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Kota

B ridget Bell was my best friend on the entire planet. Ever. Point, blank, period.

I’d do anything for that girl, including take down a team of hockey players at the bar on her behalf. She was much shier than me and far more soft-spoken. She’d always had trouble standing up for herself, ever since we were thrown together as roommates freshman year in the dorms.

Our hearts were so similar, but our personalities were opposites, and that somehow made our friendship work better.

After living together for two years in the dorms, we decided to get an apartment together. The mistake we made? Rooming with two girls we barely knew.

Claudia and Carolina were the epitome of hellish roommates. Don’t get me wrong, my bitchy exterior definitely made me difficult to become friends with, but the second Bridget expressed that she had issues with them too, I knew I wasn’t the only problem.

If they’d kept to themselves and respected other people’s privacy, then we wouldn’t have had so many issues. But Claudia was a fucking weirdo. In my opinion, it wasn’t strange to hang-dry laundry, but it was strange to hang-dry thongs. She did it on a regular basis, acting as if it was the most normal thing in the world. One time, I brought a guy home and the first thing he saw when he walked in was an array of g-strings hanging from a clothesline across the span of the living room.

Aside from the weird laundry “hacks,” I was also convinced she was into some dark magic stuff. Her room looked like a vampire’s, and sometimes, the music she blasted throughout the apartment didn’t really sound like music at all. It sounded more like some creepy cult chanting.

As annoying as all that was, she still didn’t piss me off more than Carolina, who acted as if everything in the apartment belonged to her.

She’d take everyone’s belongings without asking, even self-care items that shouldn’t be shared, which was gross. Hairbrushes. Shaving razors. Makeup. Clothes. You name it, and she took it.

The worst part? She’d take people’s food too.

That sure as hell didn’t fly with me. I was very protective of my snacks.

So, I was very relieved that Claudia and Carolina weren’t home when Bridget and I got back from the bar. There was only one week left until our current lease ended and we would get to move into our new apartment, which was a two-bedroom. We’d never have to see either of them again or have to deal with any other roommates, and I couldn’t fucking wait.

My phone buzzed, and when Bobby’s name lit up the screen, I let out an irritated groan.

Bobby and I had been seeing each other for the past month. He happened to be at Stallions tonight, and we were chatting and flirting it up until the whole hockey-spill-fiasco.

I figured he would’ve stuck around until after I was done beating some sense into the hockey team, but when Bridget and I returned, he was nowhere to be found.

My hostility echoed through the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey,” Bobby said softly. “I know you’re probably pissed I left without saying anything...”

“Duh,” I spat, hitting the speaker button and setting the phone down on my nightstand while I pulled the Modelo poster out of my purse that I took from the bar’s bathroom. I unrolled it, a hint of a smile crossing my lips as I brought it up to a blank space on my bedroom wall and began taping it.

I loved liquor posters, and I’d been collecting them for the last year, ever since Bridget and I turned twenty-one and started going to the bars.

One side of my bedroom wall was covered in them; it was my own personal collection. The bar bathrooms always had liquor posters hung, and I was notorious for stealing them. I had posters about any and every liquor I’d come across.

As I slid the tape over my new poster, I knew I’d have to take it right back down in a few days considering we’d be moving, but I didn’t care.

Our new place was in the brand-new apartment building that was just built next to Stallions. When we got a tour eight months ago of the two-bedrooms, I was absolutely enchanted. Everything was gray and black, giving it a modern feel. I was pretty sure I was talking about the gray marble countertops to Bridget for the entire week following our tour.

We signed our lease immediately after that.

The school year was right around the corner, and in a gorgeous new apartment with our futures slowly coming together, it was going to be Hot Girl Senior Year for us.

“I’m really sorry,” Bobby said through the phone. “I was DD tonight and everyone kept badgering me to leave and I wasn’t sure where you went, so I just said fuck it and left to drive them home.”

I sighed. “It’s whatever.”

“Lemme make it up to you.”

I grinned, plopping down on my bed. “How so?”

“I can come pick you up?”

“Hmm, and then what?” I flirted.

I could practically hear him smiling through the phone. “You know what.”

“Fine,” I gave in, playing with the corner of my comforter. “Let me change into some pajamas first.”

“Oof,” he said, sounding wounded. “You sure? That dress you had on earlier was making me feel some type of way.”

I tapped my red nails along the edge of my mattress. “Fine, I’ll wear it. As long as it means I get special treatment.”

“All the special treatment in the world,” he assured me. “Pick you up in twenty?”

“Sounds good,” I said, ending the call.

Keeping the dress on was already a stretch, so there was definitely no way I was putting the heels back on. I swapped them for white sneakers instead.

My stomach rumbled in the slightest, so I headed into the kitchen to find a snack. Since I had twenty minutes, I toasted a bagel, then snagged my cream cheese out of the fridge. There wasn’t much cream cheese left in the container, so I only used a little bit to make sure I had enough for the last bagel I had.

After eating, I tossed a piece of minty gum in my mouth, double checked my appearance in the front mirror, and headed out when Bobby texted that he was here.

***

The next morning, I did the walk of shame all the way back up to our apartment.

Bridget was on the couch with Gossip Girl on, sitting cross-legged as she ate avocado toast.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey,” B said.

“I’m gonna go change real quick. I’ll be right back.”

“Kay,” she nodded.

I threw on some sweats and a t-shirt, then made my way back out to where B was.

“That looks yum,” I said, slumping beside her.

“It is,” she mumbled. “You can use the other half of my avocado if you wanna make some.”

“That’s alright,” I said. “I’ve got one bagel left that I’m gonna chow down on.”

She spoke as I headed into the kitchen. “How was your night? I’m assuming you went to Bobby’s.”

“Nah. I actually went to that hockey player’s house.”

B’s eyes bulged out of their sockets. She covered her full mouth with her hand, words coming out as a jumbled mess. “Excuse me?”

I let out a whoop of laughter. “Just joshing. That guy was the worst. But yes, I went to Bobby’s.”

She let out a deep exhale. “Geez, for a second I actually thought...”

“Hell no!” I said. “That guy sucked his own cock for a living.”

Don’t get me wrong, that guy was attractive. But the thing was, he knew it . And that immediately made him un attractive.

With a perfectly messy head of brown curls, a chiseled jawline, and huge, warm brown eyes, he looked like he was straight out of a magazine.

But he reeked of a gigantic ego and playboy personality, and I fucking hated guys like that.

B laughed, nearly choking on her toast. I smiled, opening the fridge and digging around for my cream cheese. “Have you seen my cream cheese?”

“No.”

Brows drawing in, I immediately became suspicious. I roamed over to the trash can, stepping a little too hard on the foot pedal, which caused it to spring up and thud against the wall.

I clenched my teeth, feeling the heat of anger slither through my bloodstream, all the way up to my brain and exit as smoke through my ears. “Are you. Fucking. Kidding me! ”

“What’s wrong?” B asked.

I grabbed the empty container of cream cheese that was sitting atop the garbage and held it up. “This!” I shouted. “This is what’s wrong!”

B recoiled in the slightest, probably fearing for our roommate’s safety. “Uh oh.”

“I’m gonna kill her,” I fumed, breathing heavily. “I’m gonna fucking kill her!” I threw the container back in the trash, turning on my heels and making a beeline towards Carolina’s room.

I’d never been very good at hiding my emotions— especially when I was angry.

I’d kill for the people I loved.

I’d also kill for my snacks.

“Kota!” B screeched, chasing after me. Right before I reached her room, B yanked me back. “Stop it!” she yelled as a whisper.

“I’m so tired of her stealing my shit and eating my food!”

B whipped me around to face her, keeping her hands firmly planted on my shoulders. “Six more days.”

“Which means I only have six days left to murder her,” I spewed.

“Kota,” she warned.

It felt like everything had been slowly building up over the last year of all of us living together, and even though Carolina and I had gotten into plenty of arguments before, usually all about her taking my stuff, it was next to impossible to keep my chill anymore.

I wouldn’t say I was the most confrontational person, but I was when I needed to be. More so, I was a realist. And if someone was doing something wrong or disrespectful or hurtful, whether that be towards me or my loved ones, then I’d speak up.

I inhaled deeply, shutting my eyes. I nodded, “Okay. I’m calm.”

“Are you sure...”

“Yeah,” I murmured. “Yeah, I’m good.”

“Okay...” she said doubtfully, dropping her hands.

The second she no longer had a grip on me, I lunged for Carolina’s door, banging on it repeatedly. “Open the fuck up!”

“Kota,” B whined, tossing her head back.

“Sorry I had to deceive you, B. But this has to happen.”

The door swung open to reveal a yawning Carolina, her hair tied back in a messy knot. “What?”

“Oh, don’t act like you just woke up,” I accused.

She pretended to be taken aback. “Um?”

“Did you just so happen to have some cream cheese this morning?”

Carolina crossed her arms, her face scrunching as if the accusation couldn’t have been falser. “No. Why?”

I took a deep breath, my hands drawing into fists. “Alright,” I said calmly. “Let’s try this again. Did you eat cream cheese at any point between one a.m. last night and now?”

She cocked a brow, slightly leaning in as if she was trying to intimidate me. “No.”

I matched her. “You are the worst fucking liar on the planet.” Pointing to the half-eaten bagel on her nightstand, I screamed, “There’s evidence right there!”

“I used my own cream cheese for that.”

With a deceitful smile, I blinked rapidly at her, crossing my arms. “Is that so?”

“Yeah,” Carolina huffed.

“You’re so fucking lucky we’re moving out in a week,” I said through clenched teeth. Sliding past her and into her room, I snagged the other half of her bagel that hadn’t yet been touched.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I’m takin’ this fuckin’ bagel,” I shot at her, trudging right back out to the living room, just in time for her to slam her door shut.

Bridget’s face was scrunched, and she gave a slight cringe, staring at the bagel in my hands. “Are you really gonna eat that?”

I scoffed, revolted by the idea. “Hell no,” I said, tossing it straight in the trash.

B’s sugary laughter filled the air, until Claudia’s voice echoed from her room.

“Hey, can you guys keep it down please? I’m trying to do something!”

Immediately, music that sounded like it was meant to be at the beginning of a horror movie blasted throughout the apartment. I sighed to myself.

Get me the fuck out of here.