Just Roommates Charity Ferrell Novels & Stories

“I know.” “Be nice, Allison!” Charlie chides before smiling at me. “You good? Ally forwarded your text to me.” Of course she did! I intentionally did not text Charlie. After what Ace did to him, I didn't want to include him in my “escape” plan. “I think I am going to be homeless soon. I don't know what to do, guys. I have no money.” “You can stay with me.” Charlie blurts. “My roommate is really nice.”

"Who's this?" The little red head dipped under his chin, and reached up to smack his arm with vengeance. It was cute, that she thought she was scary, and he simply waited for her to introduce him. Curious what she would say. "This is Jackson, he's our new roommate, Randy invited him." She said it simply, and Jackson felt oddly disappointed. Well, that was lame. He always liked a little spice. Leaning his elbows down over her chair, with arms cradled innocently on either side of her silky strands, he cooed. "Don't let the princess fool you, I'm also her very, very, best friend. Why, we're almost inseparable now."

Hayden Jensen—the rich kid I shared an apartment with—had gone off to Kingsley City, leaving the whole place to me. I wasted no time calling over Brock Hayes, a tanned six-foot varsity jock, Julian Reed, the gentle campus heartthrob, and Noah Bennett, a sweet underclassman with puppy eyes. That made four of us—just enough to get a poker game going. Julian suggested that the loser post an ugly selfie on social media. Before long, their photos were flooding the feed.

When I entered my car I heard my phone ring seeing the caller ID I knew who shall I go to now. “Hey man. It’s been a while since we have done this” Fred said hugging me. We were at the club. The basketball court to be more specific. We came here a lot to have fun and to distract ourselves from the stress of work. “Yeah. It’s really been a long time” I said. “Did something happen? Something seems off with you today” he said. Fred is one of my very best friends. He was there with me through it all. When I and Sarah broke up, I was seeking for money so I worked as his tutor after my own work and we became the best of friends. He knows everything about my story with Sarah except that he doesn’t

When he entered the livestream one day, broke and unable to send gifts, Layla and Linda openly mocked him in private, calling him a cheapskate. However, during the stream, he still typed a heartfelt message in the chat: “Baby, if I can’t send gifts anymore, will you still love me?” Linda smiled sweetly and cooed, “Of course, darling. I like you for who you are. But, if you could send a few gifts, it’d make me even happier! And don’t forget, in three days, the top fan will get to meet me in person!” Her words sparked a frenzy among her followers, who began a race to claim the top spot on her leaderboard, sending gifts left and right.

Groaning softly, I took a long sip of my cocktail, letting the alcohol burn down my throat. “Evelyn?” I jumped slightly, startled as a hand waved in front of my face. “Geez, what is wrong with you? I’ve been calling your name,” Charity said, sliding into the seat across from me as if I’d invited her. Charity was a colleague, someone I saw every day at work. At the office, she was quiet and hardworking, the type who kept her head down. People whispered that her frequent headaches were from hangovers, but I never believed it. Now, looking at her here in this dimly lit pub, I wasn’t so sure anymore.

When the team gathered around, Coach turned to them with a sigh. “Bad news, boys. Booking error on our end. We’re short a few rooms. Most of you are doubled up as planned, but…” He glanced at Liam and Raphael. “You two only have one room left. King bed. Deal with it like captains. We’ll sort it out after the game.” Liam’s stomach dropped. A king bed. One room. With Raphael. Raphael just shrugged, looking far too calm. “We’ll manage.” Liam didn’t trust himself to speak. He grabbed his key card and headed to the elevator without another word.

The room had awkwardly turned silent and both women were going through emotions they'd never felt ever since they became friends. "It only made sense that the only way to still have a roof over her head was to find a roommate for December. I didn't even know it was her. If I had known, maybe I wouldn't have taken it. But I already paid and I couldn't find anywhere else. So, I made her agree not to tell you. It wasn't right to her, Mara. But her hands were tied. She needed money. Harper needed to eat. She needed to pay rent! I mean you couldn't even tell her to come and stay with you so it's so absurd to me that you are labelling her a devil for simply doing the needful."

“Lisa. Hi.” She tilted her head. “You’re Riley’s new charity case.” The words landed like a slap—casual, almost bored. I felt my face heat. “I’m her roommate. Not a charity case.” She shrugged one perfect shoulder. “Same difference. She collects strays. You’ve got the tragic backstory written all over your face.” Her eyes flicked to my cast, my fading bruises. “What happened? Bad breakup? Angry ex? Or did you just fall down the stairs like a bad Lifetime movie?”

Making that the most disturbing aspect of this whole situation. "Hello? Earth to Elle," says Charity Conrad from the lawn chair next to me. Charity is a sophomore, cousins to the twins, and slowly becoming one of my favorite people with her bubbly, free-spirited personality. With Damon with his parents away on pack business for the weekend, I figured I might as well take advantage of him out of the house and have a girls' weekend. "Are you okay, Elle? You've been distracted the last few days," Charity continues with a concerned look.