Whiteboard:

My friend is coming over today.

She will be spending the night.

I will be sleeping on the sofa.

-Alex

The best thing to do was pretend it never happened. That is what I did for the next couple of weeks. I went to work, went to my classes, and did my own thing. I even started looking at “roommates wanted” ads. Elijah was out most of the time, too.

I did jot on the white board that I was making a turkey dinner several days ago, and that Seth, Lexy, and Dean would be here for Thanksgiving. I didn’t know if he saw the note or not, but at this point, I didn’t care. That whiteboard was his idea and if he didn’t bother to look at it, then it was his problem. Whether he chose to be here or not would be his decision.

Liam texted me to let me know he wasn’t going home for Thanksgiving. I asked him if he wanted to come just to see what he would say, but he opted out, knowing it would mean being with my group of friends. If there was any doubt in my mind about breaking up with Liam, he just gave me one more reason to do so. I don’t know what I would have said if he had agreed, but I couldn’t wait for Christmas break so I could finalize our breakup. I also couldn’t wait to see Emma. When the doorbell rang, I ran knowing who it was.

“Emma,” I cheered as I opened the door. But it wasn’t her. The girl who stood before me was someone I had never seen before. She was tall and beautiful with long dark hair. The look she gave me summed up her personality. She was not to be messed with.

“Who are you?” she asked. Her tone was not sweet. In fact, it was more like how dare I be there.

“I’m Alex, Elijah’s roommate. Can I help you?”

“Can you tell Elijah that I came by?”

“Who should I say stopped by?”

“Clara,” she replied quickly and left.

Clara…why did that name ring a bell? Then it came to me. Lexy’s brief discussion about how Clara was Elijah’s disaster and the initials on his tattoo. C-L-A-R. The missing letter must be A.

Almost immediately after I went back inside, the doorbell rang again. This time I was careful to check and I was rewarded with the sight of my friend.

“Emma,” I squealed. She grew out her auburn hair and she looked cute in her jeans and striped sweater.

“Alex.” She threw herself at me and I happily held her tightly as the tears of missing her came crashing through. She was my comfort, my warmth, and my home.

Wiping any evidence of the tears I had, I welcomed her in. “So…what do you think of my place?”

Dropping her bag, she glanced around. “It’s cozy, just enough furniture, nothing fancy. For a place with two girls, you sure didn’t decorate this place the way you and I would have.” Emma curled her lips and lifted her brows. “I’m just giving you a hard time ‘cause I’m jealous.” She nudged me, breaking me out of my thoughts, wondering if Elijah would be home tonight. “Did you remember to defrost the turkey?”

“Yeah, I got your text. Follow me. I’ll show you to my room. I’ll sleep on the sofa.” Emma trailed behind me.

“You don’t need to sleep on the sofa.” Emma gave me that pity eye look.

“Of course I do. You’re my guest. It’s too bad I don’t have a bigger bed. Hey, I didn’t make anything for dinner, so I thought I could take you out and show you the campus.”

Emma didn’t answer, her eyes swung to the sound of the door being opened. When her eyes grew wide and she sucked in air, I knew who had entered. She was taking in all his hotness, seeing his fine sculpted chest as he peeled off his leather jacket and set it on the sofa.

With her eyes still on Elijah, she smacked my arm lightly and mouthed, “Where on Earth did he come from? Tell me you see what I’m seeing. Or did my dreams just come true?”

When Elijah turned at the sound of our voices, he gave a shy sexy grin to Emma, but when he saw me, his smile faded. I’m not sure what I did to deserve this cold treatment from him, but it made me want to move out even faster. Needing to be polite for Emma’s sake, I introduced them.

“Emma…this is Elijah. Elijah…this is Emma, my friend from home.”

Emma giggled like a schoolgirl. “Hi,” she waved.

“It’s nice to meet you, Emma.” Elijah shook her hand. “You’re the one who’s going to bake our turkey. That’s very sweet of you.”

“You’re coming?” she squealed too happily.

“I’m pretty sure I am since I live here.” He let out a short chuckle.

“You live here?” She sounded completely surprised and that’s when Elijah looked at me. Now he knew I hadn’t told her about him. Good! He’ll seem less important and his ego might come down a notch or two. Or maybe he won’t care.

“I guess Alex didn’t tell you.” His tone sounded somber, almost as if he was disappointed.

“I did,” I butted in. “She knows you as Ellie.”

Emma looked confused, looking at me with those big eyes of hers, asking me for clarification.

“Emma, Elijah’s nickname is Ellie. I didn’t know before. I didn’t tell you because….” I paused, flicked my eyes at Elijah. “Anyway, I won’t be staying here too long. Also, Emma and I are on our way out so you can bring home whomever you want.” I don’t know why I said what I just said, but it was too late to take it back. “And by the way, someone named Clara stopped by.” After I said those words, I headed to my bedroom without making eye contact with him. I needed to get our jackets and purses and get the hell out of there. It was too hard to be in the same room with him.