Chapter One.
There are three types of songs I deem worthy of singing in the shower.
2000's Justin Timberlake.
The Weeknd.
And 'Me And My Broken Heart' by Rixton.
Today I've settled on option two, which I don't really listen to so it means mumbling along the parts I don't know and belting out the choruses.
When I used to sing in the house, Rebecca would shout some crude comments like, "What cat just died?" Or "What the hell is that awful noise?' or my personal favourite, "Shut up or I'll rip out your jugular,".
Maybe I'm not the best singer but with the shower acoustics, my voice sounds pretty damn good to me. I'm in the middle of a high note when the door swings open and someone races to the sink.
"Fucking hell. It sounds like a goat's dying in here,".
My hair had grown back to its normal size and right now, it's full of shampoo studs, I grab the shower curtain and peep my head out.
"Maddie!" I shout, "Get out! I'm showering!".
Maddie doesn't even spare me a glance as she ties her hair in a bun and proceeds to brush her teeth while hovering over to sink to stare at her reflection. One hand does the brushing while the other, touches her face lightly, searching for any imperfections.
"Relax, Bambi," She says, taking the brush out of her mouth so she can speak, "There's a curtain for a reason,".
I yank the shower curtain shut and start rinsing out my hair with the vigor, "We need to get a lock on that door," I mutter loud enough for her to hear.
She turns to the faucet and spits, "Maybe don't hog the bathroom first thing in the morning,".
I glare at her silhouette through the curtain.
"Get out!".
She merely laughs, "Relax Sebastian, it's nothing I haven't seen before,".
My head pops out of the curtain again.
"Don't remind me,".
"Why not?" She asks, taking her sweet time to dry her hands, "From the sounds that you made, you seemed to really enjoy what I was doing to you-".
"Maddie!" I shut off the shower.
"Okay, okay," She says putting her arms up I'm mock surrender as she strolls to the door, "I'm leaving,".
Before she can get to it, the door swings open and our house mate, Ruth, steps in.
"Seriously?" Ruth says, "You guys are fighting again? I swear- Woah, Sebastian's naked,".
I flip Maddie off, raising my hand over the shower curtain so they can see.
"Sorry!" Ruth calls out, Maddie only cackles as they walk out, closing the door behind them.
I guess this is what I get for agreeing to live with my ex. Is it so preposterous that I expected some working locks on the bathroom and an amicable relationship with Maddie?
I'm so used to being her soft spot that I forgot what a bitch she can be. It's barely been a couple of weeks since we moved in and I'm contemplating attaching a bell so I know when she's coming inside.
My shower is effectively ruined so I do a quick rinse and get out. I toss on some sweats and and let the towel hang on my head to dry it. When I walk into our living room, everyone's seated at the table for breakfast.
Mike and Divani, Mike's girlfriend-who isn't officially-his-girlfriend- are caught up in their own world, as they feed each other toasted waffles. Beside Mike, Ruth scrolls through her phone, smirking slightly at something Maddie says. She's replaced Markie as our roomate and is already five hundred more times likable than Markie ever was. She and Maddie are like bread and butter so it leaves me as a fifth wheel.
Just how I like it.
My eyes flicker to the ranch bottle by Maddie's plate as I take the empty seat.
"Can you pass the ranch?" I ask, grabbing a plate of waffles.
Maddie glances from Ruth to say, "What's the magic word?".
I don't even look at her, "Ruth?" I request.
Ruth sighs deeply, reaches forward and passes the ranch to me without a word.
"Who eats waffles with ranch anyway?" Maddie frowns as I squeeze a dollop onto my plate.
In response, I slather my waffles in an absurd amount of ranch and stuff them into my mouth with a sweet smile. She makes a disgusted expression and turns back to Ruth.
Their conversation only lasts a minute before she says, "Are you converting to Islam or something?"
"What?".
She lifts her chin towards my hair, I reach my hands and am met with the course material of my towel.
"Not of that's your business, I'm trying a new method of drying this long ass hair".
"What are you going for?" She asks
"Prince of Egypt?".
I roll my eyes, "You must be tired, Maddie, your insults are lamer than usual,".
She places her hand over her heart in mock pain. "Hurtful,".
Ruth shakes her head at us, "These two really used to date?" She asks Mike.
"Get used to it," He responds with a shrug, "This is their foreplay,".
"Dude," I exclaim at the same time Maddie mutters, "Fuck off,".
"Well, I think you hair is cool, Sebastian," Ruth says, "Maddie, tell Sebastian his hair is cool,".
Maddie merely smirks as I say, "Forget it Ruth, what she thinks of my hair is the least of my concerns,".
Ruth smiles at me warmly, "Why the new look?" She asks, "Trying to look nice for your date tomorrow?".
"Third date with this girl and you're already playing into her religious guy fetish?". Maddie says.
"At least I can get past the first date," I say.
"Guys, let's be nice," Ruth says, "I'm trying to finish my oatmeal,".
"I'm done anyway," Maddie says, getting up and shaking her hair out her face, it's grown so long, below her waist now. I feel like reaching out and yanking it out her head.
She has the audacity to yawn as I glare up at her before striding out.
"Just ignore her," Ruth says when she's gone, her big brown eyes soft.
"She's being immature," I say, "There was a reason we didn't see each other all summer. To be cordial when we returned,".
"She'll get better," Ruth says, standing up and picking up all the empty plates. "In the end, we're all living together, so try to work it out,".
She pats my back as she leaves so I force a smile for her. Inside my head. I wonder how we even got back to this point.
As I finish my breakfast in silence, I can't help but think it might've been a good thing that we broke up.
