Page 121 of June

“I like the bathroom in here. It’s pretty big,” Jodie said. “I can’t believe there are two of them.”

“Me neither,” Caroline replied as she walked over to the other bathroom, which was smaller and, technically, the guest bathroom.

The main bedroom was larger and had a bigger bathroom inside it, along with the closet, and they’d already decided that they would rock-paper-scissors for it. The person who got it would pay a little more in rent because of it. The guest bathroom had a shower but no bathtub and was right off of the other bedroom, and Caroline figured she wouldn’t care either way.She’d been sharing a bathroom with about a hundred other girls for years now, so anything would be an upgrade. Although, shedidhave a vision of her and Enid in a bathtub, so getting the main bedroom would be nice. Then again, she would need Enid to stay in New Orleans for them to have that, and that was no longer a given.

“Hey, what do you think?” Jodie asked as she emerged from the bedroom.

“It’s cool, but anything is better than a dorm room. At least here, you’d have your space, and I’d have mine.”

“So you and Enid could get it on behind closed doors, and neither Viv nor I would need to see it?” Jodie teased as she walked over to Caroline and looked into the other bathroom.

“I can’t guarantee we’d be quiet,” Caroline replied.

Jodie glared at her and said, “I knowyoucan be quiet. You were quiet that night. So, is Enid uncontrollably loud in bed or something?”

“Let’s not talk about my girlfriend’s bedroom noises,” Caroline replied and walked into the second bedroom to take a look.

“So, therearenoises?” Jodie teased as she joined her.

“She might be leaving, Jodie,” Caroline blurted out.

“Huh?”

“Enid. She has an interview for a job in Jacksonville.”

“Oh, shit. Really?”

“Yeah. And I want her to get it if that’s what she wants. I mean, I know she really wanted the job she had and didn’t want to go to grad school, but now she does, and she’s here. She’s only a year away from finishing, but she’s thinking of leaving and going through the longer program instead, which is her choice, obviously, but she’ll be in Florida, and I’ll be here because my parents are insisting that I finish school. I can’t just quit and go with her. I don’t have a job myself, and it’s not like I’ll find a goodone there without my degree in whatever I decide my major will be. I’ll end up resenting her because I’m waiting tables and probably miserable and–”

Jodie’s hands shook Caroline’s shoulders, and she said, “Hey, hold on there a second.”

“What?”

“Care, you and Enid just met.”

“So? She’s my girlfriend.”

“Yes, but you can’t quit school and go with her if she gets this job, even if you wanted to.”

“I know that. That’s what I’m saying.”

“You just said you’d resent her.”

“No, I meant that I can’t do thatbecauseI’d resent her for it. I think I want to stay here.”

“Yeah, you have school,” Jodie said and let go of her shoulders.

“No, I mean that I like it in New Orleans. I might want to stay here after school, too.”

“Why do you think that?” Jodie asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I don’t know. The art scene here is pretty cool.” Caroline shrugged a shoulder.

“Art?” Jodie asked.

“Yeah. Like, I hated the classes they made me take, so I don’t think I’ll get my degree in it, but I like the idea of doing something with it after school.”

“You’ve never talked about what you would do after we graduate before,” Jodie said.

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