While You're Here

02

I finished the first of three orders just as the clock struck eleven. A pair of beaded bracelets with matching charms sat on my desk, the only thing left to do being packaging and mailing them out. But that could wait until tomorrow. I shut off my laptop and packed my things away, ready to crawl under my covers and sleep the whole weekend. We were only two weeks into the semester and I could already feel my energy draining. I didn't even want to think about what it'd be like a month from now.

In the living room, I sunk onto the couch and stared at my Pinterest feed through half-lidded eyes, forcing myself to stay awake until Ren got home and Erika finally escaped her phone call from hell. She'd shut herself up in her room an hour ago and still hadn't come out. Judging by the groan she let out when she read the caller ID, I had a pretty good guess at who was holding her up.

When she finally wandered into the room a few minutes later, she looked even more exhausted than I felt. I pulled my legs up so she could have room to sit.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take," she complained, curling up on the couch. "I was on the phone for, what, an hour? And I don't think I said more than five words the entire time."

"Luke again?"

"Mhm."

Erika had a friend back home that she'd gotten closer with over the summer. She admitted to missing him last week, but he's gotten a bit too friendly since then. They texted every day and he called so often that most of the times her phone rang, it was him on the other end. It was the love story Sage craved to hear, except Erika clearly didn't harbour the same feelings Luke did. When I first asked her if she might like him the way I was sure he liked her, she stared blankly at the wall for two minutes before launching into a tangent about how much she cared for him.

Neither Ren nor I bothered to ask again.

"He wants to see me after Thanksgiving," she said, rubbing her face tiredly. "I can't say no, can I?"

I straightened. "Of course, you can." She frowned and I shook my head. "Are you actually going to see this guy?"

"Probably." She sighed. "I don't know, Quinn. He's a great guy and we got along so well during the summer, but I don't know if I can be who he wants me to be."

"Then tell him you're busy. If he's such a good guy, he'll understand."

"It's a small neighbourhood. We'll run into each other no matter what I do and then it'll be even more awkward."

I shifted so I was facing her directly, hands clasped atop the pillow on my lap. "Okay, hypothetically," I started, "if he asked you out on a date, what would you say?"

Erika hugged a pillow to her chest. "Well, I don't think I want to date him."

"And you'd tell him that?"

"I don't. . ." She covered her face with the pillow and screamed into it. "I don't know. I don't know! He'd be so hurt and then everything would be worse, wouldn't it?"

As much as I loved Erika, she desperately needed a wake-up call. If she kept thinking like this, she would spend the rest of her life with someone just because she didn't want to upset them.

"Leading him on would be worse," I told her.

She paused and, for a split second, I thought I might have finally gotten through to her.

"One day is fine," she muttered, then repeated it as if to convince herself. "I'll hang out with him just one day. A few hours. That'll be fine."

Before I could protest, she pulled out her phone and typed a quick message. I heard the whoosh from her phone as she hit send and held back a scream of my own.

I didn't know what else to tell her. At this rate, she'd be dating him by Christmas.

—

I spent all of Saturday working on my other two orders and shipping them. Erika and Ren spent the day shopping and promised to bring me something when they returned. I guessed Erika would fill Ren in on the whole Luke situation while they were out and I was glad to have someone else on my side. Ren, unlike me, wouldn't filter her thoughts. If she thought Erika was acting foolishly, she'd tell her.

After breakfast, I situated myself on the couch, my materials laid out on the coffee table, and the third season of New Girl playing on TV. Lost in a daze, I binged half of the season while my hands worked meticulously. The stress I'd had over finishing these orders on time slowly faded as I fell into my usual groove and the tranquility of creating overtook my mind.

The girls were still gone when I finished, so I grabbed the packages and headed out to the post office. It was a beautiful Saturday—one I wished I hadn't been forced to spend inside—and I soaked up every bit of sun during the short walk.

Our little home-away-from-home was located in one of the city's older neighbourhoods filled with charming red-bricked houses. Since we were a bit farther from the city centre, the houses needed some more maintenance and weren't completely unaffordable—though the rent still made my eyes bulge. If my little business ever got off the ground, my parents wouldn't have to pay another cent—I'd take care of it all on my own.

But, for now, a girl could dream.

Erika and Ren were home when I walked through the door. They'd left a raspberry iced tea on the counter for me and were getting started on dinner. Days like these made me appreciate my little family more than I already did. I wasn't sure I would have survived out here without them.

"Oh, good, you're home," said Ren. "Help me peel these potatoes?"

I washed my hands and got to work. "How was shopping?"

Ren shrugged. "It was alright. Erika found everything she could ever want, as usual."

"Retail therapy, probably."

"For what?"

I paused. Did she not know?

"You know," I said, searching for an easy answer. "Stress. School. The usual."

Ren put her knife down and put a hand on her hip. "She talked to him again, didn't she?" She huffed, wiping her hands. "Erika! I told you to dump him!"

Erika jumped up from the couch. "Nothing happened!"

"You're a liar and I see right through you."

"He called me last night, that's all, I swear!"

Ren muttered something in rapid-fire Spanish under her breath, her go-to way of expressing herself without either of us understanding. I bit my lip to keep from bursting out with laughter. In retaliation, Erika stole a sip of my tea. I didn't argue with her; it was only fair.

It was incredible, I thought, sitting around a table with my roommates and friends, how quickly my worries evaporated. First year was a learning curve, filled with rookie mistakes and uncertainty. Second year would be better. I had a handle on things now. There wasn't anything I couldn't do.