The Roommate Rulebook

Rule 3

Rule 3 (not proofread, I'll fix any errors later. This is a small chapter that appeared longer in google docs so apologies about the length, the next one will be longer. This is merely a filler).

The following morning was pretty much the opening for World War 3 and Team Alex wasn’t doing overly well.


“How long until your lesson starts?” Dev asked, leaning against the doorframe with an exasperated expression.


“There isn’t one. I’ve told you, Dev, I don’t want to go to college.” He just looked at me blankly and then shook his head.


“Why didn’t you have this debate with your parents before you moved up here?!” Dev exclaimed. I bit my lip in annoyance and rolled my eyes.


“Because my parents won’t listen to me! They want me to go to school and be half the student that my sister was. That isn’t going to happen so I may as well pack in the family dream now,” I countered.

It was at this point that Ash, who had proclaimed himself ‘no man’s land’ wandered into the living room in just his bottoms with a rather unattractive bed head.

“Can I just in interrupt here and say that I am trying to get over a hangover and I would appreciate it if you were to both put a sock in it,” he grumbled as he plodded into the kitchen. By the sounds of the drawers, I assumed that he was looking for some paracetamol.

Dev moved away from the doorframe and dropped onto the plush sofa. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

“Alex, you’re asking me to lie to your parents,” he muttered. I shrugged.

“You do nothing but lie to your own parents, what makes mine different?” Team Alex was clearly in the lead, I just silently begged that it stayed that way.

After Melinda got her first award, I had my first maths test failure and breathalyzer test pass. I’d assured him that because I’d passed one test with flying colours, I was on top of everything. He didn’t find the joke very funny. From that moment on, it seemed like my mum and I against my dad and Melinda. It was safe to say that my mum eventually joined my dad. What can I say? I liked to live in the moment.

“Can’t you just let her skip college for a few days to find a job?” Ash asked as he walked out of the kitchen. My look of disbelief mirrored Dev’s. “And if she can’t find one, ship her off home so I don’t have to deal with her voice in the mornings,” he finished. I rolled my eyes and slumped down onto the arm of the sofa.

“If you find a job and stay here, you have to ring your dad and tell him,” Dev started but I shook my head.

“Not until I’m 18,” I countered.

“That’s six months,” Dev deadpanned and I groaned.

“Cut me some slack here! Just until they find out. They might not find out,” I tried to assure.

“They receive progress reports.” I glared at Ash for his input before turning back to Dev. He checked the clock and then sighed, waving his arm in dismissal.