Friends, Lovers, or Nothing

Chapter Three - Paper Doll

ACE: So you're telling me it's your first weekend of college and you're not going out?

ME: That's exactly what I'm saying.

ACE: C'mon Bee, that just ain't right. What are you gonna do all night, homework? Or maybe spend some quality alone time watching paint dry?

ME: ha ha, very funny. I think I'm just gonna hang at home, idk, you know I'm no party animal.

ACE: You could come out with me if you wanted.

ME: Ace...

ACE: I know, I know. I'm sorry I asked. Anyways, I gtg Bee, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Nos vemos for now.

ME: Nos vemos, Ace. Have enough fun tonight for the both of us.

ACE: I plan to ;)

Taking a deep breath in, I shut my laptop and place it onto the plush cushion next to me on the couch. I had officially made it through my first week of classes and if I was being honest, I was utterly exhausted. While my first day was rather relaxed, it was the Tuesday and Thursday classes that had killed me. The thing about your first semester of college is that you don't really get to take classes that you want to yet. And for me, that's psychology.

Since I was twelve years old and living in my second foster home of the year, I wanted nothing more than to work in social work and help kids like myself. Foster Care was hard enough as it was and if I could help any child have an easier time while going through what I did, it would be worth it to me.

There was one social worker named Gwenyth who would meet with me once a month to do general check-ins on how I was feeling and how I was adjusting to my current home. She quickly became the one constant in my life, always bringing me candies during her visits and asking me things because she wanted to know the answers, not because she was supposed to ask. It always felt like she genuinely cared about me in a way that I had not experienced since my parent's deaths. It was her who single-handedly inspired me to study psych so that hopefully one day I could become half the social worker that she is.

Just as I reach for the remote control to turn on the TV, Jaxon comes barreling into the room from the front door. I audibly sigh and look over at him. This whole living situation was both good and bad I suppose. Bad, considering how much Jaxon got under my skin but good because it turned out he was hardly ever home.

"Hey, roomie." He plops down on the couch next to me, narrowly missing my laptop.

"You really gotta stop calling me that." I move my attention back towards the television, scanning through Netflix to find something to spend my Friday night watching. Ooh, when did they add new episodes of Black Mirror?

"Blake, can you just hear me out for a minute? I get that this whole living together thing isn't your ideal situation-"

I turn towards him, "Oh, and it's suddenly your ideal living situation?"

"Well, no but I just think it would probably be a little bit easier if we tried to communicate more with one another."

"That's fresh coming from you, Jaxon." His bright eyes bore into my blue ones, trying to reason with me through the act of a simple gaze.

"Blake, just listen to me," I raise a brow at him, "Please? I know I haven't been the best roommate to you but hey, I don't really think you gave me much of a fair chance. Can we just start fresh, a clean slate maybe?"

He looked surprisingly serious as he asked this of me. Shaking my head, I turn back to the TV. I was growing tired of arguing with him if I was being honest.