Page 89 of Roommates (Life in the Brohouse 2)

RACHEL

Charlie waves at me from inside The Coffee Shop, having snagged the cutest table resting right beside the window. I push open the heavy door, hearing the bell jangle as the door closes behind me.

“What took you so long?” Charlie asks while I dump my body down into the chair. I plop my purse down next to me on the windowsill and shrug off my coat. Thankfully, there’s already a steaming mug waiting for me. I grab it hungrily, warming my chilled fingers against the ceramic cup before taking a tentative sip, enjoying the heat flowing through me.

I shrug while setting my mug on the wooden table. “I’m a busy girl,” I say with a smirk.

Charlie chuckles while shaking her head, twirling a blond lock around her finger. “Have you spoken with Lauren?”

I make a face and lean back in my chair. “Unfortunately. She still hates my guts.”

Charlie sighs and shakes her head. “That girl. I really don’t understand what she’s thinking.”

I shrug, trying not to let it get to me even though I still feel the prickle of tears sting my eyes. “It doesn’t matter,” I say, knowing it’s a lie. I really liked Lauren. I thought she liked me. Thinking about her makes it difficult to push away the tears. Sure, I hadn’t known her for very long, but I could still remember us giggling while sitting in the back of class, drawing doodles on each other’s notebooks, meeting for coffee at this exact same table, and discussing my complications with the bros.

I guess all of it was a lie.

I clench my teeth, knowing I’m about to cry. Pushing my dark thoughts away, I tell myself our friendship wasn’t a lie. We did have fun together. Often times she did have my back, especially when it came to the bros. Our friendship just didn’t have a solid foundation.

And not all friendships last forever.

I take another sip of my coffee, trying to console myself with the warm liquid as I hear Charlie continue, “She hasn’t been replying to my texts and every time she sees me in the hall she turns around and walks the other way. She’s eventually going to have to say something to me. She can’t pretend like I’ve fallen off the face of the world forever. The art department is tiny. I’m sure we’re all going to be in the same classes next year.”

I grimace, recalling how Josh was dumped into the same drawing class as me. He hasn’t been to class in a while though, which I am definitely thankful for. I have no clue if it has to do with me filing a report against him at the police department, or if he decided he doesn’t care for drawing. I don’t really care to find out either. Hopefully, he continues not attending and then I can continue thinking my life is normal.

“I hope she’s not hanging out with Josh all by herself.”

My heart falters at that thought and my head perks up. “Do you think she is?” I breathe. I clear my throat and try to ignore the twisting in my stomach. I don’t think Josh would do anything to her. At least, I hope not. Every time I think about what happened I always think, maybe it was only a one-time thing. When I meet Charlie’s gaze, I see the fear there which only makes the churning in my stomach worsen.

Charlie takes her phone out of her purse and begins texting. “Maybe I should shoot her a message, just to see if she’s-” She doesn’t finish her sentence and I notice the trembling in her fingers while she deftly stabs them against her phone’s screen.

The bell on the cafe’s door clangs and I glance over my shoulder, my eyes widening and my stomach feeling as if someone slammed their fist into me when I lay eyes upon the person standing about three feet behind me. I still, like a doe suddenly put in the spotlight, hoping he won’t turn around or notice me. All hope deflates when I hear, “Josh! Over here!”

I inwardly groan and watch, as if I’m suddenly having an out-of-body moment, as he painstakingly turns around. His gaze lands on me and I cringe at the mixture of emotions taking hold of his face, recognizing shock and anger.

Quickly, I whirl around in my chair, locking eyes with Charlie, who seems just as alarmed as me if not more. I don’t know why we’re so surprised. This is a popular cafe; pretty much everyone goes here. It’s not like Josh hates coffee or lives under a rock.

“Hey, Charlie,” I hear him say, his voice making me want to both run and shout at the same time.

I take a deep breath and raise my gaze to him, my heart jumping into my throat when I realize he’s watching me and not paying any mind to Charlie whatsoever. I watch him fiddle with his hands before shoving them into his skinny jean pockets.

“Hey,” I hear Charlie say softly, hesitantly, as if she doesn’t know what to do at this point.

“I didn’t know you were going to be here today,” Josh says, a hint of irritation in his tone.

I don’t know if he’s talking to me or Charlie, so I decide to shrug in response, hoping that’s good enough for him. Why doesn’t he just leave and go to his friends? I peak around him, noticing two men I’ve seen in the art department before; one with spiky blond hair and an earring and the other with brown hair and a black hoodie. They’re both watching us, waiting at the edge of their seats as if wondering what will happen. The fact that Josh has friends other than Charlie and Lauren is actually kind of shocking. I thought he only hung out with the girls for some reason.

“Well, you know, us girls just wanted to chat,” Charlie says awkwardly.

I turn to her, watching her twirling her hair repeatedly around her finger. She looks nervous. Her gaze keeps switching from Josh to me and I feel bad that she’s being put in the middle of this whole mess.

“You haven’t been answering my texts.”

Charlie’s brows furrow, her nose wrinkles and her grip around her phone tightens. “I’ve been busy, Josh.”

“Busy with her?” Josh’s voice rises, his head nods towards me.

Charlie flinches. “Josh,”

---