In Too Hard (Freshman Roommates Trilogy, Book 3) Read Online Free

written. Who we were today, and I supposed, who we wanted to be in a year.
    We’d made jokes about it, but the room had turned quiet as we’d all filled out our paper and sealed them up in individual envelopes, writing our names on the front.
    Lily was the keeper of all three and said we’d open them next New Year’s Eve, or as close as possible when we’d all be together.
    We’d easily killed the bottle of champagne, then Lily and Jane had gone back to their room to start packing.
    I’d seen postings on Instagram about the different parties around campus, and could have gone to one of them, but had stayed in.
    Now, as I entered my room, even though I always had my own space, I could feel the emptiness of the suite.
    I passed through the bathroom, Lily and Jane’s stuff gone, the vanity looking a bit bereft and bare.
    Their room was weird—the personal things on the walls and desktop were still there. Things like posters and framed photos. Their beds were made (which was not the norm for Jane, but was for Lily). But there were gaping holes in their closets from clothes they’d taken home. And their desks had spaces where their laptops usually were, and where they charged all their stuff.
    I checked the lock on their door, then went back to my room, leaving the door on the connecting bathroom unlocked.
    I threw my coat on the back of my desk chair, then saw a small gift-wrapped package on my pillow.
    Oh, great. We’d agreed not to exchange gifts. I wasn’t sure if that was a pity move on Jane and Lily’s part, so as to spare me the expense, or if they just didn’t want to bother during finals.
    I had adhered to our agreement, but it looked like Lily hadn’t. Crap. I hated feeling like a charity case.
    My issue, I knew, but…still. It was bad enough to feel it every time I pulled a shift at the admin building, as part of the work-study program.
    But the present wasn’t from Lily, it was from Jane. I unwrapped it slowly, knowing it would be the only Christmas gift I received.
    My mother had clearly stated that there would be no money for a gift for me since I’d been selfish enough to leave and force her to find childcare for Duncan and Liam, which I’d done after school.
    It was meant to make me feel guilty—and it had. But it also gave me a moment of delicious spite, knowing my mother would have to step up and take the place I’d been holding down for her for the past five years.
    To hell with Christmas presents. It wasn’t like she ever gave me much anyway.
    Inside the small box was a silver medallion on a thin, beautiful silver chain. I held it up, letting it twist this way and that as the chain unraveled. It was some kind of symbol with rounded squares and ovals intertwined and a kind of loopy thing in the middle. It was different, and pretty, but not at all delicate.
    I pulled out the card Jane had shoved at the bottom of the box. The handwriting was strong and bold—like Jane herself.
    It’s the Celtic symbol for strength. You’ve got it, babe, let people know it. Plus, your name is O’Brien, you should be rockin’ some Celtic stuff.
    Weird. Jane and I had started off rocky, but had come to get along well. Throughout the whole semester, we’d never had any really deep talks, though. Certainly none about our inner strength.
    I put the necklace on and looked at myself in the mirror. I had carefully transformed myself to look like nearly every other girl on campus. Straightened long hair, worn either down like I had it now, or up in a sloppy bun. Subtle makeup, so it didn’t look like I was trying. A North Face jacket, now hanging on the back of my chair. A hoodie, Lulus and Uggs.  
    A true Bribury Basic.
    I took my hoodie off, throwing it on my bed, so I could see the pendant against my skin. I had on a low-vee, long-sleeved tee in fuchsia and the silver chain and pendant seemed to almost glow against my skin. Darker— much —than my mother’s other children, I certainly didn’t look like