《 issue: roommate ~ greece, nhc 》 {COMPLETED}

9

The room is silent when I enter it again, looking around wide eyed. Reece is lying on his bed, his eyes closed and his headphones in his ears. It's weird; now that Reece has been banned and threatened by his parents, he's actually spending more time in the room, which means he sees me a lot more. I guess you can understand how that's a problem for me. I quietly move around the room, sorting it out a little, since it's a complete mess. I place my clothes into the cupboard, attempting to fold as many as possible before getting bored and just shoving them in. I then notice a purple hoodie flung into the middle of the room, and I pick it up with furrowed eyebrows.

Is this mine?

It very easily could be if it weren't at least two sizes too big. Then my brain seems to click and I realise Blake must have left it when he came over the other day; I can sort of envision him in it I think.

I pull it on, the smell of it being fairly strong. It's his fault for leaving it here.

I continue tidying until I've finally finished my side of the room, flopping down onto my bed with a loud huff escaping my lips. I close my eyes momentarily, before whining mentally when my phone starts vibrating in my back pocket. It's a struggle to get it out, but finally I do and I see my mum's name on the screen. My frustration from a few seconds prior disappears and instead I allow a smile to form on my face. I tap the green button quickly to answer the call, bringing the phone up to my ear and mumbling a soft hello, not wanting to wake Reece up.

"George! Hi baby, how are you doing?" My mum's chirpy voice greets me, and my smile only ceases to widen.

"I'm great thanks! How are you?" I whisper, rolling onto my side with my phone pressed against the bed.

"I'm doing alright honey. I just wanted to call to sort out the Christmas holidays... you're coming home then, right?" She's slightly nervous, I can tell. I don't understand why, honestly; I can't imagine spending Christmas anywhere else besides our house, with all our family and our traditions. She's worried now though, because I'm not under her control. After all these years where she's had the power to make holiday plans and organise when and where we go, finally I've got freedom, and she's scared of how often I'll decide to come home and when she's gonna see me. I can't blame her but at the same time, she knows me, she knows how much I need family, and how sensitive I am. They're like a safety blanket honestly, and I wouldn't be able to survive these months at UNI without the constant facetimes and phone calls; they're what's keep me going and make me aware that I'm not alone in this experience.

"Yes mum, of course I am." I say softly, still not speaking too loudly in case I wake Reece.

"Why are you talking so quietly?" She whispers back, and I roll my eyes, chuckling lightly.

"Reece is asleep." I say, completely letting it slip my mind that she doesn't know who Reece is.

"Reece? Who's Reece?" She asks, going back to her normal tone, laced with curiosity.

"Um, my roommate, have I not mentioned him before?" I murmur, trying to play off the fact that I highly dislike him.

"No! I just thought you didn't have one." She says, and I roll my eyes yet again.

"Well, I do. He's called Reece." I say, slightly louder. Suddenly, I hear someone clear their throat behind me, making me jump slightly and drop my phone for a second, it landing on the floor with a thud. I scramble to turn around, blindly patting the floor with my hand for the mobile device. I glance at Reece as I slowly sit up onto my knees, my eyes wide and my phone still clutched in my hand. His headphones have been tossed aside and he's no longer lying down; instead, he's sitting on the edge of the bed, his arms resting on his knees and his hands holding up his chin.

What startles me most though, are his dark, narrowed eyes, staring hardly at me. His eyebrows are furrowed firmly together, almost hiding his eyes, but I can still see them, almost black and filled with anger. His jaw is clenched tightly, making his jawline a lot more prominent, and I swallow hardly as we continue our stare off, me not daring to look away from him. My heart hammers in my ears, my blood pumping wildly around my body. I shakily bring my phone up to my ear, still not breaking eye contact.

"U-Um, I need to go now, I'm- uh- meeting a friend and I'm late." I lie quietly, feeling observed and powerless. "I'll send you my Christmas holiday dates. Love you." I hang up, my fingers trembling.

I catch Reece's eye once again, but I don't dare say anything, because there is only one thing I know for sure in this situation: I don't know why, but Reece is mad again.

// i never intended on making reece such an angry character when i started this book but somehow it's worked out like that lol