Trust No Bitch: Part 2

Gemma Akintola

Packing for the Christmas holidays was supposed to be an expeditious affair the way Gemma had intended it. After Clara's prompt exit at lunch, followed by an extremely agitated Lilly, Alice and Gemma weren't in the mood to hang around at the dingy coffee shop they'd found themselves in much longer and so the two of them had returned to the uni. Whilst Gemma was sure Alice would spend the drive back mulling over the new plan, she spent it formulating a perspicuous schedule for the evening, one that would allow her to be at home with her family in time for dinner. She'd get back to the flat, chill for no more than an hour, pack, say goodbye to her roommate, Ellie, and then hit the road, hopefully no later than 7pm. However, her plan was quickly flawed by her own hesitation upon arriving back at the flat and walking in on said roommate necking Jade March, Josh Young's ex-girlfriend, and daughter of Detective March, on the living area sofa.

"Oh, shit! Uh, sorry, uh..." Gemma floundered with an abrupt spin on the spot to close the door behind her.

"Gemma!" Ellie exclaimed, wresting Jade off her, who didn't sit back without a stony-faced inspection of Gemma. "I thought you weren't going to be back until later, uh, this is Jade-"

"Uh, yeah, we've met, I think..." Gemma murmured, waving awkwardly and making her way towards the hallway that led to her room. Her eyes circumvented both Ellie and Jade as she passed them and she could've sworn she heard Ellie mumble "that was strange" from around the corner before she slammed her bedroom door shut. It wasn't like she could even start packing; it would involve leaving her room to retrieve her belongings from around the flat and no amount of money would persuade her to voluntarily witness her beloved roommate's tongue down Josh's ex's throat for a second time. Ellie? And Jade? Gemma thought to herself as she paced around her bedroom. Ellie emanated the warmth of a mid-July heatwave, the type that comes just that little bit too prematurely to be fully enjoyed, makes too-small secondary school shirts adhere to the chest, shines through classroom windows, draws sweat from the pores of the screwed up faces attempting to fathom what it is that 16 mark exam question is really asking. Jade March on the other hand, was as warm as the bottommost part of the Arctic ocean. She was a human black hole. Gemma had seen her suck the light out of Josh in front of her very eyes. Maybe they both see something in her you don't, Gemma told herself as she plonked down on her bed and scooped her laptop up off the floor, but it was clear that was a thought she couldn't accept. She was completely unable to pay any attention to the film she decided to watch to kill the time and later stuffed a pair of pants inside a lone sock, mistaking the former for the matching pair of the latter, as she packed away everything in her bedroom. She was just waiting for that distant slam of the door to go out and recover her stuff from the living area and then get on her way, only it didn't come. One hour passed, then two, Gemma watching despairingly as the minutes evanesced in front of her. What is time if not an ever running thief? She thought, the same phrase that had crossed her mind in the interview the day they discovered Cleo's corpse in the river. What are you if not a petty, begrudging bitch? Followed on from her first thought, though she quickly reassured herself her resentment of Jade was solely out of concern for Ellie. It was on that note that her mind went to Clara, who she expected would have arrived home already; it would be her first time properly back in the place she and Cleo grew up together since before she first went missing. Restive and concerned, Gemma reached into her bag and pulled out her phone, dialling Clara's number and sitting patiently, waiting to hear her voice on the other end.

"Gemma? Alright?" She said upon picking up, sounding slightly panicked. Then again, the fear wasn't surprising considering most of the phone calls between the four of them in the last month or so had been trauma related. "What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing much. I'm just checking up." Gemma murmured, flopping back onto the bed, frizzy head landing perfectly on top of her pillow. "Ellie has Jade March round here and they're semi dry humping all over my sofa. And anyway, I was just wondering if you were okay. Are you home yet?"