The Camgirl

Part XLV: An Ultimatum

XLV: Blake

Blake took a deep breath as she stepped out of the elevator onto Liam's floor. She'd been here before, but...

Blake took another deep breath, turning down the hall toward Liam's door. As she walked, she tried to ignore her stomach as it flipflopped around.

I don't have anything to be nervous about. This is Liam. He was my friend first. He liked me enough to hang out with me when I made it clear there was zero chance of anything sexual happening. That means he'll want me, right? He won't reject me?

Blake had to swallow the lump that formed in her throat at that last thought. She stopped in front of Liam's door, just staring at it for a moment before she raised a trembling hand and knocked on the door.

Fuck, even my stupid knock is nervous.

Blake heard some muffled talking from inside, then a call of "It's open!"

Frowning—she didn't think that was Liam's voice—Blake twisted the doorknob. She hesitated, taking another deep breath before pushing into the room.

Liam's room was about as messy as before, the layout itself again making Blake thankful that she'd decided to live in an "off-campus" apartment. Though the room itself was not new, its occupants were.

At the far left of the room, an Indian boy with a clean-shaven, angular face and short, styled hair, sat below a lofted bed, the backlight from a computer shining faintly on his skin. He wore flannel PJ pants and a shirt that, while not tight, showed off toned arms and what looked like a relatively fit figure. On the right, looking down at her from the top of a lofted bed, was a scruffy, dirty blonde boy with short hair and tanned skin. Blake thought he was wearing a T-shirt as well, but he was too bundled up in his blankets for her to tell. Both were handsome, just not in the same way as Liam. Though the Indian boy was very good looking. The thought of introducing him to Chloe crossed through Blake's mind for a moment, and she smirked at the thought. As she took in the rest of the room, however, Blake frowned.

Liam was nowhere to be seen.

For a moment, Blake thought of just leaving, but realized how strange of an introduction to Liam's roommates that would be. She also had no idea where to find him.

Strangely, Liam's absence made her a bit more confident in the face of new people. Though part of that might have been because Liam had talked about his roommates enough that Blake felt like she knew them about as well as she knew Sophie.

"Swar and Eli, right?" She asked, gesturing to the Indian boy and the scruffy boy in turn as she walked deeper into the room and sat down on Liam's empty chair. She had to suppress a sigh as she was able to smell him again.

The two boys exchanged a confused look before nodding.

"Who are you exactly?" Eli asked, eyeing her with a bit of understandable confusion at her invasion of their room.

"Blake," she said, "Liam's friend."

Eli barked a laugh and Swar rolled his eyes.

"That explains soooo much," Eli said, laughing a bit.

Blake undid her jacket and scarf a bit as she looked at Swar, who was studying her now, then to Eli, "Explains what, exactly?"

"Why Liam's been spending so much time with you," Eli said.

"And why he talks about her the way he does," Swar added, looking to Eli for a moment before turning his gaze back to Blake. He frowned, "Did you come by before or something? You look familiar. Liam said you were a Comp-Sci Major, right?"