Fall to Pieces

One

He tastes like orange jam, I think, and I almost laugh at myself. Of course he tastes like orange jam. That's what we were eating on our biscuits before he decided to kiss me. And I'm so glad he decided to kiss me, because everything about it is perfect. I'm just about to move my hands from his cheeks to his hair when I hear a grunt and an annoyed but playful voice saying, "Get a room, you two. Honestly."

We both whip around at the same time to see Lily, one of my roommates, walking through her bedroom door. Her green eyes are half open and foggy, and her magenta bathrobe hangs open to reveal blue Underarmour Sweats. Her dark blonde hair frames her face in snarls, and I laugh as she pours herself a cup of coffee and dumps half a bottle of creamer in it. She points at Porter. "Frat boy." She points to the door. "Out."

He rolls his eyes and smiles, standing up with his plate of orange-jammed biscuits. He puts it in the sink, dodges Lily's grab at his shirt, and walks over to me, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. "See you at school, Mir."

"See ya."

With that he walks out our apartment door, shutting it behind him. I don't realize I'm staring after him, thinking about his face, until Lily says, "Miranda, you've been dating for, what-"

"Four years and five and a half months." I finish her sentence automatically.

She rolls her eyes again. "This is my point. You've been dating each other for that long. Don't you ever get tired of each other?"

I smirk. "Well, that depends. Do you ever get tired of Owen, your one and only true love?" I take a bite of my biscuit, reminded of Porter's breath.

Lily sighs dreamily. "Never in a million years."

I laugh. She's been obsessed with him ever since eighth grade, and hasn't stopped talking about him since they started dating.

I'm sipping my vanilla hot chocolate (recipe at the end) when the bedroom door opens again, revealing one of my other roommates, May. She's in her coral cami and turquoise boy shorts, her curly brown hair pulled out of her face in a messy bun.

Lily scowls. "How do you manage to look good when you literally just rolled out of bed?"

May takes one look at her and snorts. "Because I don't rely on coffee to wake me up. I drink it occasionally. As a treat."

Lily narrows her eyes and slurps her coffee as loud as she can.

I get up and put my plate in the sink, then head over to the other bedroom to get dressed for school. Yes, we have an apartment and still attend high school. We won the lottery a while ago and decided to get an apartment that we would all stay in together, to get used to being away from our families during college.

When I walk in, I see my final roommate, Loretta, sleeping like I left her: hard. Her thick, wavy blonde hair is like another blanket over her head, and her thin limbs are spread all over her bed. I walk closer to wake her up, and-

"AAAHH!" She pulls a baseball bat from beneath her covers and screams a battle cry, clearly ready to beat me to a pulp.

"Oh! Morning Miranda." She sits up and yawns like nothing just happened.

I pick up the bat from her lap. "Dude! You can't just pull a baseball bat on anyone who walks by!"

"Oh yes I can! What if I wake up and someone's trying to kill you in your sleep? I have to smack them upside the head and save your butt!"

I roll my eyes and smile. "As unlikely as it is, I appreciate it. Now get up! We've gotta get moving!"
-——--------------------------------
Hey guys! Thanks for reading this book! I'm not quite sure what's happening after the climax, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Now, the recipe:

In a coffee mug, pour milk three quarters of the way full, then microwave for one minute. Stir in two spoonfuls of hot cocoa mix, then pour in as much vanilla coffee creamer as desired.