Page 78 of Septembers

somethings wrong with me

There’s nothing wrong with you.

Nick texted again, and Theo switched the conversation.

Nick-knack

Good morning handsome. Feeling better?

Want me to come by with soup?

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuck.” He dug his head into the pillow, so he didn’t hear Jordan come in until she landed on his bed.

“I heard you swear, so that means you’re up.” She was in the workout clothes she’d bought in a New Year’s health-frenzy that lasted all of three days. Her hair flopped out of a messy ponytail, and headphones hung around her neck. A foolish casual observer might think she was actually about to workout.

She nudged him. “Fun night?”

“No.”

“Why? Were his coworkers boring?” He couldn’t get into it, so he just nodded. “When is Dae coming again?”

“He lands on Saturday.”

“Hmmmmm…” She bit her lip, which was always a sign of mischief. “I’ve been thinking.”

“I told you to stop doing that.”

She stuck her tongue out with forced playfulness, but her busy fingers gave her away, fiddling with his blanket as she studied his sticker-wall.

“Jordan, spit it out.”

“What if Dae takes my room?”

“What?” He sat up, dragging his body to lean against the headboard.

He must’ve seemed panicked or pissed, because she spoke fast. “I think it’s time I live on my own, and you and Dae were already roommates once, so it makes sense.”

“You want to live alone?” Something didn’t add up. Jordan hated being by herself. She called the time she lived in her student apartment, ‘the dark year.’

“Yeah, I mean…” Her shrug was awkward. “This is the time in our lives when we should experiment, right? Try new things.”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing! I just…” It looked like she might bite right through her lip. “I don’t know. I want to hook up without anyone around.”

Theo felt like Wile E Coyote stuck under an anvil. They had a great system for hook-ups and there was never any judgement. That couldn’t be the reason she wanted to move out. He thought about her behaviour the past couple of weeks: the mysterious absences, the phone calls, the way she’d been dressing up before leaving.

“If you’re in a relationship, you can tell me. I’ll be happy for you.”

She stayed quiet, her shoulders hunched and her head down. Did she think he wouldn’t be happy for her? There wasn’t any reason he wouldn’t be. Unless…

“Jordan, no.”

“It’s not what you think.”

“Then tell me it’s not. Tell me with your own mouth that you didn’t get back together with Becks.”

She shook her head. “It’s different this time.”