Promises || Road To Nationals

|14| And They Were Roommates

Jordan's POV:

   Just like that, the world is back to normal: I go to school, work full time at the cafe, and go to practice. Even though the Toronto City Classic only lasted one day, it feels like my life has been drastically changed. Everything feels a little different than usual.

   "Uggggh, I'm so tired!" Vex complains, leaning on the wooden cafe bar. Kai sits on a stool on the other side. And as always, I'm the only one setting up for opening. If Mr. Boss-Man were here, he'd fire those two slackers on the spot. I wonder if he'd give me a raise if that happened? 

   "Quit complaining," I grumble as I mop between Vex's feet and the bar's wall. Clearly, whoever closed last night did a shitty job. "Just because you're tired doesn't mean you get to slack off." 

   "Oh, look at you, little miss responsible. I'll have you know beating a world-class skater takes a lot outa you; not that you'd know anything about that," she says with a smug smile. 

   I hit her in the face with the top of the mop. She freezes for a moment, in awe that I had the balls to hit her, but I'm way too tired to care at this point. Yesterday's affairs took a lot out of me as well. "Shut up and do your job. Aren't you supposed to be a manager?" 

   Kai snickers at that. 

   "Oh, gimme that," Vex shouts, grabbing the mop from my hands. She hates it when I attack her authority as a manager, "And quit laughing at me, pretty boy!" She walks off, using rage to give her the energy to do what's already expected of her. 

   I take her spot at the bar. If she gets to slack, then I deserve at least a little break, "Tired?" I ask Kai, leaning on the counter. 

   He smiles, resting his head in his arms. He looks up at me with his usual beautiful eyes. But today, there are bags around them. Even though he tries to hide it, I can see the exhaustion, "You can say that," he chuckles, "You look pretty tired yourself." 

   "Yeah," I admit, "I had some homework I needed to get done before my class later today." 

   "Ugh, don't remind me," he buries his face in his arms, "I still need to do the essay for Language Arts." 

   "Yo, seriously!? That was due like three days ago!" 

   "I know," he grumbles

   "HEY! QUIT SLACKING!" Vex yells from the back, waving the mob over her head, "If I gotta do this shit, then so do you! This ain't America no more bitches!" 

   I roll my eyes and push myself off the bar. Kai melts out of his seat, and we move to the back, getting everything up and running. 

   While we work I find Kai glancing over at me every other second. I think he likes to forget I have peripheral vision. "What is it?" I ask.

   He jumps at the sound of my voice. It takes him a second to respond, "Umm... What's it like living with Erin?" 

   "Terrible," I say without hesitation, feeling as though dispart has taken me by the throat and thrown me around like a rag doll. "I can hear everything... everything.

   "Uh-...oh," Kai takes a few steps away from me.

   I look up at him to see his scared expression, "Why are you asking?" I raise an eyebrow. 

   He scratches the back of his head, "Well, you see, the college just assigned me a new roommate. He's moving in later today." 

   "Oh," I respond with little emotion, "I'm sure it'll be fine then. As long as he isn't a playboy that brings girls over daily, then you shouldn't have a problem," I try reassuring him.