The Line Between(10)

“I guess so,” replied Ashley. She didn’t seem bothered by it either. She just looked amused.

Jade looked at me, and then back at Ashley. “Meh, I guess you can stay. You room is the one on the left. I’ll draw up some chore charts, so we all keep this place in tip-top shape.”

“Sounds good,” said Ashley. She walked into her bedroom, and as soon as she was out of earshot, I scurried to Jade’s room.

It looked exactly like mine, except her walls were now covered in beautiful sketches of clothes, and fabric swatches. Her bed had a funky lime green and blue cover on it, along with a few teddies she’d always hung on to. She’d already hung up a few pictures, and unpacked her clothes, which was more than I’d done. For some reason I was stalling.

“Did you know we were getting a roommate?” I asked, taking a seat on Jade’s bed. She spun around in her desk chair.

“No. I specifically said I needed the third room for my makeshift studio. But, we’ll see how it goes. If we find that it doesn’t work for us, we’ll find a way to fix it.”

With a nod, I started fiddling with the quilt that Jade’s grandmother had made her when she was younger. It had different colored squares all patched up together, and I thought it was quite metaphoric. None of the colors fit together, and yet it still works. Kind of like how life was. Or more specifically my life.

“Are you worried about the whole Dane situation?” Asked Jade.

“Not worried, just annoyed. This was supposed to be my fresh start, you know? I knew I’d have to see him eventually, but maybe from a distance. Not because he’s our neighbor.”

Jade went quiet, and I could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. I envied the way she was able to let almost anything roll off her back, instead of analyzing and dissecting it the way I did.

“You know what I think?” She said, breaking the silence. “I think you should shove all thoughts about him out of your mind, and focus on living a little. You know he’ll do and say anything to get a reaction out of you, and quite honestly, I think that boy has some major feelings for you.”

My head shot up, and I grimaced. “You can’t be serious?”

Her eyebrows arched at my response. I sounded defensive, even to my own ears. “As a heart attack. When the two of you face off the way you did earlier, the sexual tension is enough to make my lady bits tingle.”

“Oh my God,” I laughed. “You did not just mention your lady parts with me and Dane in the same sentence. That’s wrong on so many levels.”

Jade rolled her eyes. “Oh please, don’t act all innocent now. You just hate him too much right now to see what I see. I have no doubt he wants to bump uglies with you.”

“Jade!” I chided.

“What? Was that too graphic for you? Would you prefer if I said he wants to ‘tend to your lady garden’? Or maybe he wants to ‘impale you with his iron rod’?”

I stared at Jade as if she’d lost her mind, and then we both burst into hysterics. I laughed until tears streaked down my face, and held my stomach.

“You read too many romance novels,” I said, wiping my cheeks.

“There’s no such thing,” replied Jade. She tried to look offended, but in the end our laughter had taken over.

“Speaking of sexual tension, you care to explain what’s going on between you and Reid?” I asked.

Jade looked down at her lap, and avoided my gaze. “Nothing.” She let out a heavy breath and then lifted her head. “He’s been my best friend since I was practically in diapers. I’m pretty sure our moms have planned our wedding already.”

Her expression was somewhat unreadable, but I knew how she felt about Reid. I also knew she was scared, and for that I blamed Reid’s inability to keep his dick in his pants long enough to be in a relationship. He was a great guy, but he was still a guy. Football, and regular dick-dipping were the only two things that seemed to register.

“It’s time to take your own advice, Jade, and live a little. Reid will come to his senses, you’ll see.”

Jade sighed. “Okay, enough about the two idiots next door. How about we finish unpacking the kitchen, and then grab dinner with our new roomie? I’m dying for Mexican food.”

“That’s actually a good idea. I’ve been itching to take a walk around campus since we arrived.”

I jumped off Jade’s bed, and turned my head before I left her room. “Just stay away from the fucking tequila. I’m not carrying you home.”

Jade’s response was to throw a pillow at my head, which narrowly missed my head when I ducked. We both chuckled, remembering how hung over she was this morning, and then I dove right back into the boxes in the kitchen.