Poison

Chapter 8

I park my car outside of my dorm building and hurry to get upstairs. I've been looking forward to this nap from the minute I woke up. As I practically jog to the stairs, I hear my phone ringing from the depths of my book bag. I dig around for it and answer when I see that it's Maya. "Are you up to work on the project today?" she asks in a peppy voice as soon as I answer.

"Sure," I reply while balancing the phone between my head and my shoulder. It's not like I have anything better to do. It's Friday so I don't work and I also flat out ignored Kelsi and Jess's texts asking if I was down to go to a party with them tonight. They left out the part about me driving them there, spending the night alone, and then bringing them home.

"You can come over whenever. I don't work today so I'm completely free," she explains without skipping a beat. "And my asshole housemate is at work so you won't get distracted."

"Is four okay?" I wonder after deciding to ignore her slick comment. I trek up the stairs to my dorm and barrel down the hallway. "I am preparing for hibernation."

"Yeah, 4 works for me," she concludes while I search my key ring for the one to my dorm.

"Great," I confirm as I reach for the doorknob. I stop when I hear the noises that typically accompany Danica's extracurricular activities. "Are you kidding me?"

"What happened?" Maya questions from the other end of the phone.

"My stupid roommate," I grumble as I walk back down the hall in the direction I came.

"Sexiled again?" she quickly catches on.

"Yeah," I inform her through gritted teeth.

"You can come over now," she comments, which I already planned on doing. "You can nap, too. There's the couch...my bed...Asa's bed; I know'd like that."

"You can't see me but I'm glaring right now," I scoff as I jog down the steps. I'm secretly relieved that she'll let me sleep there.

"I'll wake you up before he gets back," she continues to joke.

"I hate you," I mumble, even though I'd secretly get a kick out of seeing what his room looks like. "I'm on the way."

"I'll see you when you get here. The doors unlocked. You know the drill," she remarks before hanging up.

I arrive to the familiar apartment and take the usual route upstairs. Just like she said, the door is unlocked so I let myself in. I rush down the familiar hallway to the living room only to come up empty. After peeking my head into the kitchen and finding an empty room, I figure she's in her room. I push open the already cracked door and find her passed out on her bed with her phone inches from her face. I take it upon myself to remove my shoes, drop my bag on the floor, and join her.

I eventually wake up four hours later to shuffling outside of the room. "I'm not waking her up," a deep voice I recognize as Asa's complains.

"Just do it. I have to set the table!" I hear Maya's response from further away. "She better be awake by the time the plates are down."

"If I wake her up, it's going to be by snatching the blanket off of her," he threatens from a much closer distance than her.

"Don't be a jerk," she replies in an annoyed tone.

I groan noisily in an attempt to alert them that I'm awake. I sit up, blink a few times, and lock eyes with Asa, who stares back with an emotionless expression on his face. Abruptly, he turns and heads in the direction of the kitchen. "She's up."

"I made dinner," Maya tells me once I join them at the table. I rub my eyes and adjust my hair, which I can tell is a poofy mess. "How was your nap?"

I look at Maya and sigh noisily. "Still tired," I mumble while fighting back a yawn.

"Maybe eating will help," she responds and places a water bottle in front of me. I rest my head on my arms and shut my eyes. I feel myself dozing until Asa noisily pulls his chair from beneath the table and drops into the seat across from me. I lift my head to glare at him but he pays me no mind. Grumbling quietly, I take a long sip of my water and wait for the meal to be served.

"So..." Maya trails as we all help ourselves to the pots of food she put on the table.

"So what?" Asa retorts as he takes two pieces of chicken.

"So how were your days?" she prompts a conversation. She looks between both of us with her usual cheery smile.

"Fine," we both answer simultaneously. This gets a chuckle out of Maya, who looks from me to Asa with an entertained glimmer in her eye.

"How was your day?" I repeat in an attempt to further the conversation. He may be an asshole but I'm not. She's trying so I'll try, too.

"Good, actually," she explains with the same excited smile. "I'm happy to get a break from working. I don't have to do anything until Sunday afternoon."

"Are you guys going out tonight?" Asa inquires hopefully and I look at Maya. I wasn't even supposed to stay for dinner, I don't think. I came over to study but I practically died on her bed.

"Do you have plans for tonight?" Maya questions and I shake my head.

"No," I vocalize as I take a sip of my drink.

"Do you want to go to a party?" she proposes and I bite my lip in thought. I don't feel like going out but I will if she wants to. Noting my dubious look, she turns to Asa. "We're going to chill here and watch a movie."

"False," he starts with a shake of his head. I note the way his curls bounce as his head moves. "Those are my plans for the night."

"We can all hang out together," Maya suggests as she looks between the two of us expectantly. I feel a nudge beneath the table and I narrow my eyes at my plate. This is her trying to formally introduce us.

"Who said I want to hang out with you guys?" Asa retorts in a dry tone. Ouch.

"Fine," she retorts with a shrug. "I was going to be kind and buy us all ice cream. I guess you won't be having any."

"I can get my own ice cream," he remarks with a roll of his eyes.

"And risk leaving the apartment?" she questions with a devious head tilt. "I was going to leave Ivy here to protect the couch from you. But if you leave, who's going to protect it from us?"

He narrows his eyes at her. "Fine, whatever. But I pick the movie," he concludes, which gets a small smile from Maya. She tries to hide her satisfaction though by waving her hand between me and her.

"Two outweighs one," she retorts in reference to choosing the film.

Twenty minutes later, Maya and I join Asa in the living room. He finished eating before us and began the search for a movie. She sits on one side of him, giving me no choice but to sit on the other. I leave a gap between us as I drop onto the couch and lock my eyes on the screen poised on the wall. Maya's gaze also falls on the TV and she immediately shakes her head.

"No, hell no," she starts when she sees the genre he's flicking through. He grins maniacally at her as he continues to search through the scary movies.

"Why not?" he asks in a knowing voice.

"No, no, no," she dismisses when he lands on one. I read the description and find myself slightly intrigued. She leans over him and stares at me pleadingly. "You have my back, right?"

"Actually..." I trail quietly as I stare at the ratings. 8/10? This movie has to be good.

"Come on!" she hisses and Asa presses the play button.

"Two outweighs one," he repeats her own comeback quietly. I hear Maya whimper quietly when she sees that the movie is based on a true story. Her eyes flit to me and Asa to see our reactions before she presses herself as far as she can into the couch. She grabs a pillow, clutches it to her chest, and uses it to hide half of her face.

Maya basically watches the movie from behind her pillow, squinting and jumping at every little thing. We're barely thirty minutes in when the music starts to build, which results in Maya jumping up anxiously. "Okay, okay, that's it. I'm going to get the ice cream. I can't watch this anymore," she caves.

Asa laughs loudly and pauses the film. "Get chocolate," he insists with a playful grin on his face. I'm surprised at how happy he seems. Given, he's finding pleasure in Maya's pain.

"I'll get whatever the hell I want," she comments angrily.

"You're going to walk?" he questions in pretend shock. "In the dark?" She glares at him and he holds out his keys, swinging them like a pendulum. "You can drive if you agree to get chocolate."

"Whatever," she snaps as she snatches the keys from him. She turns to me with pursed lips and lowered brows. "Flavor, traitor?"

"Chocolate works for me," I agree with a sheepish smile.

"Two outweighs one," she mumbles mockingly as she grabs her hoodie from the kitchen chair. "Absolute bullshit." She grumpily storms out of the apartment and Asa just laughs before playing the movie again. We continue to watch the film, awaiting Maya's return for nearly twenty minutes.