Marionette Read Online Free Page B

suffer. I looked at Minnie. She just smiled at me. Jesus! It wasn’t fair!

Chapter Four
    I soon learned that I was the shyest person out of the four of us. On many occasions, my three roommates made me uncomfortable by getting undressed in front of me. Growing up, I always had my own room. My sister and I never shared a room, a bathtub, or anything. It was almost like we were raised in separate households. Strangers. I learned to love my isolation.
    I think my desire for privacy offended Karen, a free spirit who didn’t understand why I was so uptight.
    But I was uptight, and I couldn’t change that. When I used the bathroom, I locked both doors so no one could barge in on me. The day after meeting Jenna and Karen, I was changing my clothes behind locked doors when Karen shouted that the phone was for me.
    I opened the door, shoved the last bit of my shirt into my jeans, and mumbled a thank you.
    “Hello?” I said into the receiver.
    “How did it go?” My friend Mel always dismissed pleasantries and got right to business.
    “Hi, I’m fine. Thanks for asking. How did what go?” I hunched the phone into my shoulder while I pulled my shirt out so I wouldn’t look too uptight. Karen looked relieved. Mel, of course, was asking about meeting my therapist, and I didn’t want Minnie and group to know about that.
    “That good, huh?”
    “That about sums it up.” I grabbed the phone in my hand again and turned to see a curious audience.
    “I really can’t talk right now. I wanted to call and check in before you started your classes.” Mel sounded tired. She had probably worked ten hours at the mall for the back-to-school crowd.
    “Never better.”
    “It was that bad? Jesus, I’m sorry, but I really have to go. I’ll call you later and we’ll talk.” She rushed through the words.
    “Okay. And Mel, tell Wesley I said hi.” I hung up. I grinned mischievously, assuming that would get a rise out her. Her boyfriend and I didn’t get along, to say the least. I knew she had to get off the phone because Wesley didn’t want her talking to me. He despised me, not just because I was gay, but because I was a rich bitch. Two no-nos in his book.
    The three stooges stared with their mouths slightly agape. “Are we ready to go?” I asked.
    “W-who…‌who was that?” stammered Minnie.
    “That was my friend Mel.”
    “Who’s Wesley?” she asked.
    Oh, so that was it: not only was I living with a Catholic, but with a homophobe. Perfect! Could this living situation improve at all? Stupid questionnaire for roommates. I was utterly convinced they lost mine and just stuck me in this situation.
    “Wesley is Mel’s boyfriend.” I didn’t mention that Mel was short for Melanie. Let them sweat it out some. Serves them right for eavesdropping on my phone call. They could have been polite and gone into Karen’s and Jenna’s room to give me some privacy.
    “Anyhoos, are you all ready to go?” I asked.
    Jenna started for her room. “Almost.” She returned with her keys.
    As we left the dorms, I realized that every stereo was blaring. It was the first weekend at college for most of us and classes started on Monday. Obviously, the plan for the weekend was to live it up.
    The four of us decided to break in the new town together, which involved going to a fraternity party. I wasn’t too keen on the idea, for obvious reasons. However, I never voiced my opinion. I usually kept it pretty quiet that I was dating a woman. My silence on the matter didn’t go over all that well with Jess. She was older and was out to everyone, including her work colleagues, friends, family, and the random grocery store clerk. Jess was not shy. I had no desire to let people into my life. It was not that I felt ashamed. I just didn’t care enough about people to get close to them. I had few friends in high school and I didn’t like my family, so telling them was never an option.
    Keeping Jess out of the picture in my college town wouldn’t be