Pomegranate

Seth - 2

It was early November, and despite the two papers and one presentation he had due that week, Seth was still in bed at 2pm on Sunday, going through his emails. As much as he tried to make his room have a different aesthetic, he couldn't help but see it as his moms' house: a mess of combinations. At the beginning of the semester, he had it together – the decoration was light, with warm tones that made the space feel comfortable, he had pictures framed on his desk, and he was on top of his laundry. 

Barely three months later and most of his dirty clothes were on the floor, his desk was cluttered with Peanut Butter jars, old assignments and dirty cups. His personal life clashing with his academic life. Seth could never find the energy or time to focus on cleaning his room — lately, he had been avoiding staying there altogether.

"I mean, sure, they have a backyard, but can we really trust them with Persephone?", he continued, scrolling through the pictures.

"You're overthinking," Meredith mumbled next to him, her head nestled in the crook of his arm as she did another Buzzfeed quiz.

Seth sighed, loud and dramatic, throwing his head back. Meredith absently petted his head, tapping on her phone. There was a book on her side that she gave up on reading after fifteen minutes.

"' What Italian cheese are you'?" He asked, reading over her shoulder.

"Parmesan. Apparently I am 'lively and unique'." She smiled up at him.

When Seth last spoke to his sister and told her about Meredith, he could sense Camilla rolling her eyes at him. To her benefit, she made no criticism. His friend Max, on the other hand, had been more skeptical when Seth first mentioned he had a crush on a friend.

"Big fucking news," she had said.

"I'm serious! I think this might be...yeah, I think this is different, Max."

"Ugh. You're making me gag. Just tell me this, is it a straight guy?"

"No."

"A lesbian?"

"I-no? I don't think so?"

"Well, we wouldn't want a repeat junior year. Just saying."

"That's not even—" Seth rushed to explain.

"Who had to pick up the pieces after Olivia Burbank dumped you for Ursula Mackenzie? Who? Me and Aubrey, that's who. And we're both across the country this time!"

"Max..."

"Don't even. I know your M.O."

Seth knew what Max was saying. He had a tendency of having crushes on friends, which either became nonreciprocal delusions, or it ruined their friendship until they were both sick of each other in record time.

He wanted to say that it was different with Meredith, but he couldn't be sure yet. Not that she wasn't different in her own way — she was funny and weird and, well, lively and unique. Like Parmesan. His crushes usually ended fast once he realized how a good friendship could not always be a good relationship. But there they were, four weeks later, still together. Seth didn't want that to end anytime soon.

He was hesitant in other ways, though. It had been too little time, and in the past, he had fallen too fast, too hard, without knowing the person well enough. 

He told Meredith as much when they started planning a Spring Break trip together, still months away. It started with a casual conversation of where Seth wanted to visit on the East coast, and twenty minutes later they had AirBnB tabs open. But when he said maybe they were thinking too far ahead, Meredith had laughed.