Acquaintances For Now

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The time came when everyone's parents left the school, departing for their new work adventures to keep them relevant in this world obsessed with relevancy. Luke emotionally bid farewell to his parents who were leaving to Europe for a lengthy business trip. They wouldn't be back until November. Michael's parents were celebrating their anniversary in Fiji and Michael was so used to being alone as he grew up being the only child that he wasn't bothered by absence of anyone. He grew to love being alone, but whenever he needed someone, he knew Luke and I were a phone call away from being at his doorstep. Could anyone else in Lakewood say their friends were reliable like that? It was all about status with them. Who you hung out with, who you dated or married, and what social events you went to determined how appreciated you were in this world. But not even one of them could say they had anyone like The Trifecta.

I didn't want to feel a sense of panic as my roommate hadn't appeared yet, but I did. I began to wonder if this was my karma for being too uncool for this school, no one wanting to room with me. But as the figure in the doorway sighed as soon as I saw her, relief hit me. I wasn't such a loser after all. Evelyn Santos was my angel wearing wings and a halo.

"For a second there, I was worried I'd be rooming with Elizabeth." Evelyn pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose after settling her bags on her bed. She was the type of girl I imagined Calum to end up with. Not Elizabeth. Calum needed someone calm and sweet and a little goofy at times, someone to level him out.

I laughed lightly at her remark even though it didn't call for a laugh. Evelyn really meant that statement. How awkward would it have been if Calum's girlfriend and Calum's childhood best friend, now turned friend with benefits shared a room? "Everyone's biggest fear, isn't it?"

Evelyn giggled in return, swinging her long raven locks over her shoulders. "How was your summer?"

I couldn't think back to anything productive I had done besides take the trash out or clean up my room once month when I felt it was getting out of hand.

"Spent awfully unproductive with tons of junk food." While everyone else was volunteering or vacationing, I was confined to my house only allowed to leave when I was going to church because my mom thought bad things happened when summer was around. "How was yours?"

"It was okay. I spent a month in the Philippines visiting family. It was nice to be so detached from this toxic city."

The elite in Seattle understood how toxic it was to eat, breathe, sleep, and live here. Therefore, I could recognize the need to disappear for a month and not look back on anything this city tried to offer. We were stuck in a hole we and our family's had dug. Any offer the sane elite's got to leave; we took it. Evelyn was one of the sane ones. There weren't many like her and I, so how did she end up in a twisted romance with Calum?

"That's right. I lived vicariously through your Facebook posts."

"I still do sometimes too." Evelyn plopped on her bed, she stared up at the ceiling probably reminiscing easier times for herself.

"Evelyn." The sound of the deep voice entering our room startled us both. My own heart almost sank.

"Cal!" Evelyn's face lit up as she jumped off the bed and jumped into Calum's arms. The embrace was so warm, so innocent, I questioned why Calum was even the way he was. For the moment that he let his guard down I could finally view him as a human being not as a robot that lacked emotions. A part of my soul wanted to appreciate this Calum. I only felt that for a split second until he opened his mouth to redeem himself back to the asshole I knew.

"What a horrible roommate, but she's better than anyone else here." Calum pressed a soft kiss to Evelyn's forehead. I sat on my bed uncomfortable as I watched the pair ignore my presence. Their eyes locked only focusing on the depths within themselves. Young love would soon fool them as it fooled the rest of us. Money couldn't keep you safe from love fucking you over in the end.

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