We're Not Related Anymore...

Jacob

Jacob: Present Day

I rifle through my drawers to find a plain white T-shirt. I forgot to do laundry again this week and now I can't find an undershirt to go with the suit I'll wear for the funeral. Most of my wardrobe lies on the floor and it's this that prevents Josh from entering our dorm.

He starts shoving at the door and I have to remove the sneaker that's blocking his entry.

"What the hell?" He says, when he enters the room, throwing down his overnight bag. His blonde hair is mussed up and he has purple bags under his eyes. Wherever he was last night, he wasn't asleep. "Why's the place a goddamn pig sty?" He asks and then moves off the clothes that I dumped on his bed so that he can throw himself down on his covers.

"I didn't do laundry and now I can't find half the shit I need for this funeral," I say, giving up and slamming my drawer shut. I open up the suitcase that's lying on my bed and start throwing the clothes on the floor in there. Most of them are T-shirts. It's not like they have to be ironed. "Where were you yesterday?" I ask, not really caring what his answer is. My brain is still going through all the theorems I tried to memorize at four in the morning. God, I hate exams.

Josh has already finished all of his for the semester. He's only hanging around because both me and his girlfriend are still writing. Yesterday, however, he wasn't here when I came back from one of the worst papers I'd ever written. I'd wanted to get him and go to the bar across the campus but he was nowhere to be seen. And I know he wasn't with Betty because she came by the dorm to ask me where he was.

"Does it matter? And put a shirt on. Betty is coming over," He tells me, sounding uncharacteristically unenthusiastic about that. I grab whatever shirt I can find on the floor and I'm just pulling it over my head when the door opens again.

"Don't get dressed on my account," Betty says, openly ogling me as she balances a tray of coffees in her hand. She sets it down on Josh's desk and comes over to sit on the foot of his bed.

"What is wrong with you?" Josh asks, his eyes still closed. Betty purses her mouth but doesn't say anything. Instead, she shoots me a look saying 'What's his deal?' but I ignore her. She's always making weird comments about me and if Josh is finally getting tired of it, that's fine by me. I've never been a fan of her. Not even back in high school.

"Hey, are you doing ok?" She asks and tries to stroke the hair back from Josh's forehead. He catches her hand before she can make contact and drops it.

"I'm fine. Let's just go and get this shit over with," He tells us and stands up. "You're not packing to stay at your mom's?" Josh asks, seemingly only noticing my suitcase now.

"Yeah, I figured I'd leave my stuff there. I only have to go back for one more exam," I tell him, zipping the case shut. Josh shakes his head and looks like he wants to rip his eyeballs out.

"Whatever, let's just go." He grabs his car keys from out of his bag and takes one of the coffees Betty brought over. He takes a sip and winces. "This is disgusting," he says and hands me the styrofoam cup. I take it from him and bring it to my lips. Bitter, black coffee washes over my mouth and I know this one is mine. Despite Josh's prickly exterior, the only caffeinated drinks he gets are sugary and sweet.

I take another sip of my drink, starting to feel more normal and less like a zombie. Betty and I follow him out of the dorm and into the parking lot. Betty starts making small talk but quickly gives up when she realizes neither of us are interested in discussing how warm it's gotten lately. I'm still trying to reorganize my brain into not spouting out the anatomy of the human skeleton and Josh is mourning.