Burning the candle at both ends would’ve been harder had Brody not stacked most of his classes in the afternoons. The guy might have been in school longer than some doctors—and didn’t even have a bachelor’s degree to show for it—but he wasn’t a total idiot. Getting up before noon was overrated.
I toed off my shoes and left them next to the door. No way did I want to track the grossness from the bar into Brody’s apartment. As I tried to find a lamp, I banged into an end table, causing the plastic legs to screech across the floor. I reached out to steady it, and my hand connected with the remote.
Figuring the TV could provide some light, I felt around for the large button near the top and pressed it. Music blared from the Bluetooth speaker, and I jumped, causing me to knock into the table again.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit.” I tried pushing the same button again, but the music didn’t stop. I think it actually got louder.
Panic began to set in. I smacked the remote into my palm repeatedly, as if assaulting the damn thing would get it to do what I needed it to. When that didn’t work, I moved toward the speaker, only to stub my toe on the couch three steps into my journey.
In a move that would’ve impressed a seasoned ballet dancer, I twirled around on my good foot while holding my other and landed on my back on the couch, which made a loud thump when all my weight came down on it.
“Fuck my life. And this couch.”
As I lay there groaning and clutching my injured toe, a light flipped on, and I craned my head around in time to see Sophia turn off the speaker before putting her hands on her hips and glaring at me.
She really had the “if looks could kill” vibe down. I’d bet she could deter a mugger with the force of that look alone.
“Are you auditioning for the circus in here? Seriously, what the hell? It’s the middle of the night.”
I laboriously moved around on the couch until I was sitting up. “Sorry. I just got home, and it was like a comedy of errors on the path to disaster.”
“Comedies are funny. Making so much noise it sounds like the apartment is being ransacked isn’t funny.”
“I said I was sorry.”
She stared at me for a second longer before taking a deep breath. “Listen, I know what you do is none of my business, but I have a GPA to maintain. Also, marketing majors are a dime a dozen, so I have to stand out. And I’m assuming part of the deal with my brother is that you actually pass his classes. So maybe being out till all hours of the night isn’t your best move.”
Despite the fact that I was being lectured at, what she said gave me pause enough that I didn’t immediately defend myself. While it had never occurred to me not to pass Brody’s classes, Brody had never actually requested that I pass them, probably because he wasn’t used to passing any himself. He’d made it clear that I had to go to class, but he never said I had to put any effort into it beyond that. His complete lack of concern for his future was almost enviable.
“Whatever,” Sophia muttered as she spun to go back down the hall toward her room.
I must’ve taken too long to respond, and she’d taken my silence for the “screw you” I kind of wanted to say out loud because what the fuck?
“Wait,” I called.
She stopped short and slowly turned around, as if she was doing me a big favor by listening to me. They must teach rich girls this shit in etiquette school.
“I wasn’t out at a rave. I didn’t stumble in wasted. I had to work tonight, I’m exhausted, and it was pitch-black when I came in. I was trying to be quiet, but I’m not the most graceful guy in the world. It won’t happen again.” After I thought about my last statement for a second, I amended it. “Well, it might, but I’ll try to avoid it.”
Even though I shouldn’t give a shit what this girl thought about me, I felt myself waiting for her response like it mattered. I couldn’t figure out why it was important to me that she knew I wasn’t some immature punk. Sure, we’d be living together, but I didn’t have any intention of getting to know her. Not really. But it was important, and I watched her anxiously as I waited for her to reply.
“I didn’t realize you had to work. I’ll try to remember to leave a light on for you so you don’t wake the whole neighborhood next time you come home.”
It wasn’t the most bountiful of olive branches, but I’d grown up with enough crazy sisters to know I’d better accept it for what it was—insulting wrapping paper with a small apology nestled inside.
“I’d appreciate that.”
She nodded once at me before turning and going into the bedroom. I heard the snick of the lock on the door after she closed it. She clearly still hadn’t ruled out the possibility of my being a homicidal lunatic.
That was okay. We’d get there. Or not.
S O P H I A
I’d lain in bed for what felt like hours after I’d given Drew a hard time. The truth was, I’d had a mini heart attack when all his noise had woken me up, and the fear had turned to anger when I’d seen him writhing around on the couch.
I’d immediately assumed he’d come home drunk, which was all I would’ve needed. This situation was messed up enough without having to share a small apartment for the foreseeable future with a reckless partier.
When he’d said that he’d been at work all night, guilt had crept in and diffused my irritation. I really hated when that happened. Being angry was much easier than feeling bad.
I’d finally fallen asleep, but it seemed like my alarm went off minutes later. Of course, Drew’s late-night interpretive dance in the dark had to happen when I had my earliest class of the semester the next morning.
I’d dragged myself through a shower and stopped to grab the biggest coffee I could before hauling ass to class. I hadn’t remembered to reset the alarm with an earlier time that would accommodate my longer walk, but I still managed to make it to class before the professor.
I felt all kinds of discombobulated when I slid into a seat and dug through my bag for my laptop. As I struggled to make room on the small desk for my MacBook, my phone, and the coffee that I wished I could mainline into my body, I registered someone taking the seat next to me. Once I had everything settled, I looked over casually and then did a double take when I saw Emma sitting beside me.
“What are you doing here?”
“I have a class down the hall and I saw you walk by, so I thought I’d come say hey.”
“Okay,” I replied, drawing the word out in my confusion. “Hey.”
“Hey.” Emma held eye contact with me but didn’t say anything more.
After a few seconds, I started to get weirded out. “Did you take an entire bottle of NoDoz again?”
“No. I was just trying to figure out who you are. Because you’re not the Sophia I thought I knew.”
I exhaled loudly and slumped in my chair. “I can’t do”—I waved my hands in front of her—“whatever this is today. Just come direct.”
She leaned closer to me like she was about to impart state secrets. “Why would you never tell your best friends how hot your brother is? It’s like…girl code.”
“It’s really not.”