Probably someone with more than four people to shop for.

When my nose turns numb, I decide to head home. I do have one thing I need to get done.

I’m arranging my clothes in neat piles on my bed and watching SNL’s The Best of Eddie Murphy when my phone chimes. Diving for it, my initial burst of excitement dies when Terra’s name flashes across the screen. Still, talking to her is way better than playing the same loop of questions over and over in my head.

I pause the video and answer the call, “Hey.”

“Hey, roomie! How’s it going? You crying alone in our apartment, missing me?”

I snort. “Yep. You got it. Already ran out of tissues. How’s Fayetteville?”

“Boring. Faith had to go do Army stuff, so I’m just Netflix and chilling by myself at the hotel.”

Now that she mentions it, I can hear the drone of the TV in the background.

“Only boring people get bored.” That was a line Grams would throw at me whenever I whined for her to entertain me.

Terra’s affronted huff bursts through the phone. “You shut your mouth! I’ve never been called boring in my life! If Faith were here, she could give you a detailed description of just how exciting our reunion—”

“Stop!” Even though she can’t see me, I wave my hand, as if to ward her off. “I do not want a play-by-play of your sex life.”

“Why not? I’m really good.” From the tone of her voice, she’s clearly grinning.

“I don’t doubt it. But I’d never be able to look Faith in the eye again. If you start talking about you two, I’m going to lay out in vivid detail what Ben and I do in bed. You want to hear all about his penis?”

“Bleh. I don’t know why you bother with those things. Vaginas are so much prettier.”

“I’m sure he agrees with you.”

For a second, we’re quiet. I don’t know who breaks first, but all of a sudden, we’re both laughing hysterically. She might have been wrong about me crying, but my roommate was right about me missing her. Terra can make me smile, no matter how down I am.

As I catch my breath, I pick up my notebook and scan the list I wrote out earlier, ticking items off as I go.

“Did you ever give me back my blue scarf?”

“Nope. Should be somewhere in my room. You need it?”

Crap, not sure I’d ever be able to find something in the clothing hurricane Terra calls a bedroom.

“I guess not. I’m just packing.”

“I thought you weren’t going to your dad’s until Monday.”

With the surgery coming up, I decided to get settled at his house before the holiday.

“So? What’s wrong with being proactive?”

I can almost hear her eye roll through the phone. “Come on, girl. Take a break. Watch some TV. Paint your nails. Read a book. Fool around with your man. You two hanging out tonight to celebrate the end of the semester?”