B
A few days after the lodge trip...
Unknown number: So much for Caitlin Viray being "an old neighbor [you] can't stand" huh?
Unknown number: I knew you two were fucking and you were using me as a way to fill your time until she got back.
Unknown number: I still miss you. Let me know if you ever want to make up. (I'll drop everything if you just say the word.)
I deleted Jho's latest string of desperate text messages and considered finally texting her the "Fuck off" she deserved, but she wasn't worth my energy.
Didn't I see her with a new boyfriend?
Restless, I slipped out of bed and walked down the hall to Caitlin's room. I knocked on her door, and like the nights before, there was no answer. Since we came back from the trip, she'd gone out of her way to avoid me, and we had yet to cross paths again.
I knocked on her door one last time before slowly opening it. Her bed was empty, and her cell phone and purse were long gone.
Confused, I sent her a text message.
Me: Hey. You up?
She didn't text me back.
I headed to Deanna's room, stopping when I saw him plopping onto the living room couch. "Nakita mo ba si Caitlin?"
"Siguro." She crossed her arms. "Bago natin pag-usapan 'yan, may mas importante tayong kelangan ayusin. We need some new rules around here."
I braced myself for bullshit.
"If you and Caitlin are going to date under my roof—and yes, this is my roof just as much as it's your roof, there will be no sex on the living room couch."
"You had sex on the living room couch last week."
"Oh, yeah..." She laughed. "Speaking of which, if a sex-tape comes out this semester and our house happens to be in the background, and you think that the person in question looks like me... It's not me. It's someone else."
"Are you really this dense, or are you pretending today?"
"Well, I am pursuing a minor in Theater Arts, so maybe I'm pretending."
"I hope so." I shook my head. "Where did Caitlin go?"
"There's one last rule," she said. "You must put a sock on your bedroom door whenever the two of you want alone time, so me and my company won't walk in, and you need to ask Caitlin to hook me up with her newest friend. End of discussion." She looked at me as if she'd just closed the deal of a lifetime. "Anyway, Caitlin's probably at the same place she was last night."
"Which is?"
She shrugged. "Like I know. The only thing she said was that she wanted to get away from 'all the mother-daughter week bullshit' on campus. She also stole your bag of quarters and told me not to tell you."
I gave her a blank stare.
"What? She didn't share the quarters with me, so I'm under no obligation to keep her secret."
I laughed and grabbed my car keys, realizing where Caitlin was. "I'll be back." I headed outside and slipped into my car, heading straight for Super Suds.
When I arrived, the shades for all the windows were drawn shut, and there were no cars outside. I opened the door and made my way through the maze of washers and dryers, stopping once I spotted Caitlin in the corner.
