Roommates

One

It was moving day for me, and sadly my best friend was in Texas.

My new roommate though, his name was Blake, I think, was supposedly at a Starbuck nearby getting coffee. He seemed like a good guy so far. The first encounter we had; I accidentally closed the door in his face.

It's not my fault I thought he was a pizza delivery guy who had the wrong address. He had a baseball cap with a pizza place on it, and he was carrying a pizza box. Turned out he was just bringing pizza as an ice breaker.

There have been lots of embarrassing moments in my life, but that was one of my lowest.

"Vi, are you sure you can't, oh, I don't know, move back here?" I pleaded as I threw another bag onto my plain mattress.

I had my phone on speaker on top of what I was guessing was either my dresser or the couch, it was in a large box so I couldn't tell.

"Jodi, we've talked about this," Violet reasoned. "I have to stay in Texas. My job's here. I'll be back for Christmas, okay?"

Deciding to give her the silent treatment, I continued unpacking. The box was indeed the couch and I had to push it all the way back to the main room. I don't know why my brothers put it in a box, but they did.

That's another thing. It was like everyone I knew had found an excuse not to help me unpack. My dad had an important meeting, my mom was somewhere doing something, my younger brother had college orientation, and my two older half-brothers were with their families (they're both married) and my younger older half-brother's wife just went into labor the day before (did that make sense?).

"Anyway, I got to go, I'm going to be late for work," Violet said over the phone. "Bye!"

"Bye," I said glumly, watching as she hung up.

I finished getting all my bags and stuff out of my blue Jeep Renegade and the moving truck, so I took a moment to breathe as I scrolled through my phone.

Then I heard the front door open and shot up, for some reason thinking I had to look busy. So, when Blake entered my room to deliver my peppermint frappe, I was shuffling around in my luggage trying to remember what was in what box.

"Here's your chocolate mocha cream peppermint fudge drizzle frappe," he said, producing my drink.

"Thanks." I accepted it and took a sip, feeling the coldness go down my throat.

"I'm gonna go unpack my stuff, as long as you don't need any help with anything," he reported, taking a sip from his hot beverage.

"Oh, no, um, I'm good, thanks," I told him.

"Of course." He smiled and left.

Violet had done an entire background check on him, definitely not because I asked her to. He came from a rich family, was in his second-to-last year of college, and besides a few speeding tickets, had a clean slate. Which made me feel better about moving in with a complete stranger.

It would be too suspicious if he had a complete clean slate. . .

As I let my anxiety bloom, the day went by. I didn't get nearly as much as I would have liked done, but at least my room was in a sleepable state. Blake, meanwhile, had almost his entire room set up and ready.

I grabbed two slices of pepperoni pizza and a coke from the fridge and settled into my room, watching YouTube on my computer until around ten, where I called it a night, since I wanted to at least try and get up early the next day to finish unpacking.

But again, I tossed and turned all night and had nightmares about bear coming to life and eating everyone and everything. Pretty sure I saw a trailer for a movie similar to it, that's how it came to mind.

So, when I woke up at 6am from another intense episode of the horror bear, I decided to turn the lights on in my room and started unpacking (again).

A/N: And actual nightmare I had. That bear was creepy.  But I got a mini Squishmallow bear, and his pointy teeth. . . I set myself up for that one, though. But still. His pointy teeth make him look threatening. . .

Also, I'll comment here with a playlist I put together for this book. >

Anyways, I hope y'all liked that chapter! Also, sorry if I give you bear nightmares. . .

Be safe and have a great day/night!

-Anne