Forged in Stone

by Alyssa Rose Ivy

  She changed lanes and gunned it to pass a truck. I held onto the ‘oh my god bar’ for dear life. She reduced speed once she was settled back in the right lane. “I really owe you for this. I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

  “Just don’t completely ditch me. That’s all I’m asking.”

  “I won’t.”

  “Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to make promises you can’t keep?”

  She laughed. “Trust me on this one. I don’t even know if anything is going to happen. He invited me as a friend, remember?”

  “You really believe that?” I didn’t. A guy wouldn’t invite an ex to stay with him unless he planned on rekindling the old flame—or getting her in bed—or most likely, both.

  “I do. We flirt and stuff, but it hasn’t passed that.”

  “If you say so.” I wasn’t in the mood to argue, but I steeled myself for a long few days. Hopefully I’d be able to navigate New Orleans on my own.

  * * *

  I checked the address twice after Reyna parked along the curb. When she said we’d be staying in an off-campus apartment I assumed it was going to be a complex or something. Instead we were parked in front of an old house that looked like it should have been condemned. Ok, that might be a slight exaggeration, but it didn’t exactly have curb appeal.

  “You coming?” Reyna asked leaning in through her open door. Miraculously she didn’t look like she’d been sitting in a car for seven hours. Now me on the other hand, that was an altogether different story. I’d barely slept the night before, and even if I wore makeup it wouldn’t have covered up the bags under my eyes.

  “Yeah, I’m coming.” I reluctantly unbuckled and got out. I wasn’t looking forward to what I knew would be an awkward introduction.

  Reyna pulled out my duffel in what she probably viewed as a peace offering. I put it over my shoulder and followed her over to the questionable looking set of stairs. I tentatively touched the bottom step before taking a deep breath and following her up to the porch.

  She knocked on the door, and I was surprised it didn’t fall off the hinges.

  A guy with brown hair opened the door and pulled Reyna into his arms. “Hey, Baby!”

  My stomach dropped. Baby? They were on pet name terms?

  “Hey, Chad!” Reyna kissed him on the lips playfully. “We made it.”

  He rubbed her back in a very familiar way. “I’m glad you decided to make the trip. I promise to make it worth your while.”

  I just stood there in the doorway holding my bag. I wished I had the nerve to clear my throat, but I didn’t want Chad to hate me already.

  I settled on a light sigh that came out sounding like more of a grunt.

  “Oh, sorry.” Reyna stumbled back from him. “Chad, this is Daisy, my amazing sorority sister and roommate.”

  “Hey, Daisy. Thanks for going along for the ride with my girl, Reyna.”

  Yeah, I was on my own for the weekend. “Of course. Anything for Reyna.” Door Mat. Door Mat. I repeated to myself.

  Chad and Reyna exchanged a look, and I knew it had something to do with me. I assumed it couldn’t be good so I showed myself into the cramped apartment.

  I eyed one worn out leather couch. I assumed I’d be sleeping there. I walked over to drop off my stuff and noticed a few suspicious stains. Gross. Completely and utterly gross. I was so glad I’d brought a sleeping bag with me. At least I wouldn’t have to sleep right on the thing.

  “Hey.”

  I turned and nearly collided with a guy with spiky black hair. “Hi.”

  “I’m Shaun.”

  I looked around Shaun to see Reyna flirting with Chad. Might as well make friends with the roommate. At least Reyna had been right about one thing, he was cute. “Hi Shaun, I’m Daisy.”

  “Really? Like from The Great Gatsby?”

  “Uh, yeah.” Wow, a guy my age who knew something about literature.

  “Cool. Listen, just to put it out there, you can sleep in my bed if you want. I wouldn’t want to subject you to the couch.”

  I shook my head. “Oh, that’s okay.” First he appreciates literature and now he’s a gentleman? Double points.

  “Come on, I saw you eyeing it’s, uh, worn in condition.” He smiled, immediately putting me at ease.

  “I was just glad I brought a sleeping bag.” I felt like a weight had been taken off me. Things might not be quite as awkward as I anticipated.

  Shaun laughed. “Really, I’d only offer my bed if I wanted to. Save the sleeping bag. Besides, I wouldn’t want to leave you out here with our other roommate around.”

  “Other roommate?”

  “Yeah. Duncan. He’s a weird one.”

  “Oh.” Reyna hadn’t mentioned a third roommate in the apartment. Interesting omission. In order to avoid any unnecessary drama I decided not to ask more about Duncan. If he was really that weird hopefully I wouldn’t even meet him.

  “Here, I’ll help you with your stuff.” Shaun grabbed my duffel before I could stop him.

  “Really—”

  “I’m telling you it’s not a problem,” He interrupted.

  Reyna caught my eye and winked. I shook my head in return. If she thought she was playing matchmaker she had another thing coming. Nice or not, I wasn’t interested in hooking up with some random guy. If that’s all I wanted I might as well have just continued trying my luck with the dating pool at East Madison.

  “Reyna? You coming?” Chad called from the doorway of his room. Wow, he was moving fast. I hoped Reyna knew what she was doing. Hopefully they were on the same page.

  “Looks like you have someone to keep you company.” Reyna grinned. “I’m going to take a quick nap with Chad.”

  “Oh, a nap?” I rolled my eyes. “Enjoy that.”

  With a sigh I walked into Shaun’s room. The room was sparsely furnished with just a bed and a desk in the corner. His walls were bare which surprised me. I guess most guys I knew at school had posters and stuff up. His looked like he’d just moved in. A window AC unit sat precariously on the sill appearing like it could fall at any moment.

  “I just changed my sheets today.” He gestured to his bed.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I always do laundry on Fridays.”

  “And you change your sheets?”

  He laughed. “You don’t wash yours?”

  “I do, but most of my guy friends don’t with any regularity.”

  “Oh, that’s kind of gross.”

  I laughed. “Are you as much of a neat freak as me?”

  “I prefer to think of myself as orderly.”

  “Orderly. That works too.”

  I took a seat on the edge of his bed. My guess was that Reyna’s ‘nap’ was going to last awhile.

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