Always Us (We Were Us Series Book 2) (5 page)

“Jenna, look what your
friend
did.” She shoved her phone in my face.

I took the phone from her hand and positioned it at a more appropriate distance from my face. It was a picture of our bathroom, the mirror specifically. Someone had written in red lipstick A PRETTY FACE DOESN’T MEAN A PRETTY HEART. I bit my lip to keep from laughing, but Andrew, who had been peeking over my shoulder did nothing to stifle his laughter.

“It’s not funny! That was expensive lipstick! I can’t afford to buy anymore!” Stefanie was fuming. “You owe me Jenna. This is unacceptable.” She snatched her phone back and stalked away.

“Trouble in paradise?” Andrew asked.

“Yeah.” I waved him off.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked

“Not really. I mean, I knew Michelle and Stef weren’t getting along, it was evident from day one. Stef had assumed she and I would be the only people living in that apartment, and then I brought Michelle
and
Lauren so we are packed in there pretty tight. Stef’s just jealous.”

We kept walking across the quad, going nowhere in particular.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“It’s fine. I just don’t know what to do about it. Stef wants me to do something, but I just don’t know.”

A raindrop fell on my shoulder. I looked up, the grey clouds mimicked the angry swirling around that this situation was causing in my gut.

“Let’s hurry or we’re going to get wet.”

Andrew grabbed my hand and we sprinted the rest of the way to the science building just in time. As soon as the glass door slammed shut behind us, the clouds ripped open, releasing the rain they had held onto.

CHAPTER FIVE

It was too quiet when I walked into the apartment after class. Someone was home, I knew that much, but the tension that radiated from the back rooms was thick.

“Hello?” I called. Nothing. “Hello?” I called again. I set my bag down on the couch, I walked through the living room. I glanced into the kitchen and noticed the refrigerator door was open and food was laid out all over the counter and our small dining room table.

A door slammed in the back startling me. Stef rushed at me, took me by the shoulders, and shook me. “Michelle took a bite out of all the food. All of it.” Her eyes were wild and shifted between mine and all the food.

I just stood there staring at her. All I could think was did she eat the eggs raw? Which would have been the completely wrong thing to say at this moment. Stefanie e was beyond livid.

“Do you not see this?” She screamed in my face and held up a block of cheese with teeth marks in it.

“Just cut off that part,” I said. I was half joking, but kind of serious at the same time.

“Are you serious? I can’t afford to buy new food. She took a bite out of all the food!” She shook the cheese in my face.

“I get that.”

“She can’t get away with this stuff, Jenna! Why would she do this?”

“I don’t know.” And I didn’t know. I mean, it wasn’t really unlike Michelle, she pulled pranks all the time, and I usually helped her. She was probably just blowing off some steam. Stef could be really intense sometimes.

“You have to say something to her. She doesn’t listen to me.”

“Okay,” I said and took the cheese from her flailing hand. “And I’ll buy some new food. Okay?”

“Well, that’s not the point, but thanks.”

“Is Michelle home?” I asked.

“No, she’d be dead if she was.”

I sighed. This was becoming comical now.

“I’ll talk to her.”

I helped Stefanie put all the food away then shut my bedroom door and fell face first onto my bed. I thought about the food. Michelle is bored. That’s the only explanation for her behavior. She loved to prank people and I think Stefanie was the wrong target. I remembered in high school, she’d filled the back of her dad’s truck with cow poop from the fields then put the poop under the door handles of all the cars in the freshman parking lot. Another time, she saran wrapped all the toilets in the teacher’s lounge and bathrooms. No one found out who it was though, but the junior class got in trouble, we almost lost our Prom.

I mulled over what I’d tell Michelle. I’d probably just tell her to quit and hoped she’d listen. Maybe she could get a job, but then that would mean she’d need rides to and from work, and she’d already stopped getting rides to school, so probably not. I guess we’d just have to wait it out until next semester when she started more classes.

Maybe I could get her to do all my homework for me. I laughed and rolled over onto my back.

Andrew’s words from earlier came forward.
I’m here and I want you
. Josh had never said that he wanted me. We spent the whole summer together, we kissed, and we had sex in a moment of weakness when I needed him. When I wanted him, he wanted Michelle or something else.

I pushed myself up and sat on the edge of the bed. I wandered over to the tiny closet Michelle and I shared. Everything was so crammed in there that I wasn’t even sure what was mine and what was hers anymore. I dug around and found a long sleeved black shirt and a pair of tight black athletic pants.

I had plans last year to go to the campus gym every day. I wanted to stay in shape for softball season, but I failed miserably. I didn’t go a single day and I was terribly out of shape for softball last spring. I thought maybe I should start going again, but I laughed at myself. Who I was I kidding? I had enough of my plate as it was.

I raided Michelle’s drawers for black tights. The girl had a strange obsession with tights. She wore them with everything, shorts, skirts, ripped jeans. I found two pairs and tossed them on the bed along with the shirt and pants. I’d start building my costume this week and hoped to have it done by the end of the week.

A knock at the door snapped me out of my thoughts.

“I’m here,” I said.

“Hey,” Lauren said as she opened the door.

“Hey, Lauren. What’s up?”

“Did you know someone took a bite out of all the food?” She flipped her long blond hair and plopped down on the bed next to me.

“Yeah. Michelle. She’s poking a bear there.”

“Oh.” She twirled her hair around her index finger.

“Are you going to the Halloween party?” she asked.

“Yep, are you?”

“Yeah, but I still don’t know what to go as. I’m bringing Brandon and he’s just wearing a Jason mask.” She scoffed.

I laughed. “Who’s Brandon?”

“They guy from the bar a few weeks ago.” She blushed.

“Oh, neat. I’m glad you have someone to go with.”

“Me too. He’s super nice,”

“I can’t wait to meet him.” I smiled at her.

“So, what are you going as?” she asked.

“I’m going as a spider.”

“A spider?”

“Yeah.” I showed her the beginnings of my plans to make the costume. “I’m going to rig up four legs like fairy wings. They’ll slip over my wrist to stay in place. Then I’m just wearing skin tight black work out pants and a shirt. I’m going to paint a black widow symbol on the back.” I lifted up the shirt to show her.

“Way cool, Jenna. I wish I was creative like you.”

I just shrugged.

“I think I have cat ears somewhere around here.”

“Good idea.”

“Think it’s safe to go in my room?” she asked.

“I guess. I don’t know if she left or not. We put all the food away, then I came in here.”

“Gotcha.”

She disappeared out the door and rounded the corner into her room. There were no explosive words so either Stefanie was gone or didn’t care enough to complain to Lauren about Michelle.

I still felt bad about shoving Lauren and Stef together. Lauren was a ‘go with the flow’ kind of girl so I know she didn’t mind rooming with a complete stranger. But it didn’t make sense for me to still room with Stef after Michelle’s mom and doctor had basically entrusted me with taking care of Michelle. I needed to be close to her to watch out for any adverse symptoms or reactions to medications or anything out of the ordinary. I couldn’t leave that responsibility to Stef or Lauren. They didn’t know Michelle like I did.

“Found them.” Lauren popped back into my room pointing at the black cat ears on her head. “I have little black dress I could wear too.”

“Sounds perfect.”

“Is Michelle going?” she whispered.

“I think so.”

“What about Stef?” she whispered again.

“I don’t know,” I whispered back.

We both giggled.

“Okay, I have homework to finish up. Should we have a roommate meeting tonight?” I asked.

“I guess.”

“I’ll call Michelle and Stef to let them know. See ya later.”

Lauren skipped out of my room and shut the door behind her. Good. I wasn’t interested in anymore visitors today.

I moved the pieces of my costume and picked up my backpack and shifted through it to find my history book. Since I’d spaced out of the last class I needed to do some extra reading to catch up. My phone was ringing at the bottom of my bag when I removed my book so I grabbed it quickly. Before I knew it, my thumb slide to the right, unintentionally answering the call. Crap, I hadn’t even seen who it was.

“Hello,” I said in haste.

“Jenna?” It was Josh.

“Hey, Josh.” My voice wavered.

“Hey, how are you?” He barely contained his excitement that I’d finally responded.

“Good. Just busy with school and stuff.” I tried my best to sound nonchalant, but inside I was all butterflies and frogs or whatever else moved a lot.

“Yeah. Me too. I’m just taking one class though. The Millers have me working a lot right now with the harvest coming up.”

“That’s good.” I really had no idea what to say.

“Jenna?” he asked. Whatever he was about to ask or say, I knew I didn’t want to answer. “I’m sorry.”

I didn’t say anything. Most of his texts were ‘I’m sorry’ or some form of apology.

“I hope that one day you can forgive me. I was dumb. I know that now. I do. I was confused and I just reacted the wrong way.”

No shit. I didn’t say that though. I didn’t say anything. I looked around my room, keeping my eyes occupied so I wouldn’t cry over him. I’d done well so far, and I wasn’t about to break my resolve.

“Yeah, me too,” I said flatly.

“Jenna, please forgive me. I can’t stand this. I talked to Michelle,”

“You talked to Michelle?” I cut him off.

He was silent for a minute “Yeah,”

“What did you talk about?” I cut him off again.

“Um, you?” He seemed confused.

“That’s it?”

“Well, no. There’s something else,”

“I don’t want to hear it. You’ve apologized. I get it,” I spat out the last words. I did get it. I wasn’t going to accept his apology though. No way. 

“Okay, well, I’ll let you go then. Bye,” he said after an uncomfortable silence.

I didn’t even say bye. I just waited until he hung up, which took forever because I’m sure he was waiting for me to say goodbye. But I didn’t.

I set the phone down softly on my desk, then slammed my history book down. Why was I letting this bother me? We were together for like, what, two months this summer? I slumped into my desk chair. I’d always loved Josh in some capacity. He’d been the one person I could always count on to be there for me. Even when he was with Michelle. And then I’d ruined it all when I’d all but seduced him on that ugly couch.

Then he ruined it when he decided he needed to be with Michelle over me. The girl he’d just professed his love to, the girl who’d given him her heart, her body, her everything. Stupid girl. I told myself I didn’t care what he and Michelle had talked about, except I did. I added it to the long list of things I needed to talk to her about tonight.

I flipped open my book and fluffed the pages around until I found the one I wanted. I started reading, but gave up and crashed my head into the pictures of men in red coats with muskets and swords. I’m only 19, I shouldn’t be worrying about stuff like this.

“Jenna!” Someone yelled from out in the living room. I picked my head up off the pages and plastered a fake smile on my face seconds before Michelle burst through the door to our room. “Jenna,” she said again.

“Yeah,” I said.

“I have nothing to wear to Andrew’s Halloween party. Nothing!” Her face with inches from mine. “What are you wearing?” She leaned back and searched the room, looking for my costume.

“A spider,” I said and pointed to the pile of black clothing on the bed.

“Are those my tights?” She asked as she inspected the pile.

“Yeah, it doesn’t look like much, but I’m stuffing the tights to make legs. Like fairy wings,” I added when she gave me a questioning look.

“Genius,” she whispered. “Make me something.” This wasn’t a question, she was demanding. Typical Michelle. It was part of the reason I loved her. She knew what she wanted. If only Josh could have been more like her.

“Like what?” I asked.

“A cat?”

“Lauren is being a cat.”

“Dang it.” She looked up at the ceiling, searching her head for an appropriate costume. “A mouse!”

“You want to be a mouse while Lauren is a cat?”

“Oh, good point. A dog then.”

“I don’t know how to make a dog costume.”

“Ugh. I’ll just go to the costume shop then,” she said dramatically.

“Next time don’t procrastinate.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She waved her hand behind her as she left our room, grabbing her purse on the way out.

I spent the rest of the night attempting to catch up on homework. History was so boring so I pulled out my psychology books. I could read them all night long and I probably would.