The Roommate (The Camgirl Part 2)

Part XLIV: So Fucking Dead

XLIV: Blake

Blake frowned at the lecture slides and notes that filled the screen of her laptop, wondering not for the first time if it might have been better to go to a professional school instead of a university where she had to deal with bullshit requirements that would have nothing to do with what she actually wanted to do in life.

And not for the first time, she sighed, reminding herself that four-year degrees were way more widely accepted than those of technical schools, and more often than not, provided better teachers and learning environments.

Blake glanced up from her laptop across the small table and smiled to herself, feeling a soft warmth blossom inside her.

Besides, if I'd gone to one of those, I never would have met Liam.

Her boyfriend—fuck, it felt amazing to be able to think of him that way: her boyfriend—sat across from her, laptop closed, gazing down at a book and a few sheets of paper, scribbling notes into his homework.

Liam had seemed pleasantly surprised to find that she didn't find written music as mystifying as most people apparently did. It was just another language like Javascript or C++. Even the counterpoint and analysis assignments he had seemed pretty straightforward when he explained the rules. They were like puzzles--he either had to figure out what to do, or prove what someone else had done. Like proving equations, but with something you could listen to and a lot more rules.

As she gazed at him, Blake squirmed in her seat. Even more frustrating than the need to catch up on her homework was being here with Liam, studying instead of fucking or cuddling or watching a movie or playing video games or even just talking with him. Spending so much time with him was the problem, though. That, and her shows. She was way more financially secure than usual, but that came with the cost of falling behind in studying--something worse than the few times she'd needed to work extra hard needing to scrape together a bit more money for rent or something.

Blake knew what she needed to ask him, why she needed to ask it, but that didn't make her dread it any less.

Fuck. If you don't do it now, you're just going to be even more stressed about it later.

Taking a deep breath, Blake lowered her laptop screen, "Liam?"

He looked up from his homework, dropping the pencil and smiling, "What's up?"

Just do it.

"I need to ask you something."

She hated the way her voice wavered.

His brow furrowed. Concern entered those beautiful blue eyes, along with...nervousness?

Why would he be nervous?

"What is it?"

She took another deep breath. Do. It.

"I think we need to spend a little less time together after class," She forced out, trying not to look away, "Just until finals are over. After that--I know break is pretty soon after and you're going home, but after that, I'm--"

"Blake?"

She blinked and focused on his face to find him grinning, "Is that really what you needed to ask me?"

She bit her lip, "Yeah."

Liam reached across the table and took her hand in his, smiling, seeming almost relieved for some reason, "You were way too nervous about asking that. It's finals. I know I take up some of your time, and right now studying is more important. I completely understand."