The Arrangement Anthology 1(201)

Amber crosses the room to her closet. Clothes stick out from her drawers and everything is wrinkled. She picks out something and pulls it on, not caring if my back is turned. “So,” she says as she lights up a cigarette. “Where are you off to on this insanely warm Sunday morning? Visiting the dead parents? The dead sea serpents? Or the nasty-ass, but totally fuckable, scary guy?” She lets out a stream of smoke and sits at the window, looking out into the square below.

I glance over at her. “Scary guy.”

“Ah, so he did get to you?”

I’m not sure what she means. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Amber nods and continues enjoying her cigarette like it’s something phallic. The way her lips wrap around it and slip over the tip as she goes to exhale is disturbing. “So the bad boy rocked your socks off and you’re blowing off school a few weeks before finals to have a fun day, is that it? I guess you’re over that good girl act, now.”

“It wasn’t an act.”

Amber laughs. “Yeah right. With the way you’ve been putting out, I think we should both stop pretending and just call the sheep black.”

“What the hell are you smoking over there? You make no sense at all. I’m not sleeping around—”

Amber laughs like a man and rolls her eyes. “Whatever, bitch. We both know you’re lying. Tell yourself anything you want so you can look in the mirror in the morning, but we both know how you’re spending your nights.”

Turning my head, I look over my shoulder—pausing with a shirt in hand, above my bag—and glare at her. I wonder if she knows about my employment, but that’s not possible. A cold feeling snakes down my throat and coils in my stomach. Amber doesn’t elaborate, which makes me think she’s just messing with my head.

I change the subject. “So, where’s Naked Guy? Off fucking some other dorm today?”

“Ha ha. He’s coming by later to show me his anal beads collection and I—”

Oh my God! Spinning on my heel, I snap at her, “TMI! Keep your fucking preferences to yourself. It’s bad enough I know what his thingie looks like. I don’t need—”

“His thingie?” she mocks. “What’s the matter, Avery? Can’t say the real word?” Amber’s eyes glitter. She honed in on my little word and is advancing across the room, cigarette still in hand. “Is it just too much to wrap your little mouth around? Cock, dick, penis? Pick one and say it.” She stops in front of me, looking down at me like I’m a child. One arm is across her chest and the other is holding the burning smoke off to the side. She tilts her head, watching me. “Go on—say it.”

I smile tritely, but she’s unnerving me. The way she looks at me is so smug, with a dash of hostility. Most mornings she spends trying to stay in bed, because she stayed up fucking all night. I glare at her. “I’m not reciting male genitalia for you.”

She laughs lightly and says it again, whispering the word in a creepy way, close to my face. “I bet you scream when you come and say all sorts of dirty shit. It’s the good girls that have the kinkiest stuff going on in their heads.” Amber looks down into my bag and pulls up one of my G-strings. She holds it on her pointer finger and raises a brow at me. “See what I mean?”

I snatch it back from her and shove it into my bag. “At least I wear panties.”

“Ouch.” Amber feigns offense and then snorts and turns away shaking her head. “Me and you could have a lot of fun. Roommates who do three-ways never sleep alone.”

I make a face and look over at her. “If you ever suggest that again, I’ll puke all over you.”

“Whatever. Go on and pretend to be a nun. I don’t care.”

“Nuns don’t sleep with guys.”

She grins, “Well, not all at once, anyway. Maybe I should join a convent.” She taps her front tooth with her finger like she’s thinking about it.

I know what she’s thinking. “Nuns don’t do confession. Priests are the only ones who get to use the box, so think of something else or have someone stab you with a cross. Maybe you’ll turn back into a werewolf and can go hump a tree for the rest of the day.”

She gives me a snotty look and sticks her tongue out. “Bitch.”

“Whore.”

“Slut.”

“Skank.”

“Hooker.” Amber says the word exactly the same way she said the others, but she’s acting so weird today. I lift my chin slightly before throwing another insult her way. Amber is watching, waiting for me to show any sign of weakness. Does she know? Is that what this is about? Did she find out that I’m working for Black? That would suck. She’d tell Black that I’m in love with Sean.