Breathing Room (Waiting Room #2)

Chapter 1: Moving Day (Part 3)

Yeah, there had been no mention of whether they were girls or boys. And with their names, Ryan had just assumed... He took a deep breath and let out a shaky laugh. "Guess you already knew Pete and I were dudes."

"Doesn't matter to us, honestly," Harper said with a half-smile. "We're all lesbians. That cool with you?"

"No problem at all," Pete said. He hooked a thumb toward Ryan. "He's gay."

Ryan winced. He still wasn't used to being out, and he also would have preferred to out himself, but maybe it was better to be up front about it.

Behind Sam, Jordan was making the same face as Ryan.

"Sam, I can't believe you didn't tell them," Jordan groaned. "I knew this was gonna happen."

"Hey, this is about equal rights," Sam said in a no-nonsense tone.

"I'm all for equal rights," Pete agreed, still grinning. "So long as that means you're still gonna help us haul our crap up there."

Sam rolled up her sleeves. "As long as you clean up after yourself and don't spend your whole day jerking off, we're good."

Pete held up his fist, and Sam bumped it with hers.

True to their word, the girls helped Pete and Ryan move in. It seemed to take hardly any time at all to get everything out of the car and up into the top-floor apartment. Sam matched Ryan with how much she could carry. When Ryan walked into the apartment and saw the assortment of kettlebells and hand weights in the corner of the living room, Ryan knew he and Sam would get along just fine.

The room wasn't huge, but Pete and Ryan were used to sharing, so the space felt luxurious – especially since there were bunkbeds, leaving plenty of floor space. Ryan might have to go back for his television and DVD player after all. For now, he could watch movies on his laptop. If he even had time to watch movies, between classes and working and homework. He'd been worried about having time to call Jacky every day. But maybe that would all work out.

"Done," Pete declared, tacking up a Styx poster over his bed. He had claimed the top bunk, and the ceiling as well as the walls around his bed were covered. The group home had only allowed them 2 posters each.

"I don't know, you might have missed a spot," Ryan said. He had no posters. He had tacked up his class schedule on the wall above the desk, where he'd stacked the used textbooks he'd bought online.

Pete laughed. "I swear, you have a 70-year-old man's sense of humor. Let's go grocery shopping."

"Can that wait until tomorrow?" They had made a plan to buy pizza for their new roommates for helping move in. That should tide them over until then.

"No way! I need snacks, stat. And what about breakfast? Do you expect me to go grocery shopping on an empty stomach?"

Ryan checked his phone. No notifications. He felt a hollowness fill his chest – he'd gotten used to the little serotonin boost a text from Jacky would bring. Jacky hadn't even posted anything on his social media accounts, unless Jacky had gone so far as to block Ryan. He wouldn't do that, would he? Does the breaker-upper do the blocking, or the dumpee?

He nearly put his phone away before remembering why he'd pulled it out, to check the time. It was only three, too early to think about pizza. He supposed going shopping meant they could both start looking for jobs. "Okay then, roomie. Let's get some food."

***

Ryan had his grocery list in hand, yet somehow nothing in his cart was on the list. Not the eight cans of Spaghetti-O's or the tub of peanut butter, or the case of spicy ramen. He stared at the broccoli and took a plastic bag, ready to put something remotely healthy from his list in the cart.

"These are on sale," Pete said, tossing three boxes of Lucky Charms on top of the ramen. He was gone before Ryan could protest. Not that Pete would have heard with his headphones on.

The next time Pete returned, however, Ryan was ready for him. He physically blocked Pete from putting a bright green frosted cake into the cart. "That's not on the list."

"It's for your birthday!" Pete said.

Ryan furrowed his brow. "My birthday?"

"On Thursday."

Somehow with all the college excitement, Ryan had entirely forgotten his own birthday. He didn't really think he wanted a green frosted cake, but Pete had good intentions. "Okay, fine."

Pete gleefully set the cake down in the child seat. Ryan grabbed his sleeve before Pete could escape.

"We need to get the stuff on the list," he stressed. "We need actual food."

"Spaghetti-O's is food," Pete said. "Ramen is food."

"Like, actual vegetables and stuff." Ryan raked a hand through his hair. "I don't want to gain the freshman fifteen."

Pete made a face. "For real? You're the buffest guy I know. You'll be fine. You can probably eat whatever you want and never gain a pound." He glanced down at his own pudgy belly and pulled the hem of his shirt down.

"Come on, I know it's fun not to have Hope and Darren forcing us to buy asparagus, but we need some real food. The girls aren't gonna appreciate a bowl of cereal on our night to cook."

"Fine." Pete heaved a sigh. "What're we cooking, then? The group home special?"

"Why not?" It's easy, and we know it tastes good." Ryan looked over the list. "Okay, so you go find some beef, and I'll take care of the veggies.

"What about Hope's special sauce?" Pete asked.

"She gave me the recipe." Ryan didn't mention that her special sauce was simply soy sauce with honey mixed in.

Pete headed to the frozen meats section and Ryan took a deep breath. He just needed to get through the grocery shopping, and then he could curl up on his bed and feel sorry for himself.