Page 10 of Derivation

“You were nice to Enya just now, so I know you’re not mad at the world. You’re mad at me about something. What is it? I’d like to either explain or apologize so that we can move the hell on.”

“It’s fine. I just slept wrong, like you said.”

“That’s a lie. Come on, Sarai.”

“God, you’re so annoying. Can you just chill and eat so that we can get to work?”

“No, because my best friend is pissed at me, and I don’t know why.”

“You really don’t know why?”

“No.”

“Arlowe, Violet just moved out. I mean, she left literally days ago.”

“I know that.”

“I get that you wanted to move into her room because it’s the biggest and you have your own bathroom now; that’s whatever.”

“You’re pissed that I moved into her room? I had dibs, Sarai. When we all moved in nine years ago, we said–”

“I know what we said. I’m not mad at you for taking the room. It would’ve been nice to finally have my own bathroom, but I get it.”

“Okay. Then, what? You’re worried that I won’t let you use the bathroom if the other one is occupied and mine isn’t? Vi let us use it. I will, too.”

“It’s not about the stupid bathroom, Arlowe. Violet just moved out, and three of us talked about this. We decided we were going to wait and see if we needed another roommate or just wanted one to save a little more money. We agreed.”

“This house is not cheap, Sarai; even when it was four of us. The landlord just raised the rent by ten percent when we renewed our lease, and that’s on top of the ten-percent increase last time. It should be illegal to hike it by that much, but whatever. I know the business is better off than it was a year ago, but it’s not like it’s profitable. We’re still not making real paychecks, technically.”

“I’m aware of all of those things, but we do things as a group, Arlowe. We make decisions together. You, me, and Enya all decided to try to have it be just the three of us. The fourth room could be a better workspace or something.”

“The garage is still big enough for us. My old bedroom isn’t; trust me. It barely fit me and one other person in there when I had someone over.”

“It could’ve been Violet’s office, or mine, or a room for Enya. You know she needs space to put up all her flashcards and do her exercises when she’s actively learning a new language, which is kind of what our whole business is based on, Arlowe.”

“So, you’re pissed that I said Gabi could live here?”

“Yes.”

“Is it Gabi specifically, or just a possible roommate?”

“Both. I only spent one weekend with her eleven years ago. She’s practically a stranger. We all work here together, too, and Gabi doesn’t work with us. It would be weird, having a roommate that doesn’t work with us.”

“So, we should invite Mitchell or Clay to move in? Or your intern?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying, and you know it.”

Arlowe took a bite of her cereal and chewed while she seemed to contemplate what Sarai was saying.

“I’m sorry; all right? I didn’t think it was a big deal. She mentioned that she needed a place to live, and we have a room and could use the rent money. I know Violet said she’d still pay rent here until we find someone, but I don’t think it’s fair to her. She’s not actually living here, and we’ve since decided that we wouldn’t find anyone at all. I get it, though. I shouldn’t have said anything. It just came out on my part. Gabi said that she’d think about it, but I got the impression that she wasn’t interested, so it probably won’t come to anything anyway.”

“Maybe not, but it’s something that we should’ve discussed with Enya before you offered.”

“You’re right. I was really excited about the game, and when she mentioned that she needed a place, my mind went to the fact that I’d just spent most of the day cleaning up my old, now-empty room, and I blurted it out. I’m sorry.”

“Okay. Thanks,” Sarai replied.

“So, we’re cool?”