Page 4 of June (New Orleans #6)

“H ey, want to grab lunch?” Jodie asked her.

“Not really,” she said without turning around. “Have I mentioned how much I hate studying?”

“Yes, a few dozen times since… yesterday,” Jodie replied and walked into Caroline’s dorm room. “Did you have fun last night?”

“I guess, yeah,” she said, turning when Jodie sat down in Viv’s empty chair.

“Where’s Viv?”

“I don’t know. Class, probably.”

“Let’s grab lunch. I’m starving.”

“Go get lunch, then.” Caroline laughed at her.

“Not in the dorm cafeteria. Somewhere else. Let’s go grab barbecue or tacos or something.”

“I have studying to do so that I can write a paper.”

“I will help you study if you come to eat with me.”

“Fine. But you’re buying,” Caroline said as she slammed her book closed. “We should get barbecue and tacos, then.”

Jodie laughed and asked her, “Did you actually have fun last night? I danced with a couple of people while you stood still for, like, an hour, and I found you in the bathroom line.”

“I told you that I didn’t really want to go out,” Caroline replied and stood. “I got a free drink out of it, at least.”

“Yeah, my drink,” Jodie remarked and stood as well.

“You left it with me,” she pointed out and grabbed her purse. “And you looked like you were having fun. You danced with that one girl for, like, three songs.”

“She was cool,” Jodie said. “She asked me if I wanted to go back to her hotel.”

“Tourist?”

“Yeah.”

“You said no? Why?”

They left the room, and Caroline locked it behind them.

“She’s here for a few days with her friends, whom she’s sharing the room with.”

“Oh, awkward,” Caroline said as they walked down the hall.

“Yeah. She told me they wouldn’t be there for a while, so we would’ve had a couple of hours, I guess, but… I don’t know. I’m not into hooking up with tourists.”

“You wanted to do stuff with me last night.”

“Yeah, you . I know you, and we’re friends.”

“But we’re not friends with benefits, Jodie.”

“I get it. It was just good that one time, right?”

Caroline laughed and replied, “Yeah.”

“Hey, I saw that girl you were talking to,” Jodie said.

“What? Who?”

“In the bathroom line.”

“I wasn’t talking–” Then, she remembered. “Oh. Her? I wasn’t really talking to her. She got bumped from behind and ran into me. She was just apologizing.”

“She’s hot, though.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Caroline didn’t actually have to guess. The woman with hazel eyes was gorgeous, and if Jodie hadn’t walked up to her, Caroline might have tried to continue the conversation after they both used the bathroom. Instead, Jodie had stood there with her and talked about the woman she’d just danced with until after Caroline had gotten out of the bathroom and hazel eyes had gone in. Then, they had gone back to the main bar, where Jodie had gotten a water for herself, and Caroline had watched the woman with the hazel eyes start talking to someone else. Not long after Jodie finished her water, she’d asked Caroline if she’d been ready to go, and that had been the end of their night.

Caroline had come back to her room and found Viv lying in her bed, reading a book. It wasn’t a textbook, either. It was a book that she was reading for fun, which wasn’t something Caroline had ever really done. They hadn’t talked, and Caroline had slid into her own bed after changing into her sweats and T-shirt.

“Are you interested in that?” Jodie asked, bringing her back to the present.

“In what?”

“Meeting someone.”

“I’m twenty years old. I’m not in a hurry,” she said. “I’m good with being single.”

“I know. But there’s something about having someone,” Jodie replied. “I mean, I like being single, too, and being able to date around and sleep with someone if I want, but it’s not the same as having someone.”

“You’re still not over her, are you?” Caroline asked as they walked toward the parking lot.

“I’m over her,” Jodie insisted. “It was a year ago.”

“That she dumped you, yeah. That doesn’t mean you’re ready to move on.”

“I’ve gone out with girls since then,” Jodie argued.

“Again, going out with someone doesn’t mean you’re over your ex-girlfriend, Jodie.”

“I loved her, yeah. Two years, Care. We were together for two years. We survived our freshman year together after dating in high school, and then she just ends it?”

“She met someone else, Jodie.”

“I know. I just loved her. I thought we would still be together, you know?”

“There’s someone else out there for you.”

“Maybe,” Jodie said. “Want to hear something messed up, though?”

“Sure.”

“I stalk her on social, as one does with their ex,” Jodie revealed, making Caroline laugh. “Anyway, she’s been with her new girlfriend for a year. They just posted pictures from their apartment. They live together now.”

“Wow. Really?”

“When she and I talked about what we wanted, she kept telling me that she wanted to maybe move in after college. She said she wasn’t sure about marriage and that it might not be her thing. I was cool with that because I’m still young and not looking to get married yet or anything. Now, she’s living with her girlfriend? And get this: in one of the pictures, there’s a magazine on their table, Care. Guess what’s on the cover.”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s a woman in a wedding dress because it’s a bridal magazine.”

“That doesn’t mean they’re–”

“Why else would they have that?”

“I don’t know, but–”

“Oh, hi.”

Caroline heard the voice, so she looked ahead on the sidewalk and saw Viv walking toward them.

“Hey, Viv,” Jodie greeted.

“Hi,” she replied quietly. “Heading out?”

“Lunch. Yeah. Want to join us?” Jodie asked.

Caroline kept the smile on her face but rolled her eyes internally.

“Oh, that’s okay. I don’t want to impose.”

“Impose? It’s just tacos,” Caroline said. “You should come.”

“I’m buying,” Jodie added.

“Really?” Viv asked, looking at Caroline as if to check if it was okay with her.

Caroline felt bad instantly. She didn’t want things to be awkward between them, and they had to live together for at least the next couple of months in a room that was hardly big enough for one of them. Viv was a good person, too. She was smart and could be funny when she wasn’t really trying to be.

“Yeah, come on,” Caroline replied. “I’m driving.”

“Um… Okay.”

The walk to the car was awkward because the sidewalk couldn’t fit all three of them side by side, so Caroline walked behind Jodie and Viv, who talked a little. Then, Jodie climbed in the back seat, which left Viv to take the passenger’s seat. Caroline wasn’t sure if she’d ever been in the car with Viv, but she couldn’t remember a time when they’d driven somewhere together. As she pulled out of the lot and into traffic, Jodie kept the conversation flowing enough from the back seat that Caroline could mostly just nod and focus on driving while Jodie entertained herself and talked to Viv.

When they got to the restaurant, they placed their orders at the counter and took the number to go sit in a booth after getting their own drinks from the soda machine. Then, Caroline sat down and wasn’t all that surprised when Viv sat down on her side.

“I’m going to run to the bathroom,” Jodie said and left her drink on the table before walking off.

“Did you and Jodie have fun last night?” Viv asked.

“Yeah, it was fine.”

“Cool,” Viv said.

“I mainly just held on to her drink while she danced.”

“You didn’t dance?” Viv asked.

“No, I wasn’t in the mood. I didn’t really want to go out, but Jodie did, so I was more along for moral support.”

“She needed moral support?”

“She won’t admit it, but she’s still trying to get over her ex. I’m not sure the feelings are still there – I don’t think she still loves her or anything – but I guess she saw that her ex and her new girlfriend moved in together. That explains why she wanted to go out last night to maybe meet someone and then didn’t go home with the woman who offered.”

“Someone offered to take her home?” Viv asked.

“Someone she danced with wanted Jodie to go back to her hotel room. Jodie said no.”

“I didn’t know that kind of thing actually happened,” Viv said with a small laugh. “Women really just ask you to go home with them to have sex? I thought that only happened on TV and in movies. That’s definitely never happened to me .”

“You’d have to go out for it to be a possibility, Viv.”

“I go out.”

“To campus stuff,” Caroline said. “And not even that much.”

“I went to that frat party last month.”

“And you thought lesbians hang out at frat parties?”

Viv laughed and said, “No, but my cousin invited me.”

“ He’s a frat guy, so that makes sense. The bars in certain parts of the Quarter would be your best bet to have a woman offer to take you back to her place. It’s more likely to happen there than at a local bar, which is why Jodie likes to go there sometimes.”

“Oh, no, I don’t want that,” Viv replied. “I just didn’t realize that it happened in real life. You see it in movies and stuff that people just walk up to you and offer to buy you a drink, but I thought that was just fiction.”

“You don’t want that?” Caroline asked her.

“No, I don’t want to go home with someone. I want to date them and maybe have a relationship.”

Caroline turned to her and offered, “I can introduce you around, if you want. I know some eligible lesbians.”

“No, thanks,” Viv replied. “It might be awkward.”

“Why?”

“I asked you out. You’ve turned me down twice.”

“I know. But we’re cool, right? We’re okay?”

“Hey, I was thinking about hitting up the career fair tomorrow. Are you two going to go?” Jodie asked them when she returned and sat down across from them.

“I kind of forgot about it,” Caroline admitted, turning back in her seat.

“I already know what I want to do,” Viv replied.

“Lucky,” Caroline said.

“Yeah, I guess. It means that I can skip all of the career fairs.”

Jodie laughed at Viv’s joke, which was interesting.

“They are supposed to have, like, a hundred booths or something, and a bunch of companies are going to be there. The one in the fall is bigger, obviously, but I think I’m going to go to this one and the one in the fall,” Jodie said. “I would like to get a good job right out of school, if possible. My sister had a hard time after she graduated. She had to take this internship where she worked for free for a full year, and they still didn’t hire her after that.”

“Your sister also didn’t start applying for jobs until after she graduated,” Caroline noted.

“Yes, she’s a procrastinator, but she’s smart and did a good job there,” Jodie replied.

When their tacos arrived, they ate and continued to talk about Jodie’s older sister, who now worked at a local casino as a dealer while she figured out her next step. After that, they switched gears and talked about Viv’s TA classes, which she was working hard to keep up with this summer. Caroline was of the opinion that she had taken on way too much, but Viv wanted to be an English professor one day, and she wanted as many letters of recommendation for her master’s program as she could get. While Viv talked a little more about how she was planning to get her Ph.D and wanted to make connections now, all Caroline could think about was that she didn’t comprehend what this shy, accomplished, and pretty woman would want with her . Caroline had no idea what she wanted to do with her life yet. Yes, she studied and got good grades, mainly due to her parents giving her a push and reminders every so often, but she also went out and partied some nights while Viv stayed up and read books for fun. She wouldn’t ask Viv why she liked her, though, because that would make this about her, and she already felt bad enough about turning Viv down twice for that date.

“Do you want to meet up before the fair tomorrow?” Jodie asked her later when they got back to the room.

“No, I have a class right before,” she replied. “I’ll just find you there.”

“Okay. I’m heading out. See you tomorrow, then. Bye, Viv.”

“Oh. Um… Bye.”

Viv was already lying on her bottom bunk with a book in her hand.

Jodie closed the door behind herself, and Caroline sat down in her desk chair, looking over at her roommate.

“What are you reading?”

“ To Kill a Mockingbird ,” Viv replied.

“Didn’t you read that in high school?”

“Yes. The freshman comp class I’m the TA for is reading it now, though, so I wanted to reread it.”

“You really are dedicated, huh?” Caroline asked.

“I guess. It’s important. I want to do this for a living.”

“I don’t know what that’s like,” she replied.

“You will,” Viv said and smiled at her.

“Wait.” Caroline squinted. “That’s not what the cover says.”

Viv turned the cover toward herself and said, “Oh, it’s in German.”

“What?” Caroline said, laughing.

“I’ve read it in English already. My grandma was born in Austria, so when she went back home last year, she bought this for me.”

“You speak German?”

“We spoke German at home until I was about five. I knew German before I knew English, technically.”

“No way. I didn’t know that about you,” Caroline said.

“My grandma lived with us and didn’t speak English.”

“That’s cool,” Caroline replied with a smile.

“I guess.” Viv shrugged.

“I’m going to get some studying done now.”

“Okay,” Viv replied and returned her attention to her book.

A few hours later, Caroline was done with studying and needed to take a shower. Viv was still reading a book in German and had been quiet all afternoon, so Caroline didn’t say anything when she changed into her robe behind her closet door and grabbed her towel and toiletries.

The thing she hated the most about having a roommate was the absence of real privacy. Viv was nice, but she was practically always around, so when Caroline needed a little stress relief, she rarely had the chance to get it in her own room. The shower was the only place where she could do what she wanted. It wasn’t the same as the small vibrator she kept hidden in her desk, but her own hand worked well enough.

She didn’t always do this in the shower, but more often than not, it was part of her routine, so after she washed her hair and body, she rinsed and pressed one palm to the wall in front of her, letting the water continue to run over her, and reached her hand between her legs, spreading them as she began to stroke. Usually, whenever she touched herself, she thought of nothing in particular. This was meant to relieve the tension so that she could get some sleep. Tonight, though, she had someone on her mind, and that someone had hazel eyes.