by Jo Ho
“Oh hell no. I’m not staying. Not here and not with her.”
She pointed a black painted finger towards Tyler and abruptly left, leaving Si gaping after her.
“Eve! Come on, give it a chance!” He called after her, but it seemed she wouldn’t be coming back. Si turned back to Tyler, face full of apology.
“I’m sorry, she’s not usually like that. She’s been a bit stressed,” he finished lamely.
“Right,” Tyler replied, not bothering to fill in the awkward gap that followed. Personally, Eve being so rude to her face, she hadn’t particularly liked the look of the other girl either! Tyler felt herself brimming with anger only controlling it for his sake since he had been so nice to her.
“I’d better go after her, see if I can get her to come back.”
Don’t be doing that on my account, Tyler thought, pissed.
Si shot her an apologetic look then took off after his sister.
Alone again, Tyler thought.
Figured.
Chapter 6
Marley spent the next few hours sorting through her things and finding new homes for them.
Technically, she would be considered a messy person, though she liked to point out that it always started off neatly. She just wasn’t able to keep it tidy for long. She was one of those people who had a hap-hazard filing system and always ended up putting things in a “safe place.” It was just unfortunate that she never remembered exactly where that safe place was.
While Marley carefully stacked her piles of journalism and history books, she noticed that Cassie was fast disappearing under a mound of cosmetic and weight loss products. She also owned more beauty magazines than school books by the looks of things. Marley watched in some amazement as Cassie erected a giant make-up mirror on her desk. Plugging in the cable, she flipped a switch and the numerous bulbs around the mirror flashed on, bathing the room in its warm amber glow.
“That’s a pretty hardcore piece of gear you’ve got there.”
Cassie stared shyly at her in the mirror.
“Yeah, it’s a professional mirror. It was given to my mom after a shoot, but when she saw how much I wanted it, she passed it on to me.”
“You’re really into this stuff, huh?” Marley was determined to get to know her new roommate and to put her at ease. Part one of her “becoming normal” plan was to find some real friends, and naturally, that had to start with her roommate.
“I guess,” was Cassie’s only reply.
Determined not to be put off by her lack of response, Marley continued. “Have you done much research into the college?”
Cassie tilted her head to one side, thinking. “Just the basic stuff on the courses and dorms.”
“So you don’t know that this place is drowning in fun facts?”
“Like what?” Cassie asked, looking interested for once.
“Like how Kylerman Hall used to be a hotel, and the study lounge on the top floor used to be a pool, so there are some great views from up there.”
“That is pretty neat.”
“Right? And they do amazing food here. They even have a lobster night! Can you imagine? I LOVE seafood. My dad and I are waiting for that one.”
“Your dad?” Cassie frowned, confused.
“He’s going to be a history professor here.”
“Well, that’ll be nice for you to have him so close.”
“Yeah, I need to see about that. I love him but he can be a little overprotective.”
“That’s probably because he’s a single parent,” Cassie said before her face started flushing red with embarrassment. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like I know it all, it’s just that mine can be overprotective too. As much as they mean well, sometimes I just need some air, you know?”
“Absolutely,” Marley replied. Truthfully, she was enjoying the fact that Cassie was coming out of her shell. Was it possible that things would turn out OK after all? That would be a first for sure.
“Wait! I almost forgot the best one! Did you know a famous playwright died in our halls? Jacob Samuelson. They say it’s haunted by him. Apparently, when he’s out walking, the lights flicker on and off, and sometimes people can hear footsteps approaching but they can’t see anyone.”
Cassie shuddered. “Well, that’s not creepy at all, thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Marley replied cheerfully, not the least bit concerned. Picking up the jacket she had left on the bed, she found a small shoebox of her own lying beneath it. The sight of it made her wary, and she shot a look at Cassie to see if she was watching, but, Cassie was focused on lining up her millions of lipsticks and arranging them on a scale of light to dark.
Quickly she flipped open the box, double checking the contents. Inside lay several bottles of prescription meds with her name on them. Her shrink had wanted her to have enough to cover her for any emergencies. School could be a trying time, and they weren’t sure how Marley would cope with the pressures on her own, so it was decided to front-load her with an arsenal of meds, should she need them.
Closing the lid, Marley hid the box under her bed and pulled several pairs of shoes in front of it.
If she was lucky, Cassie would never even know it was there.
Chapter 7
Storming away from the dorm, Eve made fast work of losing her brother amongst the crowd. She could still hear him calling out after her, but Eve didn’t stop for fear he would catch up to her.
She didn’t need to hear what he had to say; she already knew what the gist of it would be: he was disappointed in her for not giving the dorm or her roommate a chance, especially after she had promised him that she wouldn’t do this exact same thing (Eve had a bad habit of running away and sticking her head in the sand), but at the end of the day, he wasn’t the one who was going to have to live here, sharing every night with a complete stranger in such close quarters. Some people might have found the room cozy, but for Eve who had grown used to her space, it was claustrophobically small.
And then there was the roommate herself.
But Eve didn’t want to think about her right now. She knew she couldn’t go home as Si would make a beeline there. Needing a place to camp out, she headed to the Coffee Bean, the on-campus java establishment of choice.
When she had been a freshman here last year, The Bean was Eve’s favorite place to hang out. It wasn’t just that they served a mean espresso, but all the cute guys had seemed to flock there. Eve was given more numbers waiting for her drink than anywhere else on site. It seemed it was still super popular today, however, given the long line of students that waited in front of her. She stood impatiently behind a group of chatting girls as she searched for her money — which could be in any number of the many pockets she had.
In the past, Eve had dressed only for maximum impact on guys, but she had since learned the futility of that exercise. Looking down and rifling through her pockets, Eve didn’t see the girls in front of her turn around but she heard the snickers immediately.
“Oh look, is it Halloween already?” a girl said.
“If all the new intakes look like that, we’re not going to have any competition this year,” another laughed loudly.
Rage coursing through her, Eve — not one to take abuse lying down anymore — raised her head, meaning to cut them down to size, but she froze dead when she saw who they were, shock radiating through her.
She knew these girls.
More than knew them.
The girls’ insulting looks changed too as recognition set in.
“Eve?” Carly, the overly made-up blonde and ringleader of the group gasped. “Why do you look like that?”
Swallowing her shock, Eve’s sensibilities came back to her in a rush. The blood pounded in her head as she was finally confronted with the girls she had not seen for almost a year.
“This is how I look now. You’d know that if any of you had bothered to find out,” she snapped back bitterly.
Grace, a brunette wearing a super short s
kirt and a low cut shirt that showed a distasteful amount of her push-up bra, shot her a disdainful look.
“It’s not our fault you disappeared out of school. A phone works both ways, you know.”
Knowing that she had never meant anything to them was one thing, but actually experiencing it now still managed to hurt, even after all the time had passed. Despite the fury raging through her, Eve also felt tears prick the backs of her eyes as she glared at them.
“I told you about my problem but none of you cared enough to help me.”
Carly sighed dramatically and spoke as if she were speaking to a child.
“We told you what to do, but you didn’t, so you can’t really blame us for not listening. At some point, don’t you have to own your own actions?”
“Besides,” Grace said, tossing her long hair as if she were in a commercial. “It’s not like we were best buddies or something. We just felt sorry for you.”
“Yeah,” another of the girls agreed. “You were always so desperate for our attention.”
“Well, I certainly don’t need that anymore,” Eve snapped as she spun on her heels and hurried away before they could see how upset she was.
Chapter 8
A few hours later, Marley stood beside Cassie with the other students in her dorm in the common area known as The Lounge.
Ahead of their first scheduled dorm meeting, Marley had watched as Cassie had tried on, then discarded several outfits before finally deciding on an olive green dress. Marley had said that they didn’t need to change clothes to meet with their Resident Advisor but Cassie had wanted to. She had also spent a good hour touching up her makeup and struggling to tame her unruly hair. If Marley found it bewildering, however, she kept it to herself, not wanting to make Cassie even more self-conscious than she already was.
Staring around the room, Marley noticed that all except one student were paired up. People were naturally standing beside their roommates but there was one girl, a quiet-looking brunette with a cool bob who didn’t speak to anyone and stood off to one side.
To assist them in getting to know each other, their RA had given name badges for the students to wear, just while they had this social gathering. Marley could see the girl who stood by herself was called Tyler. For whatever reason, she didn’t seem to have a roommate with her.
Their RA was named Rhett and she thought he was quite the hunk. Judging by the captivated faces from the female students, the rest felt the same. He wasn’t that tall, maybe five ten or so, but he carried himself in such a way that he seemed much bigger. His brown hair was trimmed into a neat crewcut, and there was a hint of stubble around his jawline that made him all the more attractive. Intelligence shone from his blue eyes as he took in the room, watching for the last stragglers to arrive. Rhett gave off an air of confidence yet also seemed approachable, which Marley found comforting — if they had any problems living here, he would be the first port of call.
He spent a while going through the ins-and-outs of living at the dorm. Marley tried to take it all in but was beginning to suffer from information overload, it didn’t help that he was distractingly good-looking so she was glad when he finally changed the subject.
“Now that we’ve gone through basic housekeeping here at TJ Halls, I need to switch gears and talk to you guys about something you need to be aware of.”
Rhett’s voice had lost the friendly vibe he’d had just moments before and now took on a serious tone.
“You might have heard already, but a student was found dead the other night. She was from a neighboring college and she was killed only a short distance from here.”
Gasps could be heard around the room. Marley had somehow missed this news, only learning of it now. She found herself chilled and shared a horrified look with Cassie.
“How did she die?” asked a girl with red hair. Her voice cracked at the end, clearly spooked by the revelation.
Rhett hesitated, struggling to decide just how much information should be relayed. Finally, he spoke again. It looked like it was a struggle for him to stay calm, Marley noted.
“Her neck was snapped.”
As more gasps sounded, Rhett raised his hand for silence.
“The thing is, our campus is very secure — all the colleges are — but once you are off-site, you run the same risks as everyone else. While police are investigating the murder, it’s probably best to be cautious when leaving the grounds. I’d advise you all against going out at night alone. If you see anything suspicious, there are phones that are connected to campus security dotted around everywhere. Do not hesitate to use them, even if nothing has happened but you just feel scared, especially you girls. Women so often don’t listen to their instincts only to regret it later so trust yourself and be safe.”
A tall blonde raised her hand. When Rhett nodded, she spoke.
“What college was she from, the girl who was killed?”
“I don’t know if that information is being released just yet. While we want you to be safe, we also don’t think a culture of fear and paranoia will do you any favors. It’s best if you all just help each other out, particularly as you are all freshmen, and make sure that none of you are alone when you go anywhere. At least for the foreseeable future.”
“Wait, wasn’t someone else killed recently? Another young person?”
It was a black guy who had spoken this time. Rhett hesitated before answering.
“Yes, but we don’t know if the two are connected.”
Rumbles rose through the ranks as the ramifications of a possible connection chilled Marley to the core. If the same person killed both victims, wouldn’t that mean there was a serial killer on the loose?
“Who knew it’d be safer back in Englewood, Chicago than here,” someone said but the joke fell flat. No one laughed, unable to see the funny side to any of this. Rhett walked up to a whiteboard and wrote a number on it.
“Save this emergency number to your phones. This is who you call if you are not near a campus phone and something happens.”
The room was suddenly filled with the familiar sound of multiple musical phone keys being pressed. Marley saved the number and watched as Cassie did the same.
“I’m sorry to put such a dampener on your first day. I’ve been here two years and in all that time, nothing has happened until now, so this is probably a one-time thing and we’re being over cautious for nothing. Still, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Just remember, safety in numbers.”
Rhett turned as if to leave but stopped, then went over to his bag to fish out a pile of booklets from inside.
“Wait, I almost forgot. So we don’t end our first meeting with so much doom and gloom, here’s some local information for you guys. We’ve listed the best places to eat, shop and hang out so you should check them out.”
Done with the talk, Rhett suddenly found himself swamped with anxious students needing reassurance though Marley couldn’t help but notice nearly all were female. Cassie reached the pile of booklets and grabbed two from the top, handing one to Marley.
“Thanks,” Marley said.
“No problem,” Cassie replied, her cheeks flushing pink again making Marley wonder how long it would be before Cassie wasn’t embarrassed by just talking to her. As Marley began flicking through the booklet, she noticed Tyler standing beside them.
“Hey, I’m Marley and this is Cassie,” she began.
Tyler gave the two a smile. Though she seemed friendly, there was an air of sadness around her that Marley immediately caught.
“I’m Tyler. I have the room opposite you two.” Tyler turned and gestured to Cassie. “I saw your parents saying goodbye to you earlier.”
“Right,” Cassie replied lamely, instantly wishing she could say something cool for once.
“That meeting was slightly terrifying wasn’t it? Wasn’t expecting that when I signed up for classes,” Marley said, hoping to lessen some of Cassie’s shyness and embarrassment.
“Yeah. It’s a conversation
starter for sure. Not sure how I’m supposed to take his advice though, since I don’t have a roommate to buddy up with.”
“We noticed you were standing alone. Where’s your roommate?”
“Gone. She took one look at the room, then me, then apparently decided she didn’t want anything to do with either of us,” Tyler said without a hint of malice.
“Seriously? That’s both rude and weird,” Marley replied.
“Yeah,” Tyler shrugged. “I’m not too cut up about it though, kinda like the fact I’ll have my own room but it doesn’t help with any of what Rhett just said.”
“You can hang with Cassie and me, right Cassie? We’d love an extra friend,” Marley spoke for the two of them, hoping Cassie wouldn’t have any issues with that. To be honest, Marley wasn’t sure she wanted to be alone with Cassie too much. The girl was so awkward, it was painful to watch and interact with her, but more than that, it wouldn’t exactly help Marley’s mission to seem normal. At least Tyler could speak without tripping over her tongue.
Cassie nodded but did the thing again where she couldn’t meet the other girl’s eyes. If Tyler noticed, she didn’t let on.
“It’s still pretty early, why don’t we check out one of the places recommended in here?” Marley suggested.
“Sounds good,” Tyler said.
“Yes,” Cassie agreed.
And just like that, Marley had made her first two friends in a long, long time.
She hoped they would still stick around when they found out the truth about her.
Chapter 9
A wall of colorful fruit greeted any who came into Fresh and Wild, a trendy smoothie and juice bar overlooking the common (and one of Rhett’s recommendations).
