Denial

Chapter Two: Brick Wall

Reed 

Matt was lounging on the couch with the TV on when I walked back into the room. He looked up when I entered.

"You look happy. Who are you and what did you do with Reed Garcia?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Look at that. Good mood's gone."

Heading into the kitchen, I pulled open the fridge and reached for the leftover spaghetti from the other night. I'm pretty sure it was Matt's, but I didn't care. Food was food.

Popping the bowl into the microwave, I pulled out my phone. There were three messages from Annabel. Usually I text her during class, when I actually go, but I didn't today because of those stupid notes. Why the fuck did I take notes today?

Instead of reading the texts, I called her instead. She answered immediately. "You didn't sleep through your class again, did you?"

I didn't bother with answering that. "You wanna come over?" There was no need to explain further. She knew exactly what I was asking.

"Definitely. What about your roommate? Is he there?"

The microwave beeped, and I grabbed my food, which was now way too hot. "He won't be in a minute." I took a bite anyway and practically burned my tongue off.

"Great. I'll be right over." I could hear the smile in her voice.

I hung up as I shoveled the rest of the pasta into my mouth. "Matt!" I called, my mouth still full. "Annabel's coming over!"

"Don't have to tell me twice," I heard him grumble, then the TV turned off. He appeared in the doorway of the kitchen a moment later. "Just stay off my bed this time. That was absolutely gross, dude."

I rolled my eyes, dumping the now empty bowl into the sink. Matt could wash that tomorrow. "No promises." It's not my fault that his bed happened to be closer to the door than mine. It was more convenient and a hell of a lot easier to get to.

He sighed and shook his head before leaving the room.

I had a couple minutes before Annabel got here. I was glad that she was coming. I haven't had sex with her in almost a week because she's been busy. I needed this today.

About five minutes later, there was a knock at my door. Finally. Took her long enough.

I pulled open the door to reveal the one person I least expected to be here. It was that kid from class. The annoying one.

"How the fuck did you know I lived here?" I demanded.

He looked at me confused. "I'm actually not here for you. Uh, I'm looking for Matt."

I groaned. "Of course you are. He's not here, dipshit."

"Ouch. You don't have to be so rude. What did I ever do to deserve that?"

"It's not specific to you. Don't feel special."

He shrugged. "So are you going to tell me when Matt will be back, or not?"

"I'm gonna go with not." I didn't even know when he'd be back, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of telling him the truth. Besides, usually when Annabel came over, he left for the night.

Speaking of, where was that bitch?

I pulled out my phone to call her when I noticed a message on the screen: Sorry. Something came up. Can't come over.

I shoved my phone back in my pocket angrily. "Goddammit."

"Something wrong?"

What was this kid still doing here? "None of your fucking business. Why are you still here?"