by Rebel Hart
“Monica,” she responded, shaking his hand. “You’ve been spending a lot of time here. Do you live in the East Tower, as well?”
I opened my mouth to protest, but Devon was already responding before I could stop him. “I do. On the eleventh floor.”
“Wow. Long way down.” She chuckled. “Any particular reason you’re hanging around down here?”
“I’ll tell you why,” Sydney said, and I was certain she was about to rip Monica a new one. She held her arms out toward Devon and me. “These two are dating.” Devon and I both shot looks at Sydney, but she ignored us in favor of staring Monica down. “Do you have a problem with that?”
Monica held up her hands. “Of course not. Your personal relationships are your business, although I have to say…” She looked at the space between Devon and me and then eyed me. “You two don’t seem like a couple. Maybe I’m wrong, but I wouldn’t peg you two for a good match.”
Again, I opened my mouth to say something, but Devon started moving. He walked up to me, curled his arms around my waist, and pulled me to him. His head dipped to mine, and a second later, his lips were against my lips. It was all-consuming, like everything in the room dropped from around us, leaving only Devon and me behind. He squeezed me as close to him as he could, and I couldn’t resist the urge to raise my hands up and lock them behind his neck. He did more than was needed to be convincing, but I found myself without the ability to resist. His lips were somehow tasty, almost sweet with the lingering flavors of his breakfast. I was swimming before I knew it. For a first kiss, it was one hell of one.
Devon pulled away, and my head spun so much that I thought I may pass out. He looked over his shoulder at Monica. “Not that we should have to prove anything to you, but is that convincing enough?”
Monica nodded. “Y-yes, that’s fine. I’ll just go.”
“Good,” Sydney called out, even though she was already scuttling away. “Don’t come back!”
“I hope that was okay,” Devon said, slowly pulling his arms from around me. “I could tell she wouldn’t leave, otherwise.”
I nodded. “Fine.”
Sydney snickered at me but sighed. “She’s probably going to be keeping an extra close watch on this room tonight. It might be best if we sleep in our own rooms tonight.”
Devon nodded. “That’s fine. It’ll help keep the facade going, too, if she actually sees you in here from time to time.” He looked at me and winked. “Pleasure doing business.”
With his phone in his hand and a smile on his face, Devon turned and left the room, pulling the door shut behind him. The second he was gone, I melted onto the floor. Sydney dropped down next to me with a squeal.
“Oh my god. How was it?”
I wanted to lie and tell her I hated it. For my first kiss, I wanted it to be with someone I was dating, someone I was invested in. The truth was, those things considered, it was still exactly how I wanted my first kiss to be—amazing.
“It was amazing,” I responded, and Sydney clapped.
“Ha, ha, ha!” she sang. “Step one, kiss him. Check. Step two, sleep with him—”
“No,” I said, but it was less confident than when I’d said it earlier.
Sydney laughed. “We’ll see.”
I couldn’t deny that with that kiss on my brain, not letting my mind wander to a more lurid place was going to be difficult when Devon was sleeping just one bed over. Fortunately, I didn’t have to worry about that for the time being since Sydney would be in the other bed tonight. Yet, when I finally dozed off that night, Sydney was still muttering about how things with Devon might be meant to be, and my brain did bring him and his kiss to me in my dreams. It started with his strong arms wrapped around me and his lips on mine, and I couldn’t deny that I was waiting for him to take things one step further.
6
Devon
I woke up the next morning to the sudden sounds of slamming and banging. Maybe I was just spoiled because Nina was always very quiet in the morning until she woke me up, but I couldn’t remember Henry being that disrespectful of me in our previous roommate days. I was relieved to be back in my own bed for a night, but with Henry’s noise, I’d welcome returning to the other room.
“Hey,” I grumbled. “Why don’t you be a little louder? I don’t think Sydney heard you from seven floors down.”
“Sorry,” Henry spat.
I blinked my eyes awake to get a clearer look, and Henry wasn’t doing anything particularly out of character, but he was exuding a foul mood.
“What’s your deal?” I asked.
“I’m fine,” Henry said. He continued walking around the room, engaging himself in a variety of miscellaneous activities that seemed to carry no real weight. He looked at the clock and then growled. “Why is it only five-thirty?”
“It’s five-thirty in the morning? I don’t even believe in this time.” I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes. “It’s Saturday. Why are you like this?”
“I’m ready for breakfast.”
I furrowed my brow. That simply wasn’t true. Henry wasn’t a breakfast guy, and he never had been. He ate breakfast by force. With Nina and Sydney in the mix, he’d been eating breakfast in the dining hall every morning, but in our prior years as roommates, we traditionally slept through breakfast. If we had morning classes, we set our alarms to wake us up with only enough time to travel to class. He didn’t care about breakfast, but there he was, stomping his way around the room like an angry troll, and it hit me.
It wasn’t about breakfast. It was about Sydney. “Do you miss her that much?” I asked.
Henry turned around and looked at me, shocked at first, but then he let out a sad sigh. “God, I don’t even know how I got this useless. She stayed with me almost every day for the last couple of months, and now I’ve had her here this week. I guess I’m just used to having her here, so it’s fucking me up to not wake up next to her.”
It made me sad in an instant. Here I was, supposed to be giving Henry this single thing that he’s asked for so that I could at least try and give him back a piece of what he’d given, and I let my ego get in the way and risk that.
“I’m sorry, man. I promise to be more careful next time so that we don’t run into this issue.”
Henry’s expression went from sad to serene. He let out a little chuckle. “No, it’s not your fault. If anything, it’s that strict RA. I’m sorry. I woke you up and then made you feel like you’d done something wrong. I’m a shit friend.”
“No,” I replied quickly. “No, you’re not. You’re an amazing friend. I’m the shit one for messing up yesterday.”
Henry laughed. “We’re a pair, aren’t we?”
I joined him in laughter. “Yeah.”
“I’ll be quiet, so you can get some more sleep.”
I shook my head. “Nah, it’s okay. I think I’m up.”
I grabbed my computer off of the bedside table and opened it. I navigated to my email and saw that I had responses to two applications I’d submitted the week prior. One of the applications was for a job cleaning the East Tower on the weekends throughout the school year. It took me a couple of years to get a handle on being a student, and I was finally ready to get a job so that I could start paying Henry back for the money he shelled out for my bail. I applied for the open position after seeing it on the student job board when I moved in, and I’d just received an email from the dorm manager that I was being offered the job.
“Sick,” I said out loud.
“What?” Henry said, having settled down at his desk and started clicking through his computer, as well.
“I got that janitorial job.”
Henry turned around in his chair to look at me. “Did you actually apply for that? I told you not to. You have to focus on school.”
“It’s fine. It’s just on the weekends, and the manager said that he understands studies are important, so if I need to swap weekends for weekdays or take weekends off around exams, that’s fine.” I scrolled throu
gh the email and saw that he was going to pay me sixteen dollars an hour for eight-hour days every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I’d be pulling in just under four hundred dollars a weekend. Not bad. Thank god the guy wanted to give a student a break. “It pays really well. I’ll be able to make my first payment to you in a couple of weeks.”
Henry rolled his eyes. “I don’t want it.”
I scoffed. “Come on, man. I feel bad that you damn near emptied your savings for me.”
“It was my choice, and I’d do it again.” He turned back toward his computer. “You’re gonna be exhausted doing school all week and then working all weekend. Just quit. I don’t need the money. I’m fine.”
I didn’t respond. The truth was, it wasn’t the first time Henry and I had fought our way through that argument. He insisted that I repaid my debt by fixing my life and coming to college, but I just didn’t feel good with the debt hanging over my head. It cost him close to five grand, and it would have been even more had it not been my first offense. I made a quiet decision to accept the position, and when I received my first paycheck, I’d just hand him the money and move on.
The second application I submitted was for a club that met every other weekday during the school year called the Dean’s Club. It was a lot less exclusive and cool than it sounded. It was really just a glorified study hall for students who were aiming for dean’s list quality grades, but students didn’t necessarily have to have dean’s list quality intelligence or academic skill sets. People like Henry or Nina could work on their own and get the grades they were looking for, but people like me, who wanted to do well but didn’t have the ability to focus or aptitude for studying and retaining information, could apply for the Dean’s Club and have additional free access to things like tutors, study groups, academic resources, and priority from professors when it came to exam retakes or extensions on assignments.
The big issue with the Dean’s Club was that, though it was really just a study hall, it still required jumping through several hoops to be accepted. It wasn’t an open club, and given that the dean oversaw the club himself, he wanted to be sure that anyone joining truly did intend to use the resources provided and work hard to achieve good grades. It required several things, including references from former teachers, near-perfect attendance to any former classes, and no black marks on your record. It took some fancy footwork on my end to circumvent mentioning my former criminal background, which I’d legally left off my application for Presper since it was in the process of being sealed when I’d applied. I did a great job in my sophomore college year, though, and felt I finally had what I needed to apply and be accepted.
“My Dean’s Club application results are in,” I said aloud to Henry.
He turned back around in his chair again and looked at me. “And?”
I clicked the email and opened it up, smiling instantly at the bright purple, “Congratulations,” scrawled across the top. “I got in!”
“Yeah!” Henry jumped up out of his chair and came over to reach out his hand for a fist bump, which I gave. “Now we’re talking. You’re gonna kill it this year, man.”
I nodded and smiled. Between the job, the Dean’s Club, and helping Henry out with Sydney, I really was starting to feel like junior year could be a successful one. “That’s the hope. Now, if you could just accept the money, it’d be a royal flush.”
Henry let out a long, exasperated sigh. “I don’t want the money.”
I slapped the top of my laptop down and pushed it aside so that I could swing my legs over the edge of my bed and set my feet on the floor. “Dude, seriously, I don’t want this debt hanging over me. You didn’t deserve to lose all that money.”
“Is that what this is about? You feel like this debt is holding you down? Is that the only reason we’re friends? So you feel like you’re paying me back?”
“What?” I jumped up off the bed. “No. We’re friends because we’re friends. You’re the only person in my life who’s ever believed in me. I just feel bad that I took so much from you without repayment.”
“You are repaying me.”
“No,” I rubbed my fingers together. “With money. I want your savings account to look like it did before your dumbass friend got locked up. You’ve done so much for me—not just the bail, but helping me turn my life around. I wouldn’t feel good, not giving you anything in return.”
“You made a simple mistake that anyone could have made. Given your circumstances, it’s understandable. Not only that, but you’re working on trying to make sure that other kids don’t end up like you. That’s plenty for me.” Henry went and sat down at his desk, and I could tell in the way he slumped that I’d upset him.
I walked over to my desk and slid into the chair. I looked over at Henry, and when he avoided my gaze even though it was clear he could see me staring at him, I just started to talk. “Look, I know that we grew apart there, but being friends with you again these last few years has reminded me exactly why we were friends, to begin with. Not just because of what you’ve done for me, but because of the fact that you’re smart, funny as hell, and caring.” Henry looked over at me. “Come on, man. Don’t make me get all sappy with you.”
Henry snickered. “Damn, I was hoping I could milk it a little more.”
I laughed. “Ass.”
“Anyway, you can take that money and bank it. I won’t take it.”
“You’re so irritating. Who turns down money?” I barked.
Henry flipped me off. “A promising lawyer. I’ll be making six figures within the decade. I don’t need your pennies, peasant.”
I gasped and laughed. “Wow. Peasant, huh?”
Henry started laughing, and I was glad that I managed to get him in a better mood. I dropped the argument for the second time, knowing it wouldn’t be the last time we’d visit it.
After he recovered, he turned to look at me outright. “Hey, uh… How are things with Nina?”
I furrowed my brow at the random change in topic. “Not bad. I don’t really know her well yet, but she keeps to herself, she’s clean, and she doesn’t wake up at five-thirty in the morning, banging shit around, so she’s a good enough roommate. Why?”
Henry shrugged. “I don’t know. Sydney’s told me a lot about her. She’s book smart and good at standing up for herself, but she can be a little too innocent for her own good.” I thought about some of the conversations we’d had regarding Kai and giving her advice to win him over. She was shocked to hear some of the stuff that I thought was basic knowledge. Henry wasn’t wrong. “She needs someone with some tougher armor looking out for her. Can you look out for her?”
It was surprising. Was it just Henry’s kind nature that had him wanting to look out for Nina, or was he truly so in love with Sydney that he wanted to protect her best friend? I had a feeling it was a mix of both. “Of course. She’s a good person, so I’m not just gonna stand by and let someone hurt her.”
Henry nodded. “Good.” He turned back toward his computer. “Maybe you need to work on that innocence, too.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What’s that mean?”
Henry chuckled and shrugged. “Forget I said it.”
Nina was great, but she wasn’t the kind of woman I normally went for. Plus, she was focused on Kai. I’d look out for her as a friend, but as far as doing anything about her innocence, that was a job best suited for someone else.
7
Nina
“Are you packing your backpack at six o’clock? When’s your first class?” I looked over my shoulder, and Devon was stretching his arms high above his head.
“Sorry, did I wake you up? I was trying to be quiet,” I replied.
Devon squeezed his pillow closer to his head and looked at me. “No, you’re fine. Henry woke me up early on Saturday, and now my sleep schedule’s out of whack.”
“Ah. Well, yes, I am packing my backpack. I’m excited.” I was sitting on my bed with all of my books and items laid out in front of me. “I’m kind
of a dork if you haven’t noticed.”
Devon scoffed. “I noticed.”
I leered over at him, and he flashed me a wide grin. I couldn’t deny that Devon was good looking. I remembered our kiss from Friday night, and my face burned. That he was still single was kind of shocking.
“So, when’s your first class?” he asked again.
I averted my gaze to keep from blushing outright. “Nine o’clock.”
Devon fell out laughing. “That’s in three hours!”
I giggled with him. “I know, but I was thinking of heading over right after breakfast. I could pick out a good seat and get my notebook all ready to go.”
Devon gasped. “You really are a dork.” I held up my left hand with the middle finger held upright. “Ah, there she is,” he added.
I went back to packing everything in my bag, and when I was confident it was well packed and ready to go, I set it on the edge of my bed and grabbed my clothes to go and take a shower. Being an early riser meant the adjoining room’s inhabitants weren’t up, so I could get into the bathroom before anyone else. I was quick, not wanting to take up any more time than I needed, and returned to the bedroom, where Devon was now sitting up and clicking through his computer. His backpack was sitting on his bed and was unzipped.
I pointed at it. “Is that a packed bag? When’s your first class?”
Devon snickered, not looking up from his computer. “I had to pack my bag last night, remember?” He looked up. “Can you go get the bathroom lock for me?”
“Oh, sure. Are you gonna shower down here?”
Devon and Sydney usually swapped rooms in the morning after breakfast. Because of this, Devon would wait to do any sort of showering or cleaning up until he was back in his own room so that there was no risk of the adjoining room’s tenants walking in and seeing a guy. When he had to go into the bathroom, I would go in and lock the door to the other room from the inside to ensure he would have privacy.
