I looked up to find him and Birdman at the door
“And?” Alex asked, expectantly.
“She said yes.”
“Of course,” Birdman added.
“Sweet.” Alex nodded. “Who’re you asking?”
Birdman shrugged, somewhat sheepishly in my opinion. “Dunno. You?”
I didn’t know why Alex looked at me somewhat pointedly when he answered, “Probably Lara.”
I felt a little…something at the sound of that. It was this little thing deep in my chest. It made me blink a couple of times and feel the need to force a smile. I wasn’t quite sure what had come over me.
“Zac?” Alex asked.
“Vic Palmer,” Zac said with a dazed smile.
I looked to the others for clarification as to who that was. The name was familiar, but I hadn’t made a point to get to know people for a reason.
“Friend of your best friend, Liz Spencer,” Birdman explained and I grinned.
“Oh, her.” I nodded to Zac. “Good for you man.”
Zac was grinning ear to ear, very pleased with himself. “We’ll see you guys, later?”
Birdman nodded to me. “Dinner?”
I nodded back. “Sure. Sounds good.”
“So…” Alex started when they were both gone again.
“So?” I asked.
“You and Birdman have been spending a lot of time together lately.”
I snuck a peek at him. He was looking straight ahead at the TV, his fingers slowly and methodically pressing the buttons. Nothing gave away what he was thinking.
“I guess…” I said slowly.
“You guys seem to get along well.”
I nodded. “Yeah. We do.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
I put my book in my lap. “You don’t sound glad.”
He shrugged and kept on playing. “No. I’m fine.”
As though a lightbulb went off in my head, I worked out what he was thinking.
“Oh, no!” I laughed and that finally made him look at me. “No. Not that. We’re just friends.”
His expression told me he didn’t believe me before he turned back to the TV. “Of course you are.”
“We are,” I said earnestly. “What? I can’t be friends with him now?”
“You can be friends with whoever you like.”
“Good. Because I don’t see how it’s fine I’m just friends with you, but suddenly hanging out with Birdman has to be more.”
Alex’s controller took a bit of a thrashing. “Because it’s Henry Bird. Nice, good, charming Henry Bird who’ll unintentionally string you along and then where would that leave us?”
“Exactly where we are?” I suggested.
“No. It’ll leave you not talking to us.”
“To you.”
“What?”
“You mean it’ll leave me not talking to you.”
“Fine. Yes!” he snapped like it was a hardship to admit.
I felt a little claustrophobic or something suddenly and needed to seriously lighten the mood. “You’re not just projecting, are you?”
“What?” he asked again.
“You’re not just worried that Birdman’ll forget we’re just friends because you’re worried you’ll forget we’re just friends?”
For the tiniest blip of the shortest second, I wondered if that was exactly it. I also worried that my accusation of him projecting was me projecting. Was I at any risk of forgetting Alex and I were just friends? Was Alex at risk of forgetting? Were we both, together, at risk of forgetting?
The way we were looking at each other, I would have almost said yes.
But no. That was ridiculous.
It was so ridiculous that I scoffed out loud. At the same time that Alex scoffed out loud.
“No,” he said, seemingly amused.
“No,” I agreed. “Of course not.”
“We’re just friends.”
I nodded. “That’s it.”
“Purely platonic.”
“Definitely. Like not even vaguely interested in anything more.”
“No. It would be stupid anyway.”
“So stupid.”
“Not even friends with benefits.”
“Nope. No benefits.”
“Benefits never work anyway.”
“They don’t. We’d either fall for each other–”
“Or hate each other,” he finished for me.
I nodded. “And since we are most definitely not at all right for each other…”
“We’d just end up hating each other.”
“Exactly. And there’s no way I’m risking that.”
“No. Losing you would be the worst.”
“Total worst.”
He nodded. “Good.”
I nodded. “We’re agreed.”
“We are.”
“We know where we stand.”
“We do.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
And with that sorted, we went back to our previous activities and didn’t speak for the rest of the night.
Chapter Eighteen
Saturday was cold and wet and not much use for anything but movie marathons, hot chocolate and blankets.
Alex was at training, so I had the dorm to myself. Or, so I thought.
“Holy cripes, she’s up before eleven!” I heard him laugh as he walked into the living room mere minutes into my movie.
“I thought he had practice?” I asked, wrapping myself back up again.
“He did, but coach is in bed with a sniffle so they cancelled it.”
I heard him wander into his room, then back out again.
“What are we watching?” he asked as he jumped over the back of the couch and landed beside me effortlessly in track pants and a hoodie.
I’d scooped up the popcorn just in time to save it being squished by his butt.
“I’m doing a ‘To All the Boys’ marathon,” I informed him.
“And what exactly is that?” he asked, stealing some popcorn.
“Movie trilogy.”
“Oh, I love me a movie trilogy. What number are you on?”
I paused the movie since it seemed like he wasn’t going to go away any time soon. “The first one. Do you plan on staying?”
“Why wouldn’t I? You going to share your blanket?”
It was a testament to how close we’d become in the last few months that I relented and gave up some of my very snuggly blanket for him. There was much dramatic and exasperated protesting on my part, but I was actually quite happy to do it.
“Awesome.” He beamed at me. “Thank you. Now, what did I miss?”
I was all of twenty minutes in, so I just started it again for him.
“This is a rom-com!” he said a few minutes, sounding a combination of surprised and amused.
I looked at him. “So?”
“So, I thought I knew all your secrets by now.”
I scoffed. “Oh, my secrets have secrets.”
“Yeah. But, rom-coms, Elliott?” he teased.
I smiled at him. “Rom-coms, Sasha.”
I loved rom-coms. Which was weird for a person who didn’t really enjoy social interaction, to be so invested in the very definition of social interaction. After all, what was romance other than the ultimate in not just interaction but trust? It wasn’t that I wasn’t willing to go through that with or for someone. I’d just never found anyone I thought was worth it.
He nodded, smiled, and looked at the screen. “Rom-coms. All right. Bring it on.”
Sometime during the second movie, he started having questions.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I thought she liked Peter?”
“Who even is this guy?”
Each time I elbowed him none too gently, gave him the minimal amount of answer, and shushed him. It didn’t give him the hint to shut up. Not unt
il the third movie.
“Ha! It’s you!” he chuckled after Peter told Kitty he wasn’t even allowed to talk once a movie started.
I elbowed Alex, but smiled. “You wanna talk, hit pause and I’ll talk to you. ‘Scuse me for actually wanting to pay attention when I watch a movie.”
He grabbed the remote and hit pause. “I bet you’re a HOOT on dates.” He even hooted.
I rolled my eyes. “Duh. The trick is to go to a movie neither of you actually wants to see.” I tried reaching for the remote again.
“Oh!” he exclaimed, holding it well out of my reach. “You sly dog, Elliott. Clever. I’ll remember that one.”
I smirked at him. “I bet you will.”
A little while later, he hit pause again.
“What now?” I sighed dramatically, secretly pleased he was pausing before talking, although if it became a habit then it would take us hours to get through movies in future.
“What’s so romantic about this?” he asked, pointing at the screen.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what is the big deal? We wouldn’t have this problem.”
My brain shorted out. I found myself spluttering. “What? What do you mean us?”
He kicked his head towards the tellie. “You and me. Sure. I get it. It’s sad. They’re going to end up going to the opposite ends of the country–”
“You don’t know that.”
He gave me a look that suggested I rethink my statement. “They’re so setting it up. They’ve been setting it up from the beginning.”
I had to hand it to him. It was so going that way. Five minutes in, you knew it was going that way. “So? What’s your point?”
“My point is, it’s moot for us.”
“What is this grand ‘us’ of which you speak?”
“Well,” he started, totally matter-of-fact. “Our closest unis are in Adelaide, yeah? So, we’ll be applying there. Closer and cheaper than the eastern states. No brainer.”
“What if I want to go to Melbourne?”
“Do you?”
Well, no. I was a born and bred Adelaidean. I’d never consciously decided to go to an Adelaide uni, but I’d also never considered going interstate. The majority of us just didn’t do that. We didn’t have to.
“I might,” was what I said to Alex.
“Pfft,” he scoffed. “And pass up free room and board by living with your mum?”
I had to concede that one. “Yeah. Okay. I’m going to uni in Adelaide. But you don’t have to.”
He inclined his head. “But why wouldn’t I? The courses are, for the generalised most part, all the same no matter what institution they put on your piece of paper at the end.”
“It helps that Adelaide is one of the wine capitals of the world and a big chunk of wine research in Australia is done there,” I noted.
He blinked. “How? How do you know these things?” he asked, and I knew it was rhetorical at this point.
I shrugged. “I know things.”
He smirked. “Okay. Yes. In my case, there aren’t that many unis offering my course. BUT! My point stands.”
I had to give him that one. Maybe it was different in other states. Maybe it was different in other social circles. But everyone I knew had gone to uni in the state they’d gone to school in. Everyone. If they moved, it was later. For work or romance, or both. Or Medicine. I didn’t much mind being away from Flick and the others at Acacia for two years because it was assumed we’d all still be in Adelaide after that.
It was so weird to watch this movie, get heavily invested in it and the characters and their situations, but it be so different than what we were likely to experience. Was that the norm for US teens?
“Are all American YA romances just tragedies waiting to happen?” I heard myself whisper like I’d come to the epiphany part of a massive bender.
Alex snorted. “Oh, my God. I broke you.”
I looked at him and I could feel how wide my eyes were. “No, seriously, Alex. Are they?”
He took my hand. “It’s okay, E. Breathe.” The chuckle in his voice wasn’t helping.
“How in the hell do they ever risk dating?”
“Because why miss out on the good times, huh?”
I focussed on his face. “What?”
He shrugged. His thumb brushed over the back of my hand. “If you live in fear of losing something, you’ll never really have it in the first place. And life is for living, Lottie.”
I guess that made sense. “Maybe…”
“Come on. Why don’t you reserve judgement until we’ve seen how this ends?”
He coaxed me back to relaxing on the couch and hit play. The movie was so darn cute and adorable that I lost all concern for the love-lives of random teens on the other side of the world and just enjoyed myself.
As the credits began to roll, Alex nudged me gently and I realised I was leaning against him. It felt more like an attention-seeking nudge and I didn’t really want to draw attention to the fact I was leaning against him, so I stayed put.
“Mm?” I asked.
“Speaking of prom. Pfft. Ridiculous word. Formal?”
“What about it?”
“Any decision?”
“Yes.”
Alex sat up quickly. “Yes!” he cheered.
I rolled my eyes. “No. Not yes going. Yes decision. As in decided no to going.”
“Boo!” he cried as I got up to get another drink. “You have to come.”
“I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to, Alex Landry.”
He grinned at me over the back of the couch. I could see it in his eyes. “True. My bad. You should come. Please come.”
“Need I remind you about the infiltration debacle? A girl like me doesn’t do dances, Sasha.”
He huffed. “A girl like you? What does that even mean?”
“A girl who can’t get dolled up or look good in heels.”
He waved a dismissive hand at me. “You can get dressed up without looking like a stuck-up princess wannabe. And the only person I know who looks good in heels is Cook.”
Luke had pulled it off very well. I snorted as I passed him a drink and sat down. “I’m still not going.”
“You know, my parents’ place is like an hour out of Adelaide. Hour and a half tops. There’s a local high school nearby I could easily go to. But they chose to ship me off here and see me maybe a few weeks in the year, provided they’re not on holiday when Acacia’s on break.”
I looked at him. “That sucks, Alex. Why are you telling me this now, though?”
He looked down at the drink in his hand for a moment. “Because everyone has their insecurities, E. Stuff our personalities – who we are – is built on, for better or worse. Mine is attachment. I get the concept, the benefits, but when it comes down to it, I avoid it to avoid getting hurt. I practised being charming so everyone will like me and hopefully not leave me. I can’t stand to not be like or to be ignored or…even just not get on with someone. It’s not all shallow, not the way you think. My real friends are few because that’s all I can bear to trust. Romance is…so far off my radar.”
I gave him a sympathetic smile. “Well, that’s what you’ve got me for.”
He grinned. “What’s that, then?”
“I can’t break your heart if I don’t want it.”
He nodded. “Touché.”
I leant up against him again and he put his arm around me companionably.
“If we all go to the formal together stag, will that convince you?” he asked as he pulled his phone out of his pocket.
I wrinkled my nose. “Ew. No. The others all have pretty, popular dates anyway.”
“Nope. We’re all going together. Stag. No girls allowed. Well…one girl allowed.”
I laughed. “Thanks, but no. I’m not going to ask them to do that.”
“You don’t have to. I just did and they all said yes. It’
s a date.”
I shoved him playfully. “Except it’s not.”
“Is that a yes, though?” he teased.
“Fret’s not devastating Kayla?”
“That’s between Fret and Kayla. He agreed.”
What had I done to deserve not just the friends I’d left at home, but five new ones to boot? I knew there was only one option now. Especially if Fret was cancelling on his almost-girlfriend to go to the formal stag with me.
I sighed. “Fine. Yes. It’s a yes. We’ll all go together.”
“Sweet. Hey, holidays coming up, perfect time to go dress shopping!”
“Hooray,” I mumbled sarcastically.
He probably wasn’t wrong, though. It was Winter holidays in a few days. Three weeks at home. Mum would love to go dress shopping with me for my first formal.
“Ah, I’m going to miss that pessimism,” Alex said wistfully.
I snorted. “Like you won’t message me every day.”
“Yeah, but that’s not the same, is it?”
I had to give him that one. I’d noticed that, as the year went on, just messaging Mum wasn’t cutting it. I’d even had a couple of video calls with Flick, Leah and Marsh. Nothing terribly interesting, just catching up.
“No. It’s not,” I agreed, leaning into him a little more.
Chapter Nineteen
I was back at Acacia Academy for Term Three and had to say I’d actually missed Alex over the previous three weeks, even though we messaged absolute nonsense at least twice a day.
He was the first one back this time and, as soon as I walked into the door, I was met by a hug.
“Lottie!” he cried.
“Are you drunk?” I teased.
Alex pulled back and looked at Mum. “Hey, Mary.”
She smiled and patted him on the shoulder as she wheeled my suitcase past him. “Good to see you, Alex. Nice holidays?”
He shrugged. “Eh. It was okay.”
“What did you get up to?”
“The annual family trip to Hotham.”
“Oh, you ski?” Mum asked.
“Snowboard, duh,” Alex said with a grin.
“Duh,” Mum agreed.
“Lottie in the house!” I heard Fret cry and turned to see him and Birdman at our door.
“Hey, guys,” I said with a smile.
the Roommate Mistake Page 13
