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Carter hangs up and looks over at me. “So, I, uh, have some news.” He says it carefully, like he expects me to have a public meltdown. “Your boxes—all seven of them—are, in fact, in Guam.”
“Why? They were supposed to come here. How’d they end up there?”
“Well, that’s the funny thing about it. No one seems to know, but they did find your stuff.” He hesitates, like he doesn’t want to tell me.
“And?” I prompt.
“And your stuff is at an orphanage. They, uh, thought it was a donation and opened the boxes, but UPS said your things will be boxed back up and rerouted, wait—Kerry…” I’m up and walking away from the table. I have to move or I’m going to lose it. He catches up with me as I push through the doors and head outside into the night air.
“Thanks for trying, Carter. I appreciate it.”
“They can get you your stuff back. It’s not lost, Kerry.” He touches my elbow and stops, so I turn to face him.
I shake my head. “I can’t ask people who have less than me to send it back, never mind homeless, motherless, children.” My mind is spinning because I know what the decision means. I’ll be wearing the same three outfits for the next sixteen weeks.
“So, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. Buy a butt load of gym clothes and wear those.” If you wanted a formula for being the most unpopular, weirdest kid on campus, that’s it: gym clothes girl. Like I need another reason for my roommate to call me Bacon.
“Seriously?” He can’t tell if I’m kidding around or not.
I glance up at him. “Yeah, I’m not loaded like most of the kids here, but I can get by.” I start to walk again, and wrap my arms around my middle. I feel lost, like I’m floating. There are too many problems and not enough ways to fix them. When I notice Carter isn’t beside me, I look back. He’s standing there with his lips parted, staring. “What?”
“Nothing. You just surprise me. I’ve never met someone like you.”
“Me neither, and it’s nothing worth noting.”
Carter walks up to me and says, “Yes it is. You gave away all your earthly possessions without a second thought. Who does that?”
“Uh, people who have their earthly possessions accidentally shipped to Guam? Seriously, it wasn’t voluntary so you can’t be impressed.”
He gives me a lopsided smile. “You don’t give yourself enough credit.”
“It’s not like I did it on purpose, Carter, so don’t act like I did. If I had things my way, I would have my boxes. The Universe is out to get me, so I don’t fight back anymore. That’s all it is. I’m lazy.”
“I doubt that.” He looks me over once and asks, “Did you really just bre
ak up with someone?”
I don’t want to look at him, but I manage to answer. “That was very PC, but yeah, he dumped me.”
“His loss, Kerry. Seriously. The guy’s an idiot.” I look up at him and see a faint smile. “So, are you still coming with us?”
“I don’t know. I don’t really feel like it and I have nothing to wear.”
“Screw that shit, Freshman.” Emily is there again, racing up behind us. “We’re about the same size and I have a dress you can use. It’ll be awesome. Come on.” She takes my hand and tugs me back to the dorm.
CHAPTER 10
Two hours later, I’m dressed like someone else, again, and wandering around a club in Austin. I’m wearing a short leather skirt, a pair of combat boots and a thin top that is way too short. If I raise my hands, the bottom of my bra sticks out. It barely covers my boobs. All around me, live music is blaring. Emily and the other people I came with are all dancing like head bangers. I wander off on my own to look at paintings they’ve already seen a million times.
The hairs on my arms prickle when I feel eyes on me. I glance around, but don’t see who’s looking. Smoothing my skin, I step around the painting to the other side, and gaze at it. I like this one. It’s cool blues, blacks, and purples mixing together like soul sucking shadows. They almost seem alive.
“I thought I saw you.” His voice drifts lazily over my shoulder and I stiffen. Mystery Man steps to the side and tries to catch my eye. He doesn’t say why he ran out on me and I don’t ask. I won’t look at his face, because if I see those eyes I know I’ll melt and I’m not letting this guy humiliate me for a third time.
“Yeah, you did.” I clutch my drink like it’s a lifeline and chant to myself over and over again, just look at the painting, just look at the painting.
“Do you like this piece?”
