming until the professor walks into the room. A hush sweeps over the crowd. The lecturer is one of the coolest people I’ve ever seen. Her hair is dyed black, tied up in a messy bun, and her arms are covered in tattoos. I hope I’m as cool as her one day.
“Let’s get started,” she says.
As soon as the lecture, which was amazing, ends, I leave the lecture hall. My heart starts racing as I move away from the stream of students to find a quiet hallway. I go down it, then lean against the wall and call Ashley.
“So, what do you think?” I ask.
“Is this a bit? Please tell me you’re doing a bit.”
“No,” I say. “I’m being very serious. Zarmenus and I are boyfriends now.”
“How does something like this even happen?”
I explain everything in order, leading to the moment Zarmenus told his father that we’re dating.
