lost and found | gilinsky

3.2

Nadia

By the time I got back to my suite in the Oneida building last night it was three in the morning.

Gilinsky begged me to stay at the hotel with him, but since Mom is paying good money for me to live at Binghamton - not stay in some cheap hotel room, he reluctantly let me take the bus back to College-in-the-Woods.

It was going to be our first night away from each other since Mom agreed to let him stay at our place, and while I know it was going to suck, I also knew it was necessary. It was bond to happen sooner or later, so I figured why not just rip the band aid off as quick as possible.

"It hurts less this way, I promise," Dad used to tell me. Ever since then I've had this sort of mentality that if you push through things quicker it's easier. It's worked fifty percent of the time.

Everyone was still awake when I walked in, so I didn't feel too bad about staying out as late as I did, but right now as I listen to Kaylan's alarm go off at ten o'clock in the morning I start to regret that decision.

"Shannon, please," a voice argues from the other side of our door a few minutes later. Loudly. If I wasn't up before I'm definitely up now. I open my eyes to see Kaylan frozen in the middle of our room.

"Matt, get out of the way. I'm leaving." Shannon (I'm assuming) sighs.

"Please, baby. I'm sorry."

I fight the urge to groan. It's the Matt I ran into yesterday in the hangout. I'm guessing the girl he's holding hostage right now is also the one from yesterday. Too bad. She seemed nice enough.

"Screw you," she scoffs. There's a hard slam, silence ensuing.

"Shit," Matt hisses. He throws his fist against a wall, scaring the shit out of Kaylan and me. She squeaks a little, then looks over at me. We giggle together until we hear a new voice.

"Calm down, mister cranky-pants," someone grumbles. His voice is so deep it's almost like it rumbles the whole suite. "Some people are trying to sleep."

"Fuck off, Cam."

"You mean like Shannon just did?"

My eyes widen and I'm surprised Kaylan doesn't pass out because of how hard she gasps. This guy has some balls. They must already be close friends or something, I can't imagine a complete stranger having enough guts to let that slip.

"Go get your stupid fuckin' beauty sleep, stop being an asshole."

"I'm not the one being a hole in the butt, man. Lower your voice. She had every right to ditch you."

Hole in the butt? I mouth to Kaylan. She shrugs, a smile spread across her face. I wonder what Matt could've done to make that Shannon girl so angry. She's one of our suite-mates, so I'm assuming her and Matt are dating and requested to be in the same living space. Or were dating.

Matt doesn't bother trying to be a little quieter, instead he practically yells, "you're pissing me off so fucking much, I might just have to punch you!"

"Stop cursing," Cam scolds. "I'm not your punching bag."

"You're not my fucking dad either! Shut the fuck up!"

"You know I hate talking to you when you're like this."

"Then stop talking to me! Leave! Leave like everyone does! I'm better off on my own anyway!"

I bite my lip, digging myself further under my covers. The conversation Kaylan and I are eavesdropping on is getting really intense and I'm starting to feel a little guilty. I glance over at her to see how she's reacting, the smile completely wiped off her face. She's pale as a ghost.