Postgrad Partners

Roommates First

The next time Jade opened her eyes, the girlfriend who was sleeping two feet away from her was suddenly six inches close, facing her with a smile. Eyes widened, Jade tried to say something to Tori, only for the latter to press a finger to her lips and whisper, "Let's just enjoy this while we can, okay?" as she replaced the finger with her own lips against Jade's. The kiss lasted for only a few seconds before they broke away and rested their foreheads together.

Jade whispered, "What are we gonna tell them? We kept saying we'll figure it out, but now's the time."

Tori sighed and locked eyes with Jade, "We tell them the truth. Maybe this was a little hasty, but—"

"Tori, we literally made this plan an hour before the flight," Jade's eyes narrowed, "'A little hasty' is like saying Cat's hair is just 'a little red'."

"Okay, okay!" Tori pouted, "This wasn't the smartest thing to do on the fly, but since when is this anything new for us? We'll find a way through this; we always do." She sat up and stretched her arms as Jade followed suit, still looking her with doubt.

"Maybe in Hollywood Arts, Tori," she sighed, "But we've graduated from that. We're supposed to be more mature than we were back then." She could see Tori's composure fading from the blunt response, to which Jade gave her a reassuring kiss. "Look, I don't regret this, Tori. I want this to work, too, but I just don't think it'll be as easy to convince your parents as you think..."

Tori took Jade's hands in hers, "Well, that doesn't mean we can't try, at least." As she gave Jade's hands a firm shake, the bedroom door opened and Jade immediately broke contact to duck under the covers.

Contrary to what the two of them feared, Tori's dad popped his head in with a kind smile of acknowledgement, "Good morning, girls. Fortunately, your mother went to get breakfast, so you have maybe half an hour to get ready."

As soon as he closed the door, Jade emerged from the covers, running a hand through her messy hair. Tori reached over her side of the bed, opening her suitcase to pick out some clothes. "Okay, I know you don't have any other clothes, so I hope you don't mind wearing some of mine for now..."

"As long as it's something comfortable," Jade groaned, peering over Tori's shoulder at her clothing selection.

A half-hour later, Tori and Jade were seated quietly on the couch together; the former wearing a light-pink t-shirt while running a brush through her post-shower hair and the latter reluctantly wearing an oversized, purple graphic tee with a picture of Reptar the dinosaur printed on it.

Noting her girlfriend's frown, Tori lightly poked Jade's shoulder with her brush, "What's wrong? It's comfortable, right?"

"I was more comfortable wearing the pajelehoocho," Jade replied sternly, "But you tossed it in the washer before I could grab it."

Tori's eyebrows furrowed as she poked a little harder, "You were wearing that all day yesterday! I know you don't sweat, but you were getting pretty dang close!"

Before Jade could quip back, the front door swung open with Mrs. Vega holding bags of McDonald's breakfast. Her eyes didn't leave Jade's as she handed them off to her husband to set on the table, or as she set down the drink holder with 4 cups of coffee on the long table in front of them.

"Try not to spill this on my daughter's head, Jade," Mrs. Vega shot first as her morning greeting.

Tori took one of the cups and sipped the hot beverage nervously. "We're already off to a great start, aren't we?"

After the table was set for breakfast, Mr. Vega motioned for the girls to join them, but when they remained seated on the couch, wanting to get this settled first, he resigned to sitting across from them on one of the lounge chairs, his wife promptly taking the other chair next to him.