Roles Reversed

15

"And you are?" he asked me. My heart sunk. Of course he wouldn't remember me. Why should he?

"I'm Sasha, Leah's new roomamate?" A look of panic flashed across his face which told me he knew exactly who I was.

"Nice to meet you Sasha. I'm Shay, Leah's boyfriend," he said.

"Nice to meet you too," I replied politely.

This was the literal definition of awkward.

"Sasha? Is that you?" Leah said as she pushed past Shay into the doorway.

"C'mon in! Do you mind the set up?" She asked me, gesturing to the small room.

Being in design school had it's perks.

"It looks fantastic!" I told her.

Our beds were on opposite walls, with a large dresser in between. A TV hung above the dresser. We had a small closet, but I would mainly use the dresser. Our color scheme was blues and yellows, with a little orange and green so it was very inviting.

"Really?" Leah asked uncertainly.

"I love it. That dresser is gorgeous," I commented, running my hand along the painted yellow wood.

"Thank you. My mom is pretty high up in the design world, so she pulled some strings to get it here for us," she explained.

I was about to reply when someone knocked on our door.

Garret popped his head in. "Are you guys getting ready for the party tonight?" he asked us. He winked at me.

"You know Sasha?" Shay asked him curiously.

"Oh yeah. We're best friends," he said seriously.

Leah looked us. "Party?"

"Yes," I said at the same time Shay said, "No."

He gave me a look. "You party?"

I put my hand on my hip. "You don't?"

He held his hands up in surrender.

"Do you guys know each other?" Garret asked us carefully.

"No," Shay said again as I said, "We went to high school together.

"Okay... Well how about you two decide if you actually know each other and Leah and I will go grab some food. It's almost five, the party's at seven," he said.

"Works for me," Leah said. She gave me a hug and Shay a kiss and left.

Once the door closed, Shay kissed me.

Haha, gotcha. Just kidding. We sat down the beds in awkward silence.

"How have you been? It's been, what? Two years since I've seen you?" he asked me.

"I'm great. Oscar and I dated up until about three days ago, all my friends are amazing, and Jay and Angie got married," I summarized. "What about you?"

"I'm doing fine. I have a beautiful girlfriend, Maddie got married last summer, and I'm at my dream school. Life could be worse," he chuckled.

"What's your major?"

"Architectural design. You?"

"Interior design. Like Leah," I said.

"Cool," he said with a half smile.

"Yeah," I replied awkwardly.

I wish Gabriel was here. She thrives off awkwardness.

"How do you know Garret?" Shay asked, lying back on Leah's bed.

"We were on the same flights coming up from Memphis. He's pretty cool, I like him," I said.

"Like him like him, or friend like him?" Shay asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "As a friend, Shay."

He smirked. "Just wondering," he said.

"How come you don't party anymore?" I asked curiously.

"I stopped after I got in a bad car accident last year. It was coming home at three in the morning and I was drunk," he said quietly. My eyes widened.

"The other guy had his five year old in the backseat. They are both okay, thank God, but I've never touched a drink since," he finished.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know or I wouldn't have brought it up," I told him.

"It's fine, I don't mind talking about it," he said.

"Why do you party now?" he asked me with interest.

"My ex was into the party scene, so he got me into it I guess," I replied.

He nodded but didn't push the subject. "You're wearing shorts," he observed out loud.

I blushed. The Sasha he knew was a jeans and sweats only type girl.

"Yeah, I am. He got me into these too," I admitted.

Shay smiled. "They look good on you," he said with approval.

"Thank you," I replied.

"So Garret," he started again. "You should know that he was head over heels in love with Rachel until he found out that the skank was cheating in his sorry a-" he noticed my warning look and changed gears, "butt, and he's just now come alive again, so to speak. So if you're interested, I'd wait a little until you make a move," he said.

"Me? Make a move on someone? Have you lost your mind?"

"You have changed a lot, so who knows," he eyes glinted mischievously.

My phone buzzed.

Leah <333

Tell Shay we are coming with food :) be there in 2

I glanced up at Shay. "Leah and Garret are on their way with food. She said that they'll be here in a few minutes," I informed him.

"Sounds good," he said. "I'll be right back."

He walked out of the room and into the one he shares with Garret.

I sent a quick 'I'm alive' text to my friends.

He walked back in a few seconds later holding a stack of paper plates and napkins.

Leah and Garret walked in behind him with Chinese takeout.

After we each had a plate of food, we sat on the floor and talked.

"I don't want to go tonight," Leah whined, "will you stay in with me? You know parties aren't really my thing," she asked Shay.

"Sure baby. Are you two still going?" he asked me and Garret.

"What if we all hung out here instead?" Leah interrupted.

"That works for me, I'm tired from flying all day," I said.

"Me too. Yeah, let's stay in tonight," Garret agreed.

We finished our food and made small talk until we shooed the boys out so we could have an hour of alone time.

"Come back at 8:00!" Leah had told them.

"So, Garret thinks you're hot," she said bluntly.

"W-what?" I sputtered.

"I'm all for taking things slow, I turned Shay down three times, but you two would be adorable together," she said.

"He is pretty cute," I said just to amuse her.

She did a little happy dance. "Best friends dating best friends! I love it!"

I loved her enthusiasm for everything.

"Hahaha, that would be cute," I admitted.

We painted out nails and chatted a bit more until the boys came back.

I think I'm going to like it here.

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