Poison

Chapter 7

I contemplate telling her about Asa before realizing there's nothing to tell. He's good looking and that's it. "No," I respond dully. She exhales loudly and I can tell she wants to grab my shoulders and shake me.

"Forget about Drew! You were too good for him, anyway-," she continues to rant but I cut her off.

"I'm over him, Aaliyah. I just haven't found anyone I'm interested in," I explain yet again. Since the break up two months ago, she's been trying to convince me to move on without realizing that I already have.

She sighs in slight relief before waving her hands through the air. "Well, you need to find some. I mean, what's the point of living on campus if you're not talking to boys?" she scoffs dramatically. "You live here! You can bring boys back to your dorm!" Aaliyah is a freshman this year so she has this ideal college lifestyle in mind. It's especially prominent because her parents won't allow her to live on campus, so she only gets glimpses into college nightlife. Soon enough, she'll realize that college is barely anything like the movies.

"You say that as a commuter. If you lived here, you'd understand how difficult it is to get someone back to your dorm. First, all guys want is s*x. So if you want something meaningful, you've got to spend a lot of time searching. Plus, those beds are small as hell," I list the reasons on my fingers. "Not to mention, you've got to get your roommate to leave-."

"Don't you room with Danica?" she cuts in as if that's supposed to be a plus for me.

I give her an exhausted look. "Yes, I do," I respond with a long sigh.

"Then just tell her to get lost," she oversimplifies as we reach the dining hall. Aaliyah's a year below me and Danica so she has no idea what Dani's has been doing. I never thought to update her about it last year because it never outright affected me. Now here I am stressing about going back to my own dorm on a daily basis in fear of walking in on her.

"I'm the one that's always getting lost," I inform her and her head snaps in my direction.

"Seriously?" she gasps with wide eyes. "Danica?"

"Yes," I answer with a strong nod. "Danica- the old student body president and local girl scout troop leader."

"Oh...gross," she grunts with a wrinkled nose.

"I know," I complain as I massage my neck with both hands. "She was doing it last year, too. I don't know why I even agreed to room with her this year. One of my many regrets thus far..."

"I can't believe it..." she hisses in disbelief. "Where do you go?"

"The library," I explain and she frowns sadly at me. "My friend says I can go to her apartment but I just met her a few weeks ago so I feel like I'm overstepping. I try to stay in the room after 6, though, so Danica doesn't have a chance to sneak anyone in." She shivers in disgust before we break apart to get our food.

Aaliyah finds a table and sits down before me. When I take the seat across from her, she casually nods behind me. "Okay, don't look now but there's a boy back there. I'm pretty sure you'll find him cute. He's your type," she informs me casually as she pushes around a meatball with her fork.

"When can I look?" I ask and she glances behind me and quickly nods. I peek around and see Asa sitting with a girl and a guy. I immediately turn back around and slowly shake my head.

"What? You don't think he's cute?" she gasps. "He's your type! He's light skinned with brown curly hair and nice lips. Is that not your type anymore?"

"That's Asa," I tell her quietly as if he can somehow hear me from twenty five feet away.

She squints at me as she racks her brain for meaning behind my words. "Is that some slang or something?" she questions as she searches my face curiously.

"No, that guy- his name is Asa," I clarify as I briefly point over my shoulder.

"You know him?" she inquires as a large grin spreads across her lips. She immediately takes on a suggestive expression and leans in excitedly. "Did you hook up with him? Tell me what happened!"

"Remember the friend that said I can sleep at her house whenever Danica kicks me out?" I backtrack before eating a baby carrot.

"Yeah," she replies, urging me to continue talking.

"They live together," I clarify with a hand over my mouth as I chew. Her demeanor changes and she looks slightly annoyed now.

"So he's her boyfriend?" she inquires with a tilted head.

"No, she's a lesbian. They just live together," I explain and she blinks in surprise. "They're best friends."

"So you're telling me that your friend gives you open access to her apartment where that fine specimen also happens to live?" she asks as she swings her hand around in the air.

I shrug as I take in her words. "I guess," I agree.

"Girl you better move in," she hisses as she lightly slaps the table. She peeks over my shoulder again and nods in approval. "He's so fine."

"I know," I agree with a long sigh before nudging around the spinach leaves in my salad. "But he's kind of an ass."

"Kind of?" she pries and I give a weak nod.

"He's not friendly. He's sarcastic and sassy. He barely acknowledges my presence," I try my best to explain. "He's physically my type but not his personality."

"Oh yeah, you prefer guys with no personality- like Drew," she feigns understanding. When I give her an eye roll, she scoffs noisily. "Whatever. You'll find someone else. At least he's nice to look at."

I turn around once more to get another glimpse but gasp when I see that he's staring right back at me. He looks from me to Aaliyah and back again with squinted eyes. I immediately twist back in my seat and shade my face with my hand, which earns a loud cackle from Aaliyah. I gape at her with wide eyes as I search for words to explain my frustration. "Thanks for the warning," I hiss as I feel his gaze burning a hole in my back.

"I didn't know you were going to look back," she excuses while attempting to stifle her chuckles. "You should've waved."

I give her the middle finger before turning my attention back to my food. She nods behind me with a smirk on her lips and I scowl in response. There's no way I'm turning around for the rest of this meal. "I hate you," I grumble in response.

"Thanks," she winks.