Page 54 of Ruthless Dream

“No,” she hoarsely says, holding her towel tight around her torso. A shaky hand reaches for a crewneck.

Before I can fight this obvious lie, our door bangs open and Trish appears. She’s talking on the phone, loudly, which gives Rina the opportunity to pull on some sweatpants and stuff her shoes on. She’s out the door in thirty seconds.

Trish’s bag lands with a heavy thud on her bed. Heavy metal blasts from her earphones.

Before having roommates, I’d considered myself the type of person who didn’t care about noise. Whispers in the library never bothered me. Loud crowds or blasting TV commercials never made me bat an eye.

But I swear every tiny noise that comes from Trish makes me want to stab my eye out. Though, I suppose it’d be better if I went for my eardrums.

It’s constant. Her headphones do nothing to contain her music. She practically yells into the phone. Sometimes she’ll leave our door open, standing in the doorframe, yelling down the hall at her friends.

No wonder I’ve taken so much refuge in the library. It’s not exactly a safe space like my bedroom back home, but at least I don’t grit my teeth as much.

“I’d be careful if I were you.”

It takes me a second to realize she’s speaking to me. Last week, I made the mistake of thinking she’d said something to me and got my head bitten off for interrupting her phone call.

“What?” I ask.

Trish jerks her head toward Rina’s retreating figure. “She’s fighting with her boyfriend because he found out she’d been impersonating his mother.”

“What?”

Trish nods. “Yeah, anyway, she’s a psychopath, but seriously, like, if you start getting strange messages.”

“How do you know she was impersonating his mother?” I’m pretty sure Rina and her boyfriend have dated since middle school.

“He called her last night, and she put him on speakerphone. Super awkward.” Trish makes a face. “But you know they call each other every night, so I’m sure you’ll hear them fighting again tonight.”

“Why would he call her if—” Wouldn’t he automatically break up with her?

I smush my face into my pillow. Rina does talk to her boyfriend every night on speakerphone, another example of her lacking boundaries.

My temples begin to pound. Trish lies back on her bed, taking out a pair of drumsticks and tapping them together.

I can’t believe I lied to Nat about how awful my roommates are. Would it really matter if I just admitted how godawful they are?

But that’s not how NYU was supposed to go!

Thanks to Trish’s noise, the possibility of Rina’s upcoming phone call, and the fact that I don’t want to die, I make a split-second decision.

I grab my backpack, stuffing sweatpants, socks, and a fresh shirt into it. I grab the tiny toiletry bag I keep on my desk, and then I’m out the door.

I can’t face going to the library. Not after all the amount of time I’ve spent there. Yes, I’ve got a crap ton of studying, so it’d make sense, but it’s a Saturday for God’s sake.

I’m not looking to get wild, though. I’m wistful for a peaceful, chill autumn afternoon. The kind where I’d curl up in my bedroom, reading a book and feeling utterly free.

At the moment, I can’t grasp that feeling completely, but I can at the very least free myself from two shitty roommates.

CHAPTER 13

Ciaran

“This is where you’ve been spending your time?” Uncle Cormac’s lip curls as he takes in my flat.

“Don’t sound too impressed.” I’m aware it’s a fucking shithole, but I’m the one paying the bills. Something that means even more since last night. Since Boris implied otherwise.

I keep my tone light, knowing my uncle isn’t being rude. He doesn’t know it, though, but minutes before he’d arrived, I’d dug through my credit card statements. When I didn’t find a charge to the restaurant we went to last week, I hacked into Adeline’s accounts.