06 - The Girlfriend

Kassidy's POV

I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Eli's girlfriend was moving in. He had such audacity! Had he forgotten that he'd had sex with me just last night? How was I supposed to deal with this crushing guilt?!

I sat on my bare mattress and turned that sentence over in my head a few times, trying to make it feel less insane than it was.

And now, I was going to be housemates with his girlfriend.

I pressed both hands flat against my face.

I had been so caught up in the heat of the argument last night, so desperate to stop feeling small, that I hadn't stopped to think about any of it. Not the girl in the kitchen, nor Nova, or the fact that Eli Deering was clearly the kind of man I should stay away from.

I was such an idiot.

A soft knock at my door made me yank my hands off my face.

"Kassidy?" It was Nova. "I just wanted to check that you have everything you need in here. Eli mentioned that the room was a little bare when you moved in."

I opened the door. She was standing in the hallway with a genuine smile on her face, and I felt so deeply ashamed of myself that I almost couldn't look at her directly.

"I'm fine," I replied. "Thank you, Nova."

"Are you sure? I brought extra towels from the car, I always overpack them." She chuckled and held out two folded towels. "Take them, seriously, I have more than I need."

I took them because refusing twice in one evening felt rude. "That's really kind of you."

"Of course." She nodded her head. "You're pre-law, right? Eli mentioned it."

"He did?"

"Just that there was a new housemate starting pre-law. It's a brutal track, honestly. My roommate back in Wisconsin was pre-law, and she never slept."

Before I could respond, Eli appeared at the end of the hallway. His eyes went from Nova to me, and a look of alarm flashed across his face. Was he scared that I'd tell Nova the truth about what happened last night?

"Nova." He called her name lightly. "Come see what Marcus did to the living room."

"Oh, I'm sure it's terrible." She laughed and turned back to me. "Come and find us when you're less busy, okay?"

She went down the hallway toward Eli. As she passed him, he glanced back at me over her shoulder, and from the look on his face, I knew he meant to say, "Stay away from her."

I smiled just as quietly back at him. I'll go wherever I damn well please.

His lips curled in annoyance. Then they were gone. I shut my door, changed out of my wet clothes, dried my hair with one of Nova's towels, and sat on my bare mattress because I still hadn't gotten new sheets. I stared at the ceiling for a long time. Outside my window, the rain had slowed to a drizzle. 

I opened my laptop and forced myself to look at the lecture notes from today's classes. Pre-law was not going to study itself, and if I fell behind in the first week, I would never catch up. Again, I was not about to let Eli Deering dismantle my life.

By the time evening arrived, I was hungry enough that my stomach had started making its feelings very known. I hadn't eaten a single thing all day. I picked up my phone and ordered a large Domino's pizza, because it was the only thing I could afford right now.

The living room was occupied by the time I drifted out to wait for my order. Marcus and Devon were sprawled on the larger sofa, arguing about something on the television. Jay was stretched across the armchair with his eyes half closed. Celeste was sitting rigidly at the far end of the room, and her legs were crossed.

"I'm just saying that if Jay is going to snore like a dying animal every single night, I am requesting a room transfer. I have not slept properly in three days!" Celeste announced to the room.

"You don't even share a room with Jay," Devon pointed out.

"The walls are thin, Devon."

"She's on the other side of the hall," Marcus said to no one in particular.

"The walls," Celeste repeated, enunciating each word, "are thin."

I found an empty chair and sat down quietly. So Celeste lived here too. Of course, she did!

Nova came in from the kitchen carrying a small bowl and settled next to Eli on the other sofa. Marcus immediately shuffled over to make space for her, like it were a reflex. 

"Someone should please tell him about the snoring thing," Celeste sounded desperate.

Nova quickly said, "I actually didn't notice any snoring."

Celeste glared at her. "You've been here for three hours."

"Doesn't matter," Replied Nova coldly. 

The temperature in the room dropped half a degree. I didn't miss the terrible, subtle look both ladies gave each other. From what I've gathered in the few hours that I've known Nova, I knew she was nice, but Celeste... Well...

The conversation moved around me, and I sat in it quietly, catching pieces. Nova was at Lawrence in Wisconsin, studying communications. If I was not mistaken, the university costs more per year than most people make in three years. Nova came from old money, apparently.

I also caught the news that she and Eli had been together on and off for two years. Nova talked easily, laughed at the right moments, remembered people's names, and used them. Old money, absolutely.

"Oh, Kassidy." Nova turned to me suddenly. "Do you want to try some? It's pinchos, my mother packed them." 

"I already ordered pizza. But thank you."

"Domino's on day two of college," Eli said from across the room without actually looking at me. "Bold financial decision."

The room laughed lightly. I smiled too, because what else was I going to do? Only Eli and I knew what that sentence actually meant.

Twenty minutes later, my order arrived, and I walked to the front door and collected it. The box was warm in my hands, and it smelled incredible. I had not eaten since yesterday, and I was very close to crying with relief.

I said goodnight to the room without looking at Eli, and went upstairs.

Setting the box on my dresser, I stepped into my bathroom and took a long shower. By the time I stepped out, I was wrapped in a towel and already thinking about the pizza waiting on my desk, and whether I should eat it in bed or at the desk.

But when I pushed open the bathroom door and walked into my room, Eli was there.

Eli Deering was in my room.

I tightened the towel around myself and said nothing. Neither did he!