Emery

Getting into UCLA had been a dream come true. I never thought I'd be in a position where I'd be able to get a job straight out of college, but it's my junior year, and I'm so close. Pretty soon, I'll be putting together my portfolio to showcase my work to different fashion companies, and hopefully, three jobs can turn into one. I'll finally be able to make a living without working myself to the bone.

On the first day of the new semester, the weather is shitty. It's cold and raining, and I forgot to put my rain boots on, so water seeped into my athletic sneakers. Thankfully, Everett's apartment is only a twenty-minute walk, which is much better than taking the train across town like I used to.

"Emery!" Lana launches herself at me from across the courtyard, hugging me tightly to her chest. She's all of a hundred pounds soaking wet, tiny as can be, and the rain makes her look even smaller. "I'm so glad you're back! How was your break?"

Awful. Horrible. Miserable. Launching into a story about my eviction will just make her Pisces little heart try to do whatever she can to help me, but she lives in a dorm with three other girls, and she could risk getting kicked out if she let me stay with her. If she knew I had been evicted, she would have risked getting expelled, and I couldn't let her do that.

"I worked a bunch," I reply, which isn't a lie. "How about yours?"

We seek cover in the arts building, avoiding all of the freshmen staring at maps to find their first class of the day. "It was amazing. I flew home to Texas and got to spend time with my family. I missed them way more than I thought I did. I was so homesick."

Family. What a treasure to cherish. What a flex it is to have people who love you unconditionally. I've spent the last ten years of my life trying to fill that gaping hole in my chest. First my parents, then my grandmother. There is no greater pain than knowing unconditional love and having it ripped away.

Lana leads her way up the staircase with her red curls bouncing with every step. She continues to tell story after story of her adventures at home, weaving our way through the thick crowd of students.

When we reach the floor we're supposed to be on, Sam is waiting for us at the top, tapping his watch. "You're both late," he says with a roll of his eyes.

"We are not late, Sam. Your version of late and the school's version of late are two different things." If it were up to him, he'd get to class thirty minutes early every single day to ensure he picked the best seat for the semester. He is the most studious person I know, beating me by a long shot.

"And I had to get coffee." Lana waves the foam cup in front of him. "It's freezing outside."

"Whatever," he grumbles, shaking out his cropped, black hair still carrying droplets of rain. "Let's just hope all the good seats aren't taken." We follow his tall figure down the hallway, where, unsurprisingly, the students are outside, still waiting for the professor. I almost tease Sam about it, but Everett is among the students, and just seeing him has me gritting my teeth. I knew we were going to school for the same degree, Art and Design, but we've been able to avoid each other for the entirety of our college experience. Of course, due to my bad fucking luck, this would be the semester we both have to take digital design.

The one semester I have to be fucking living with the guy.

We still haven't spoken since his outburst last night. He was gone when I went downstairs this morning, but there was a sausage, egg, and cheese English muffin sitting on a plate waiting for me. It should have been taken as a nice gesture, but instead...all I felt was guilt. I'm assuming he knows I can't afford groceries. I don't want him to think he needs to feed me. Once I get my next paycheck, I can go shopping. Then he won't have to worry about me being broke and starving.

He's wearing a pair of black jeans, a long-sleeved henley with a raincoat over the top, and a pair of expensive sneakers on his feet that probably cost more than a goddamn car while scrolling effortlessly through his phone. He's completely oblivious to the three girls in front of him giggling like we're back in middle school. Then again, Everett has always been naive to female attention. I may have called him arrogant yesterday, but that's only because he should be. His jawline is chiseled to perfection, and he's got the bad boy persona down, even if he isn't one with the nose and eyebrow piercing. The man practically exudes sex.

"Emeryyy." Sam waves his hand in front of my face to snap me out of my trance, but at the sound of my name, Everett lifts his eyes from his phone. He scans Sam from head to toe, then me, and without saying hello or anything at all, he goes back to texting. I don't know why I thought he'd be nicer to me just because we're living under the same roof. I need to start lowering my expectations quickly.

"Good morning, everyone," the professor says, thankfully giving me an excuse not to answer Sam. He unlocks the classroom door with a set of keys, and as we all file in, I see that there are names taped to each computer with a post-it note. You've got to be kidding me. I thought this was college, not elementary school.

As I've mentioned before, luck has never been on my side, so I'm completely unsurprised when Everett's name is taped directly next to mine. Thankfully, Sam is on the other side of me, but Lana gets placed across the room away from all of us. A far cry from being lab partners during our freshmen year, where the three of us met and sat beside each other four times a week.

Reluctantly, I take my seat as Everett wedges in beside me, his body brushing against mine. He clears his throat as he takes out his notebook and a pen and says, "You're wet."

A wave of saliva gets caught in my throat, and I go into a coughing fit, a hand flying to my chest in an effort to get it to stop. "I'm sorry?" I ask.

He waves a hand up and down my body. "Your clothes. They're drenched."

Oh.

Well, that's a relief.

With a shrug, I sling my backpack across the back of the rolling chair. "I had to walk to campus and forgot to check the weather. It's LA. Didn't expect it to rain."

"What happened to your car?"

"My grandmother's beat up Pontiac she left me? It broke down a year ago. I had to sell it for cash. Couldn't afford another one."

"Rest in peace to Bernie," Sam adds, eavesdropping on our conversation. "I loved that damn piece of crap. So many memories."

Whatever Everett is thinking, he doesn't express it verbally. Instead, he shifts away from me and stares straight ahead at the professor with his jaw clenched, tapping the eraser of his pencil heavily against his notebook. "I'm Sam." He sticks out his hand across from me in an attempt to fist-bump Everett.

Everett looks at his outstretched hand and then zeroes his gaze on him. "Cool. Don't care."

God, he's such an asshole. I swear, he acts like it would kill him to be nice to anyone. I cross my arms over my chest in annoyance as Sam returns his hand to his side. There will be a streamlining of Sam's questions about how I know Everett, but I'm going to avoid answering as much as humanly possible. Yeah, we grew up together, but I don't know him. Everett wouldn't let me get to know him. While hanging out with Liam and him, I got to know the basics. His favorite food, hobbies, etc... But the personal stuff? The layers underneath all of the brooding? That part I didn't even want to begin to uncover. A part of me was afraid of what I'd find.

"What a dick," Sam whispers, but it's loud enough for Everett to hear. The professor begins the lesson, and a smile tugs at my lips when Everett curses under his breath.