Chapter Text
Jessa looked out the truck window as her brother turned into the dorm building parking lot, taking in the surroundings.
“Can’t believe how lucky you are, getting your best friend as your roommate” She stated as her brother pulled into a vacant parking spot.
“Yeah, its great” Jesse replied, putting the truck into park and shutting it off. “Speaking of Lukas… we’re meeting up at a coffee shop. You can handle moving in yourself yeah?”
Jessa rolled her eyes “Yeah I’ll be fine” she unbuckled her seatbelt and prepared to get out.
“OK, great! I’ll give you the keys, you can lock the truck when your finished.” He smiled as he exited the truck
“Yeah whatever, have fun on your little date” Jessa teased as Jesse handed her the keys and began to walk away
“Oh my god, Petra isn’t even here and she’s still rubbing off on you” He shouted back
Jessa’s smile faltered slightly at the mention of Petra “You didn’t deny it” She replied, thinking about the last time she had talked to Petra… it was after the both of them graduated; but they hadn’t talked all summer. It was almost like Petra fell of the face of the earth for a bit, her only online activity was liking all of Jessa’s posts and one change of her profile picture, but nothing else. She shook away her thoughts as she now needed to figure out how to bring all her stuff inside. Jessa opened the bed of the truck and analyzed everything inside:
3 boxes, one with summer clothes, one with winter clothes, as well as one with pillows and a quilt her mother had made for her; a tote bag with a bunch of school supplies; and a large duffle bag with the essentials and her electronics. God, she wished she would of had some help, but she was a strong independent person, right? She could do this?
She decided on putting on the duffle bag and putting the tote bag over her arm, then she grabbed the boxes, from heaviest to lightest, and held the stack in her arms. She would have to cock her head to the side in order to see where she was going, one of the many disadvantages of her height, but it would have to do. Jessa made her way to the entrance of the dorm building, she managed to stumble only once; the automatic doors of the building opened up and she stepped inside, making her way to the elevator; despite the boxes blocking her view slightly, Jessa could see the black and yellow caution tape blocking off the elevator. Just great.
“Do you want some help with that?” A voice behind her spoke, it was calm, but rough. It was a familiar voice. Jessa’s eyes shot up in surprise, she turned around, dropping the boxes she was carrying in the process; then she saw her, still the same leather vest and deep set eyes… she couldn’t believe it..
“Petra!?” She gasped, staring. Was this real? Petra smiled at Jessa’s shocked expression
“Yeah, uh.. are those boxes ok?” She giggled
“PETRA!” Jessa lunged forward and wrapped the taller woman in a bone crushing hug
“Oof.. you’re gonna, like, actually kill me one of these days, y’know” Petra strained out, loosely returning the hug. Finally, Jessa broke the hug and smiled; Petra smiled back.
“Where the hell have you been all summer??” The shorter lightly punched the other’s shoulder “You haven’t talked to me, I thought you died or something!”
“Sorry, sorry, this summer was.. a lot for me, hah” Petra apologized, looking at the boxes dropped earlier “Wanna get these up to your dorm now?”
“Oh! Yeah yeah..” Jessa went to pick up the box from the top of the pile, Petra stopped her.
“Let me carry one of those damn bags” She crossed her arms, Jessa gave up the tote bag to Petra, she smiled. The two made their way to the large stairwell near the center of the lobby.
“Excuse me.. Ma’am, would you like the key to your dorm?” The person at the front desk called out to Jessa
“Oh shit, yes please, sorry!” Jessa quickly walked over to the desk, Petra following behind.
“Name and dorm room number?” The front desk attendant asked
“Jessica Merced, room 609, I believe” She replied, Petra stifled a giggle behind her.
“Alright, here you are” The attendant placed a keycard on the desk in front of Jessa, who swiftly switched the box she was holding over to her hip.
“Thank you” She said as she placed the keycard in her pocket and readjusted the box back to its original position. Finally, they began to make their way up the 6 flights of stairs.
“Soo… how’d you figure out what dorm building I was in?” Jessa asked
“Your brother told Lukas, who then told me.” The redhead replied, Jessa hummed in acknowledgment. They made it up to the 6th floor at last, quickly making their way to Jessa’s dorm. She tossed the box she was carrying to the side and pulled out the keycard to her room.
“What’s in these boxes?” Petra questioned, watching the box fall to the floor.
“Just clothes and stuff” Jessa replied as she opened the door. It was a single dorm, so no roommate. After she toured the campus, Jessa decided on having a single given how small the rooms were, she didn’t want to have to share such a cramped space with someone else; and she doubted she would get lucky enough to be placed with someone she knew. Although.. with Petra here now, she wondered if she could of had such an opportunity.
“I was wondering why you’ve been so carless with them” Petra’s words took Jessa out of her head.
“Yeah yeah, uh.. come in, I guess” She picked up the box she had tossed aside earlier and walked inside. “Welcome to my place, heh”
“Its… small..” Petra noted as she entered the space; Jessa looked away shyly. “Well.. lets get started, yeah?” She walked past her and placed the boxes she was carrying down on the small desk in the corner. Jessa nodded, doing the same.
“Wait, I don’t have anything to open the boxes with..” Jessa began, searching her person for anything that could work, she was about to pull out the keys for the truck— until Petra gently pushed her to the side— and pulled a small utility knife from one of her pockets.
“Petra..”
“Huh?”
“..Why do you have a knife??” Jessa questioned, crossing her arms.
“Just in case..” She hummed in response, beginning to cut the tape keeping one of the boxes shut. Jessa sighed, she knew Petra, she was very.. defensive, always on edge; always prepared for the worst case scenario. That’s just how she’s always been, well, as long as Jessa has known her. She watched as Petra opened the boxes one by one, turning to Jessa when she had finished, humming triumphantly. Jessa couldn’t help but smile, the two began to unpack everything from the boxes, Petra hanging clothes and Jessa folding them.
“So.. uh.. are you studying here?” Jessa asked
“Nah, I’m just here to help you unpack— of course I go here” Petra joked. ‘Shit, maybe I should’ve gotten a double if I had the chance of rooming with Petra. Maybe I can request to dorm with her next semester. What dorm building is she even in?’ Jessa thought to herself
“Ah. What dorm are you staying in?” She continued. ‘Maybe I can help her unpack too’
“Oh, I’m not staying in a dorm, I rent an apartment off campus” The other woman admitted.
“Really?” Jessa looked towards Petra with wide eyes.
“Yeah, its just easier for me” Petra rubbed the back of her neck.
“I didn’t know we could do that..” Jessa remarked. The two of them unpacked the last of everything in the boxes, Petra began to reach towards the bags they had tossed on the bed earlier, but Jessa stopped her.
“No, no, you don’t have to, you’ve done plenty for me!” Jessa insisted.
“Are you sure? I don’t mind-“
“Yes, I’m sure, Petra. Thanks for helping.” Jessa began, she looked down at her phone to check the time, it was just about noon. “Hey, do you wanna get something to eat? Its the least I can do after you helped me out”
“Jessa, seriously, its fine, don’t worry about it” Petra replied, looking down at the shorter woman, only to see her looking up at her with big, pleading eyes. ‘How does she even do that.. and why does it always work..’ She thought to herself
“Don’t look at me like that..”
“Like what?” She knew exactly what she was doing.
“Like.. with those…big, sad eyes..” Petra scoffed. Jessa kept looking at her, this had to be some secret family ability, she remembers Lukas complaining about Jesse always looking at him with ‘puppy dog eyes’.
‘Oh god dammit…’ The ginger haired girl groaned “okay! FINE, I’ll let you get me food.. Just stop giving me those eyes!”
“Alright then, lets go” Jessa grabbed Petra’s arm and led her out of the room and down the stairs. Petra shook her head as she let her drag her to the parking lot. Jessa only let go when they got to the truck.
“Is Wendy’s ok?” Jessa asked as they both got in the truck
“Yeah, wherever you want..” Petra replied, Jessa nodded and put the address into her phone, she started the directions then started the car. She turned out of the parking lot, then she turned again at a stop light. Petra leaned her arm against her window and turned her head to watch the other woman as she prepared to turn onto the expressway.
“Where even is Jesse, anyway?” Petra began
“Oh, he went to a café to meet up with Lukas” Jessa replied as she waited for a break in traffic
“Wait, so he ditched you to go on a date with his little boyfriend??” Petra questioned
“Oh my god, are they finally together? Jesse won’t tell me shit” Jessa remarked as she finally turned onto the expressway.
“Jesus, they aren’t even dating? What is their deal?” Petra gasped
“They somehow managed to get a dorm together, like just randomly” Jessa added
“What damn romance movie are they apart of?” Petra laughed, Jessa laughed also; she almost forgot what Petra’s laugh sounded like. The rest of the ride was uneventful, they pulled into the parking lot, Jessa shutting off the truck as Petra began to get out; they walked into the building and stood behind the counter. Jessa nudged Petra with her shoulder, signaling for her to order.
“Oh, uh, just a single and a bottle of water” She stated, Jessa looked at her out of the corner of her eye.
“I’ll have a spicy chicken sandwich with a strawberry lemonade and medium fries” Jessa hummed “For here, please” she swiped her card and the two stood back and waited for their food.
“You could’ve gotten something more, y’know” The shorter one commented
“Nah, I don’t eat much anyway.” Petra reassured. When their food was finished, they grabbed it and sat down at a nearby table. Jessa idly sipped her drink as Petra unwrapped her food, Jessa soon doing the same. They ate in silence for a moment, until Jessa spoke up.
“So, what are you majoring in?” She asked
“Archeology, you?” Petra hummed in response
“Oh, Political Science” Jessa smiled, Petra let out a small laugh. “What?” She cocked her head at the redhead across the table.
“Nothing, nothing! Just, that’s a very fitting major for you, Ms. ‘Student council vice president’” She smiled
“I guess you could say that..” Jessa admitted
“What, your good with politics and people and all that. I think you should run for president.” Petra concluded
“Nah, that’s more Jesse’s thing, I’m better with all the behind the scenes stuff” She sighed, grabbing a fry.
“Well, you wouldn’t be getting distracted by Lukas all the damn time, and you are really good with people, no clue what your talking about with that” Petra concluded, Jessa averted her eyes and smiled.
“Whatever you say” She rolled her eyes. “Uh.. I may have ordered a mini fridge and some other things online… and I was wondering—“
“Did you buy me food just to bribe me into carrying your heavy stuff?” Petra teased
“Well.. ah.. y-you don’t have to, if you don’t wanna..” Jessa stammered
“I’m kidding, of course I’ll help” Petra reassured
“Ok! Great! Its supposed to come in a few days so I’ll let you know…” Jessa began, Petra reached over the table to steal a fry from her. “Hey! If you wanted fries you could of just ordered them!”
“Nah, they taste better when I steal them from you” She giggled
“You’re ridiculous” Jessa sighed. Soon, they had finished up their food and cleaned up their table, returning to the truck.
“What’s your address? I’ll drop you off” Jessa began as she got into the drivers seat.
“Oh, don’t worry about it, I can probably just walk” Petra rubbed the back of her neck
“Petra.”
“What??”
“Get in the damn truck, I’m driving you home.” Jessa commanded “I’ll put you in the bed if I have to”
“Okay, okay!” Petra sighed, reluctantly getting in the truck. “Gimmie your phone, I’ll get the directions up” The other woman handed her the phone and quickly typed in her address, handing it back after she finished. Jessa smiled and started the truck, beginning the drive to Petra’s apartment. The ride there was silent, but in a comfortable way, they eventually arrived and Jessa stopped the truck to let Petra out.
“You better text me later!” Jessa called out as Petra exited the car
“Yeah, I will” Petra replied, closing the door of the truck. Jessa watched as her figure retreated into the doors of the apartment building before driving away.
*****
Petra walked into her apartment, tossing off her boots and locking the door. She sighed, walking into her room and flopping down onto the bed. She felt awful for ghosting Jessa all summer, even if she was dealing with a lot of shit. She rolled over and stared up at the celling, Jessa looked practically the same as she remembered, she even wore the same red hair clip she had been wearing since sophomore year. Although, it appeared that she had started wearing a new color of lipgloss. No matter what, Petra was just glad they were able to hang out again, and that Jessa still wanted to be friends with her. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, some small part of her hoped it was Jessa; she grabbed her phone and saw a message from her boss asking her to cover a shift. She sighed and replied yes to the message, getting up from the bed and searching her closet for her uniform. Petra grabbed the mandated uniform polo and a pair of black jeans, she changed out of the outfit she was already wearing and quickly threw on her uniform. She kept her bandana on her head and slipped her leather vest back on, she then grabbed her keys as well as her phone and left her room. As she was putting on her boots, she felt her phone vibrate once again. After she finished putting on her boots, she checked her phone. It was an DM from Jessa.
Jessa ⟡₊ ⊹
Just checked! The fridge will be here tmr, come over whenever!!
Alright, I’ll lyk when I can get there
Ok!! ttyl :)
Petra smiled at the message, replying with a thumbs up, she put her phone back in her pocket and left her apartment, walking to the nearby bus stop.
Jessa sighed as she finished making her bed, she sat down on it, admiring her work with the rest of her room. All she had to do now was set up her desk. She dug in the duffle bag for her laptop and charger, as the placed the computer on her desk, she realized that Petra had forgotten her utility knife. Jessa giggled, Petra could be forgetful sometimes. She would just give it back to her tomorrow.