"Well, let's go grab some food!" Lizzie said brightly and led the way. I followed behind rather meekly rubbing my hand as Kelsey rushed to catchup.
* * *
By the time I returned to my new dorm room, my legs were on fire. I felt like I had walked more than twenty miles in the last few hours. First, Lizzie, Kelsey, and I had gone to the cafeteria, which had been teeming with people. Second, we had gone on a campus-wide tour with several other freshmen and their families. Lizzie stayed with Kelsey and me, making jokes and telling us where the best places on campus were. In a way, she reminded me of Erika—outgoing and so sure of herself. A pang of something hit me deep inside, making me forget where I was for a brief moment. Erika should have been there with me. She should have been the one showing me around campus. She should have been the one cracking jokes and making plans for study groups. My gaze drifted away from Lizzie and Kelsey, inadvertently tuning them out as my mind was caught up in the worry forErika.
It was only when Lizzie laughed so loud that she snorted, that I was drawn back into the conversation. Kelsey looked over at me curiously but didn’t say anything when I realized I had drifted away physically too, and suddenly moved closer. Lizzie was speaking, explaining that the tour guides weren’t actually allowed to mention which frats had the most parties, or which areas were for smokers. It wasn’t like I would need to know anything about where smokers were permitted to smoke openly, but it was fun to listen to her rattle on. It was also really nice of her to go with us rather than leave us to our own devices—especially since the guys still hadn’t let me know when we were meetingup.
The tour lasted for over an hour. Then we went to the bookstore, the library, the campus store—which was apparently different than the bookstore—andfinally, the coffee lounge. After the hell that was the cafeteria, Lizzie wanted to show us other places to eat. So, we checked out the sub-sandwich place in the basement of the honors center and the food court in the student rec center. The gym. The campus movie theater. My feet screamed at me to stop thinking about itall.
I collapsed on my bed and stared at the ceiling while Lizzie hummed a random tune as she got ready for bed. She stepped further into her closet and began pulling off her clothes with the door half closed, shielding her from view. I couldn't even think about getting back on my feet to do that, no matter how badly I wanted to. My phone vibrated, and I groaned, rolling over on my tiny mattress to tug it out of my pantspocket.
Texas:Haven't heard from you today, you allgood?
Before I could reply, more texts came through. I groaned—the guys all thought way too muchalike.
Bellamy:How is thecampus?
Marv:We finally finished with the house. Do you need any help setting up yourroom?
Even Grayson textedme.
Grayson:Heard your roomie is a pixie. Sounds like she'll suit you just fine,Babydoll.
I narrowed my eyes at that last text and decided that Grayson would be my firstreply.
Harlow:What the hell do you mean she's apixie?
Grayson:Pinkhair?
Harlow:How do you knowthat?
Grayson:Alex's girlfriend stopped by before she went backhome.
"Sounds like you have a lot of friends back home," Lizzie said quietly as she moved out of her closet and towards herbed.
I shook my head. "No, just some friends who are staying here,actually."
Lizzie looked surprised. "On campus? Why didn't you text them earlier and ask them to come out withus?”
"No, not on campus," I replied, clicking away from my conversation with Grayson and onto Texas'. "They're staying in a house just off campus and they were busy getting it set up today, so they couldn'tcome."
"Oh." Lizzie pulled back her comforter and slid into bed. "I...um...I'm gonna go to bed now," shesaid.
I stared at her, confused. "Okay?"
She sighed. "I'm sorry, but it's really hard for me to sleep with any light on or anything. I'm sure your phone light won't bother me much, but if you're gonna stay up a little more and do other things...well, I know there's a dorm lounge and study room you could hang outin."
I finally got her meaning. "Oh!" I got up and even though my aching soles protested, I headed for the door. "I'm not gonna be doing much," I promised. "But I'll probably hang out in the lounge." In case one of the guys called, Idecided.
"Okay, goodnight," Lizzie called as I shut off the light and closed the door behind me, making sure to flick the lock so I wouldn't get lockedout.
"Night," I called back, turning and heading for the front of the dormbuilding.
I knew I had passed the lounge Lizzie had mentioned on my way in that morning. I found it down the hall, thankfully empty, and took up residence on one of the long couches in the corner under a set of tall, arching windows. I pulled my conversation with Texas back up first, then, thinking better on it, I brought up a group text and added Grayson to it aswell.
Harlow:Hey guys, just checking in. Everything'sfine.
Immediately, the replies began rollingin.