with Teddy scrawled on it in his handwriting.
I bust out laughing, forgetting about my beloved cookies for the moment. “This is amazing.” I take my stuffed dog back from him, cuddling it. “Thank you.”
I can’t get over the thoughtfulness of my roommate. He knew I was hurting when I left work and he wanted to cheer me up, so he went out of his way to get my favorite Oreos and a cute stuffed dog that we can all laugh over. I can’t wait to introduce Teddy to, well, Teddy.
“Any time.” He puts the dog back on my bed and I follow him back to the living area, both of us sitting on the couch to enjoy our floats. “Did your dinner go okay?”
“Yeah, it was nice. I’m going to take my little brothers to the movies soon.”
Cole smiles over at me. “That’s nice of you.”
“They’re cool kids. I got a text from Rory.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, she invited me to a girl’s night tomorrow.”
“Are you going?”
“I said I would.” I stare into the depths of the mug.
“Rory’s cool. So are Li and Kenna. You’ll like them.”
“She’s the same Rory you mentioned you were interested in last year, isn’t she?” It’s not like Rory is a popular name, so I don’t imagine there are many floating around on campus.
“She is, but there’s nothing there now, and honestly there wasn’t anything there last year like I thought.” He gives a shrug, twisting his lips back and forth.
“There’s someone out there for you.”
He looks me over, a soft sigh echoing in his chest. “Yeah, for you too, Zoey.”
Silence descends between us and I don’t like it one bit.
After work I head to the apartment for a quick shower and to change my clothes before I go back to campus to Kenna and Li’s dorm. Rory, I found out, lives with her boyfriend Mascen.
I manage to get into the building behind someone else and ride the elevator up to the dorm.
Knocking on the door, I wait for barely ten seconds when it swings open revealing Rory.
“Hi, Zoey!” She beams, eyes shining with excitement behind her glasses. “Come on in.”
“We’re about to order the pizzas,” the pretty girl with dark, nearly black hair, named Kenna says from the couch where she lays on her stomach, legs in the air. “What kind do you like?”
“Uh … I can eat whatever.”
“Just tell her what you like. She ends up ordering us all separate pizzas because Kenna is extra like that.”
“No, I’m not!” She pouts, staring at her phone.
“You totally are,” Li, the gorgeous Asian girl from the other night, enters the room from a side bedroom. “Hey, Zoey. It’s nice to see you again.”
“Hi.” God, when did I become so fucking awkward?
“This is our new roommate Ophelia since Rory ditched us this year for her bad boy,” Kenna adds, wiggling her fingers at a fourth girl I didn’t notice.
“Hey.” Rory tosses a pillow at Kenna.
The pillow bounces off her and onto the floor. “I can’t blame you. I’d live with my boyfriend too if he looked like that. But alas, I’m as single as they come.”
“You can sit down, Zoey. Make yourself comfortable,” Li tells me, passing by me to the little kitchenette. “Anyone want anything to drink?”
“Do you have root beer?” Dammit Cole, stop rubbing off on me.
Rory giggles. “Cole’s rubbing off on you isn’t he?”
I sigh, sitting on the couch by Kenna. “Apparently.”
Li passes me a can, it’s not the same brand as the glass bottle kind Cole gets so I have no idea if it’ll be as good, but I’m not going to complain.
Looking around the dorm, it’s pretty nice—nicer than the one I had at my old school, anyway.
There’s an open living space with enough room for a couch and chair, TV, and coffee table. There’s a small table with two chairs tucked into a back corner near the kitchenette. There are three separate bedrooms and one shared bath. The one I had was just a room shared with me and another girl. Definitely no kitchenette and we shared a bathroom with all the other girls on our entire floor.
Fun times.
“Pizza?” Kenna asks me again.
“Uh … I like Hawaiian.”
“Ew.” Kenna wrinkles her nose. “Pineapple does not belong on pizza. Ham either.”
Ophelia laughs and leans over from the chair for a high-five. “Finally, another Hawaiian lover. I’ve been mocked for it my whole life.”
“It’s the only way to go,” I agree.
“Okay, order placed!” Kenna bounces up off the couch, spinning dramatically into the kitchen. “I got