My Crazy Housemate

 Ever since their last conversation where she complained about how she couldn't live with Leo and how much of a jerk he was, he hadn't called again and she couldn't call because of the international charges. James was rich, she wasn't.     

 But she had sent him messages on his social media but he had not been online for days which worried her.      

"Where the hell have you been?" She asked James immediately she took his call.      

"Wow! You must have really missed me a lot to be raising your voice at me."     

"I'm not joking right now. For more than a week I didn't hear from you. Thought you had died somewhere." She said, making him laugh.      

"We got a new director in school. Really crazy guy. Changed a lot of rules and expects us to always be at the teaching hospital oh... without our phones! He said it's a major distraction to youths these days.. a very archaic kinda man who still thinks we live in the sixties. Jeez I was so pissed! Tests were also pretty strict. There was no way I could remember any of my mobile gadgets at that point. I haven't even called my family in days!" He complained bitterly.     

"That sounds..... tough. So are you free now?" She asked him. If he was able to reach her now, it meant he was free right?      

"Finished my tests today. Got a week break before we continue with all the madness. I hate it!"     

"It's sad to hear that. But I'm glad you're faring wel–"     

"James!!!"     

 Mia heard the excited voice of a girl call his name and heard James laugh.      

"I'll call you in a minute. Just hold on." James said before hanging up.      

Two minutes later, his call came in again. "Sorry about that. So we were saying?"      

"Who was that?" Mia asked curiously.      

"Oh... Angela. Met her last week. You need to see her dude... she is smoking hot!" He said excitedly making her roll her eyes. He always seemed to forget she wasn't a guy whenever they both talked.     

"Don't you have a girlfriend over here? Why are you talking about some other girl like that?" Mia asked with a frown.      

"A girlfriend? I have a girlfriend?" She could hear the confusion in his voice as he asked.     

"Of course. Anna's her name right? We all went out that night two months ago." She reminded him while shaking her head. But to her surprise, she heard him laugh.     

"You are the worse friend in this world! Jeez.. we broke up that same night. I cant believe you still think I'm with her."     

"What? You broke up that night? Why? And why didn't you tell me?" She asked on surprise.     

"You are the last person I know who cares about anything going on in anyone's life. But I thought you must have figured it out somehow. We just broke up... no biggie." He said while brushing it off like it was nothing. He didn't want to tell her Anna had asked him to choose between the both of them. It wasn't necessary.      

"Oh..."      

"Tell me what's up with you. Heard Mira's been around and oh.... how are you living? He didn't possibly throw you out of the house, did he?"      

She could hear him adjusting his position as he asked.      

"He didn't."      

"So... you are okay living with him now or you still want to throw him out?"      

"Well.. I guess I could manage for now but I'm making plans to leave. Need to find a studio apartment. I really hope to leave here soon."      

"What's that?"      

"What's what?" She asked in confusion.      

"That tone you're using... Did something happen between the both of you?" She could hear the suspicion in his voice as he asked.     

"No! Nothing happened!" She said immediately which made him even more suspicious.      

"Mia?"     

"Yes?" She answered as she buried her face in her pillow. She knew James was always observant and it was always difficult lying to him.      

"Did you have sex with him by chance?"      

"Jesus! No... how could you even think to ask me that!?" She sat up and raised her voice in disbelief.     

She heard him sigh in relief before saying..     

 "Good. I wouldn't want you having sex with someone I haven't even seen before. You can't tell me a dude's been living with you for this long and nothing's happened....So tell me..."     

"Tell you what?" She asked in a low voice. She could feel her face starting to color.     

"What did you do with him?"      

"Nothing!"     

"Even without seeing you you know I can always tell when you're lying, just like right n—."      

"Fine! We kissed okay? But that's just it. Nothing else.. I mean.. he kis-sed me"     

"Oh my God!" She heard him gasp followed by a laugh. "You finally kissed a guy? This is interesting.. how did it feel like?"     

"Stop asking me that. Are you a pervert?" She asked with a deep blush.      

He laughed again and turned serious when he asked this time. "Was it consensual or he forced it on you?''     

Mia paused to think. It really hadnt been cinsen and at the same time, she didn't think it had been forced.      

"It... was... it just happened." She said nervously.     

There was a little pause before James spoke again,     

"I hope he's worth your first kiss else I'm going to kill him when I see him." He threatened.     

"I'm very uncomfortable discussing this with you. The kiss wasn't even serious. Just a light—" She stopped talking and tucked in her lips.      

"You like him" He said in a voice that showed he wasn't giving her any room for denial.     

"Christ! No!" She said immediately.      

"Then why are you thinking about leaving in a hurry? Isn't it because you are scared about things getting messier than it already is?"      

Mia was quiet. It was the truth— not the part about her liking Leo because she knew she didn't. She was scared of the kind of things that may happen between them. The kind of attraction may lead to something else and she wasn't ready for that 'something else' especially not with Leo who had a lot of women. There was a big difference between liking someone, being attracted to someone and loving someone. She was only attracted. That's it!     

"There is someone else I like." She confessed to him. It was the only way James was going to move away from that topic.     

"Really?" She could hear the surprise in his voice and sounds that suggested he was sitting upright. She knew she was really surprising him since it was first time she was openly telling him things like this.      

"He's in my school." Mia began to tell him all about Benjamin but she left out the kissing party part.      

It was enough telling James she had kissed her housemate, she couldn't tell him she had also kissed his brother.     

        ****************     

"Wait a minute, so you're saying you told Louis the truth?" Richard asked Leo curiously. They were both sitting opposite each other in their usual hangout bar.     

"I didn't have any choice. That guy is really smart. And.. he seems quite interested in her.." He said with a frown.      

"Oh shit! Is this a kind of real life vampire diary series where two brothers are into a girl?" He asked obviously finding the whole thing amusing.      

"What kind of—"     

"With your kind of personality, you are obviously Damon while Louis is Stefan and our Mia plays Elena." He said in amusement.     

"She said she's moving out soon." Leo said deliberately ignoring Richard's statement.     

"And what do you plan to do?" Richard asked when he noticed the sad look on his friend's face.     

"Well... the plan has always been for her to leave right?"      

"I can swear on my life that you do not want her to leave."     

"Stop doing that. You are making me feel weird." Leo eyed him, making him laugh.      

"Finally, your life is interesting" Richard said before taking a sip from his wineglass.      

Leo suddenly remembered what that shaman had said about his life becoming interesting soon. Was this it? Was it Mia? He wondered.      

"But you know what Leo?" Richard said as he picked up his wineglass again.      

"What?"      

"Damon got the girl." He said with a wink as the glass met his lips.