Love Lessons

C H A P T E R S I X || C O L E

          || R A D I O A C T I V E  N O W  Y O U  C A N T  S T O P  I T ||    

When I made it back to my dorm, my roommate Tyler laid comfortably on the futon with nothing but athletic shorts, his phone in one hand and the TV remote in the other. He had a game on TV and although I had no idea what he was watching, I focused on it more than his curious face.

          Tyler and I were random roommates. We both are from Madison, Wisconsin, and attended the same high school but never interacted with each other. It seemed as though we hung out with different cliques and shamefully, I hung out with more of the jocks and dickheads. Based off what I know about Tyler, he was laid back, sociable, but also shy in certain situations. We went to a couple parties together and until he knew anyone, he hung around me a majority of the time.

          We weren't best friends but we didn't hate each other. He roughly knew when I came back and vice versa. On most topics, Tyler and I were open and usually talked when something bothered us. It's only been a couple weeks, but I could tell he had a hard time adjusting at first and I had no problem taking him under my wing because surprisingly, I am trying to be a better person.

          He muted the TV and sat up, running his hands through his light brown hair. His blue eye scanned me, frowned as he watched me putting away my schoolbooks, and hung my coat in my closet.

          "Where the hell were you?" He finally asked. I opened my mouth to lie to him, but I figured that would be dumb. He already knew Jess; he knew what happened with us in the closet and he knew that I had come up with this stupid deal.

          Right from the start, Tyler had nothing positive to say about the deal I made with Jess. He had a strong suspicion that we would end up in love together and no matter how many times I told him it was bullshit, but he claimed otherwise.

          "I met Jess at the library to figure out our current arrangement." I sighed, slipping off my jeans putting on sweats. I sighed in relief and changed into a comfortable t-shirt, and carefully set my clothes in my hamper.  He narrowed his eyes at me and locked his phone.

          "Are you sure this is a good idea?" He asked carefully. "Look, I don't know what your parents are like or anything, but it doesn't seem like a good idea." He sighed. I opened my mouth to argue with him but he just cut me off.

          "Jess is my friend and I have high respect for her, but I don't think she's stable for some of your bullshit."

          "My bullshit!" I laughed. Tyler sighed and rubbed his forehead.

          "It came out bad but you know what I mean. Just don't get ideas in her head.' He sighed.

          "Why? You want her?" I teased, but once the question left my mouth, I become suddenly curious. He was being overprotective. It wouldn't be hard to believe...

          "Jesus! No, Cole!" He grimaced. "She's chill and decent but I'm not into her." He groaned.

          "Got someone else?" I teased.

          "Maybe." He grinned. I raised my eyebrow at him but he shook his head. "No promises." He said, holding a finger up to his lip. I rolled my eyes and sat at my desk, opening up my reading I had to be done for class on Wednesday. Tyler often teased me for being a nerd, but since my parents were paying for school, I had to work hard to get my certain grades and honestly, I liked good grades.