Page 44 of My Roommate from Hell
Zarmenus has to be playing some kind of joke on me, surely. Like this is a bit. We have our agreement.
How is this happening?
I don’t know what to do. I have a key, so even if he locked the door, I could unlock it. But I don’t want to. I want him to be a normal freaking roommate who doesn’t have guys over seemingly every second. I have no problems with him enjoying hooking up as much as he does. But seriously, he is the prince of Hell. Even if currencies are different or whatever, surely he has enough money to get himself a single room.
I take out my phone and send Zarmenus a message.
Hey, I’m home, what’s going on?
Maybe, just maybe, this is an accident and the sock is on the door because he hooked up earlier and forgot to remove it. I still don’t love that, but it’d be better than being kept out of my room when I’m this tired.
Normally I would rewrite the message to try to dial back some of the hostility. But screw it. I’ve had a big day today, and I’m tired. I don’t want to freaking have to wait out here for him to be done. What I want is to be able to go to my bedroom and just relax. That’s all I freaking want.
I check my phone again. He hasn’t seen the message. Of course he hasn’t, he is busy with whoever he is.
I sit down on the floor. I don’t know what to do. I could ask Tyrell and Avery if they are doing anything, and maybe hang out in their room until Zarmenus is done. But how long will that be?
I wait for five minutes. I start pacing back and forth to try to burn off some of this annoyed energy.
I check the clock on my phone as it ticks over to fifteen minutes of waiting. It’s now past ten at night, and I am completely and utterly over this. He still hasn’t seen the message I sent him, and it’s making my blood feel like the rivers of lava in Hell. If I were to open my mouth, flames would come spilling out. It’s pretty new for me. I normally only ever feel something close to this whenever I’m playing a video game and up against a really tough enemy. This isunbearable, it’s under my skin, pure frustration with nowhere to go, and the only way to fix it is for this to stop.
The door flies open. Zarmenus is half-dressed, with a shirt half on and his bottom half only covered by underwear. He tugs the shirt down, covering himself.
“I’m so sorry,” he says. “I just saw your message.”
Behind him is not one, but two shirtless guys. One of them is @Braydenliftsthings.
“Five more minutes?” he asks.
“No,” I say. “I’m sorry, but I’m so tired, and I’ve been out here for like fifteen minutes already.”
“You’re right. Give me a second.”
He shuts the door. I take a step back. As the seconds pass by I start to worry that he was just saying that to get rid of me. But then the door opens again and Brayden emerges. His hair is ruffled and he’s done a terrible job of buttoning his shirt back up, as the first few are undone, showing off a stretch of pale skin. Behind him is a skinny guy with red hair.
“Sorry,” says Brayden. “He told us you’d be out for the rest of the night.”
“It’s fine, I’m not mad,” I say. “At you, anyway.”
“You know,” says the red-haired guy, “jealousy isn’t a good look.”
With that, they go down the hall.
What does he mean? I’m not jealous. I’m annoyed. And I think I have every right to be.
I go into our room. Zarmenus is on his bed. He’s put on his headphones. Bell is nowhere to be seen. I figure him putting on his headphones is him sending a very clear message: he does not want to talk.
Which is fair enough. I don’t want to talk, either.
I change into my pj’s in the bathroom, trying my best to ignore the shadowy figure that appears in the mirror. I’m too annoyed to be scared. I furiously brush my teeth. As I do, I try to think of a solution to this. I shouldn’t have to feel like I’ve stepped on his toes instead of the other way around. He’s the one who is being a badroommate. I’ve tried my best to come up with something that could work for both of us. I truly have.
I flick the light off and get into bed.
I try to get the flames to die down with sheer willpower. Being this annoyed is no good for anyone. It’s an emotion I’m unfamiliar with, and one I don’t really want to get used to or to feel for even a second longer than I have to.
Beneath me, Zarmenus starts to snore.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
