Page 8 of Derivation

“Sorry?”

“Soccer.”

“You thought we were all getting together to watch soccer tonight?”

“Yeah. There’s an MLS and an NWSL team in the city, so I thought one of them had a game tonight.”

“Oh, no. It’s Thursday Night Football. Do you hate the NFL or something?”

“I’m just not an American football fan. Blame it on my upbringing,” she replied with a shoulder shrug. “I lived in Europe from the age of ten to nineteen, and my dad loved soccer, so we supported PSG.”

“PSG?”

“Paris Saint-Germain.”

“I have no idea what that is,” Sarai replied with a laugh. “Do you need to go or something if they’re going to be watching American football in there?”

“Oh, no. I’m just really glad that I didn’t put on my PSG jersey, that’s all.” Gabi chuckled.

“Well, Enya will be on her phone, Violet and Stella will make sex eyes at each other, Arlowe will be yelling at the TV if her team does something wrong or right, and so will the rest of them, except maybe Laura, who’s only here because Mitchell wanted to come, so if you want to hang out in here or even outside, we can. It’s a nice night. I might need to grab a sweater, but I can get you one, too, if you want.”

Gabi’s phone dinged in her purse.

“Sorry, one second. I’m waiting to hear back about an apartment, and they said they’d email me soon.”

She pulled out her phone while Sarai picked up a baby carrot and dipped it in some ranch dressing.

“No problem.”

“You’re looking for a place to live?” Arlowe asked her, walking into the room with an empty plate.

“Yeah. I thought I’d be able to find something before I had to start my new job, but apartments go very fast around here.” She then skimmed through the email, which was from the apartment complex, and muttered, “Damn it.”

“What?” Sarai asked.

“I didn’t get it. I found it right away. How am I not getting these places? My credit is good. I have a great new job,” she said as she put her phone away.

“We have a room here,” Arlowe told her while she filled her plate with snacks.

“Arlowe!” Sarai exclaimed.

“What? I completed my move into Violet’s room earlier today. It’s the biggest one, and I had dibs in the event that she moved out before me, so now I have my own bathroom. It’s going to be life-changing. Anyway, my old room is a decent size, and it’s available now.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I–”

“She was looking for an apartment for herself. I mean, to live by herself, without roommates, I assume,” Sarai interrupted. “Unless it’s you and someone else. I don’t think I’ve asked if you–”

“I’m single, aka alone. Pathetic, I know.”

“Not pathetic,” Arlowe offered. “Enya, Sarai, and I are all single, so we get it. The difference is that we all live here, so we can be alone together. It’s a nice room, and I cleaned it earlier, too. Want to take a look before the game starts?”

Gabi looked at Sarai, who seemed to be very interested in the carrots all of a sudden and was still holding one in the ranch dressing.

“Are you trying to infuse the carrot with that ranch flavor over there, Sarai?” Arlowe joked.

“What?” Sarai looked down at what she’d been doing. “Oh, no. Shit.”

“Can I think about it? I’ve got some feelers out on other places,” she lied because Sarai hadn’t seemed all that interested in her moving in.