Page 5 of The Golden Receiver

“At all.” I looked over at the room that was going to be our fourth roommates and then back at the other two. “Seems like a waste of space.”

“What does?” Teagan asked.

“The empty room.” I walked over to the door and turned the doorknob. It was locked. There was a whole empty room in our suite. My room was pretty full, and I didn’t even have room for the little walking pad Pops and a few of the regulars at the bar had gifted me before I left. It was tucked under my bed. It would be nice to be able to work out in my room when I didn’t feel like going to the gym on the weekends. I doubted either of my roommates would complain about the extra space either. An idea formed in my head.

“If we could get in there…” I trailed off, kneeling to look at the lock. It was a fairly standard lock, like the one on the door to mine and Pops’ apartment back home.

“It’s locked,” Isaiah commented dryly. Like I hadn’t just turned the doorknob and checked that. “Besides, I don’t think we’d be allowed.”

“But if it weren’t locked, we’d all have a little extra space.”

Teagan looked up at that. “I could use some extra space. There’s not a lot of storage in these rooms.”

“I could probably get us in here,” I declared, standing up straight.

“And you would probably get expelled,” Isaiah pointed out.

Teagan rose from his seat. “Only if someone found out,” he stated as he crossed the small living room area to come stare at the locked door. He focused his dark brown eyes on me. “Do you really think you could get us in here?”

I nodded. “Easy. I used to have to pick the lock to my apartment back home when I’d get locked out and Pops was working.”

I could’ve just as easily walked across town to the bar and got the key, but that would be admitting to my dad that I forgot them. I’d been about fourteen at the time, and I’d just been given the right to come home after school instead of going to the bar. I didn’t want Pops to think I wasn’t responsible enough for it, so instead of getting him to give me a key, I had one of the downstairs neighbors teach me how to pick a lock. It had made perfect sense in my young mind, and I’d learned a valuable life skill in the process.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Isaiah muttered from his seat on the couch.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Teagan countered. He looked down at the door and then back at me. “What do you need to unlock the door?”

I had what I needed in my room. The same neighbor that had taught me how to get into my locked apartment had gifted me his first ever lock pick set that same year for Christmas. I’d kept it hidden in the bottom of my backpack until I packed my bedroom up for college. Then I stuck it in one of the boxes that was coming with me. I didn’t think I’d have any need for it in a place like Creelin, but I felt weird not having it after all these years. It looked like it was a good thing now that we were facing the locked door to opportunity.

“Gimme a few minutes,” I told my new roommates before rushing down the hallway to my room. I could hear them talking in the distance: Isaiah’s anxious voice mixing with Teagan’s confident one. I couldn’t make out the words, but I didn’t think that mattered too much. I dug through a box of odds and ends from my bedroom back home until I found the worn leather roll that held the lock pick set. I rolled it open on my desk and pulled a few pieces from it before going back to the suite’s living room.

“What are those?” Isaiah asked with a raised brow as he took in the tools in my hand. He leaned in closer to study them. “Did you bring a lock pick set to school with you?”

I heard Teagan make a noise that sounded a lot like a chuckle. “It’s a long story,” I told him as I knelt in front of the door.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Isaiah questioned one last time.

I ignored him as I started toying with the lock. Teagan and Isaiah’s voices blended in the background while I focused. I wished they’d shut up so I could hear what I was doing, but I didn’t want to get into a fight with either of them on the first day living together. Combine that with the fact that I had a lock pick set in my room, and they might start to think I was someone who couldn’t be trusted.

After a few minutes, I heard the click that said the lock was undone. I gave the doorknob a twist and pushed the door open.

The bedroom was set up like my dorm had been: bed against one wall, a desk, a wardrobe, and a little bit of floor space to move around. I looked over my shoulder at Teagan and Isaiah and motioned them in. “Don’t close the door. Not until we figure out how to keep it from locking.”

While they walked into the room, I started looking around for something to prop the door open with. I ended up just grabbing a random box for now, but I knew that wasn’t going to end up working. For one thing, I didn’t know if that box belonged to Isaiah or Teagan, and I was sure they’d want to put their stuff away eventually. I stepped into the room with my roommates. “Would you guys mind if I put my walking pad in here?” I asked, eyeing the space between the bed and the wall.

In my room, I was worried about knocking things over. In here, there wasn’t anything to knock over.

“If I can use the closet for extra storage,” Teagan bargained. “And maybe set up a space to do makeup in here…”

Isaiah was still shifting around nervously, but I caught the way his eyes kept looking at the desk. “You got something you think would go there?” I asked.

“I could use it for crafting,” he muttered in a small voice. His dark eyes darted toward Teagan. “If you don’t mind sharing the desk?”

Teagan and I exchanged a glance before we both nodded. It looked like we all had something we could be using this space for. And well, if Isaiah had a stake in this room, then maybe he’d relax a little.

Chapter Two

Evander