false god

chapter 1

What does one get a moody, night-owl roommate with a penchant for sports and burgers by the pound? Apparently, nothing. Though, not for lack of trying.

Taylor had been at the mall for three hours and her wallet was no lighter than the moment she had walked through the door. She had wandered the aisles of every store her, she was pretty sure, and somehow nothing had jumped out at her. It was absolutely ridiculous; she should be able to find something to buy for Travis's upcoming birthday!

"Woah, you okay there?" Gigi asked, watching as Taylor violently speared her noodles with her plastic mall folk.

"Nothing. Not one thing!" Taylor said, waving her free hand, "Not one thing in this entire story that I feel is worth getting for Travis's birthday!"

Gigi laughed, "You're being dramatic, and this is me saying it. I'm the most extra person we know," She said with a raised eyebrow. As it was, Gigi was dressed like she was attending an Oscars afterparty and not a mall day with her best friend, "Just give him a Barnes and Noble gift card and call it a day," She added with a nonchalant shrug.

"Are you joking?" Taylor asked, "I can't just get Travis that!"

"Uhm, why not?"

"Because we're in a gift-giving war, obviously!"

Gigi looked at Taylor like she was crazy. Taylor swore to God she wasn't.

She'd known Travis Kelce for only about two years. Her, Gigi, Patrick, and Travis had all been put into a little group for their college Freshman orientation experience. The four of them were about as different as different people could be; Taylor The Overachiever, Gigi the Rich Kid, Patrick The Jock, and Travis the Moody Loner, but somehow something had clicked. All through Freshman year, they'd all been practically inseparable, particularly with the formation of Taylor and Gigi as best friends and Patrick and Travis as close as brothers. They'd hung out in Gigi's dorm (she'd gotten the best one) or come to Patrick's football games. They watched Travis's favorite weird movies or helped Taylor collect quotes for her journalism classes. They were rarely seen without one of each other in some collection of pairs or groups, so Taylor knew Travis fairly well.

At the time to move out of the dorms, Gigi got an expensive New York lofted apartment that Taylor couldn't have ever afforded in her wildest dreams. Gigi had offered to let Taylor live there free of cost, but Taylor had far more pride than to let that happen.

So, she'd gone apartment searching. She'd found a two-bedroom that she knew if she split with someone else, it would be manageable. She'd started half-heartedly looking at the other girls in her class for possible choices, but hadn't felt right about any of them.

When Travis mentioned that Patrick was living in a big apartment with all the football players and was too looking for accommodations, it had seemed logical to invite him as her other roommate. They were fantastic friends and both in the same Program at NYU; Taylor for Journalism and Travis for Criminal Science. Taylor knew they would end up sharing at least a few classes and that their start times would be similar, so in all, it seemed like a completely logical conclusion.

So far, it had been the perfect solution.

Travis wasn't a bad roommate, but living with another person was always a little stressful. Taylor was sure there were quirks about her that bothered the hell out of him, and her list was fairly short when it came to complaints. He was often up at 3 am and sometimes woke her, he had a bad habit of leaving his laptop and handwritten notes on the kitchen table, and the worst was that he was really shit when it came to cleaning. Taylor, the anal-retentive person she was, had made up this really nicely color-coded 'Chore List'...which he completely disregarded. Not to be rude, she had discovered, but he was usually so into his writing or reading that something like chores just...fell by the wayside. If she physically took his laptop away and told him to go scrub the sink or unload the dishes, he'd sheepishly do so, but to ask Travis to do anything by his own accord was basically out of the question.