“She lost her key,” Karen sighs. “Can you let her in her bedroom?”
Felicity grimaces, but nods.
“Don’t tell anyone I did this,” she says. She fiddles around in her room for a minute and then comes out with a keycard. Together, we head down the hall. “I’m supposed to charge you for a replacement key. You know that, right?”
“I’ll pay you later.”
“Don’t,” she says. “I don’t know what happened tonight, but - and don’t take this the wrong way - you look like hell.”
“Thanks.”
We stop in front of my room and she swipes the card over the sensor to make sure it works. Sure enough, my door swings open. The keycard will let me into the bedroom, as well as into the dorms.
“Here,” she hands me the key. “If you find your old one, bring this one back. Like I said, you didn’t get this from me.” Felicity scratches her forehead for a second before looking at Karen. “Hey, take care of her, okay?”
“You got it.”
“And if you need me to report anything for you, you know where my room is.”
She leaves. Her bright red hair bounces as she walks: probably because she wasn’t caught in the rain tonight.
As soon as she’s out of sight, Karen and I step into the room and Karen closes the door behind me.
Wordlessly, I start stripping out of my wet clothes and throw them into my laundry basket. I rummage around one of my dresser drawers and pull out an oversized t-shirt and a pair of pajama pants. Then I pull them on.
Karen watches me silently as I change. She doesn’t judge me or say anything mean. She just looks at me.
Finally, I sit down on the bed.
“I made out with Gavin,” I whisper. I sort of blurt it out in a rush, but I feel defeated when I say it. I don’t feel aroused anymore.
“Woah,” she lets out a long, low whistle. “That was not what I expected you to say.”
“I loved it,” I whisper.
“Okay,” Karen says. She pulls out my desk chair and sits on it. Then she folds her hands in her lap and, looking very much the therapist, raises an eyebrow. “So what’s the problem?”
“What do you mean?”
“You loved making out with a hot guy, but you’re upset. You obviously cried after. Your eyes are red and swollen, and you were so upset that you left all of your stuff behind, presumably in his car. What’s wrong?”
“What’s wrong is that he’s a dick.”
“He hasn’t always been a dick.”
“He was today.”
“And you decided not to turn him in,” she points out diplomatically. “Proving that you have feelings for him, at least on some level.”
“Okay, I know that your mom is a therapist, but I’m not a patient. You can’t analyze me.”
“I’m not. I’m just listening. What is it about Gavin that’s so under your skin?”
“He hurt me.”
“I’ve hurt you.”
“Not like him.”