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But there’ve been some things I can’t explain.
Like the red roses dying.
Not just wilting on the stem but literally drying up, like they’d been pressed between pages of a book, like the life was sucked out of them long ago.
Then there’s the fact that I’ve been hearing strange noises in my apartment. Like my name whispered just as I’m falling asleep or waking up. Plus, out of the corner of my eye I keep seeing dark shadows or things moving, like the wall is…breathing. But when I look at things dead-on, there’s nothing at all.
I haven’t told my parents because they’d only worry and I know what they’d tell me, that I’m working too hard, that I’m not taking care of myself—and they’re probably right. In fact, they didn’t want me to come out here tonight at all, which was totally unreasonable. I mean, I’m officially done with my second year at Berkeley, been working my ass off, and I know I deserve to have a little bit of fun.
Then go and have fun, I remind myself, heading up the staircase to Elle’s floor. Quit worrying about everything.
Most of the housing at Berkeley is bright and somewhat modern and always busy with people. Elle’s door is just a few down from the staircase, but further down the hall a party has already started, people spilling out into the hall, drinking out of red plastic cups, music pumping.
I’m about to knock on Elle’s door when suddenly it opens and Meiko peers up at me. “I knew it was you,” she says, opening the door wider, showcasing the can of cider in her hand. “Come on in.”
Meiko is Elle’s roommate. She’s this gorgeous, adorable, soft-spoken girl with a sharp tongue, who keeps Elle on her toes. She’s also a ton of fun, in a more manageable way than Elle (AKA she won’t try to convince us to do a dine-n-dash at Denny’s at 3AM), and I’m glad she’s coming out with us tonight. She’s studying Landscape Architecture and she’s a big hit on Instagram and Tik Tok for combining it with makeup (don’t ask, it works).
Elle is sitting at her desk putting on liquid eyeliner that she expertly flicks on. She then twirls around in her chair and squeals at me, hands in the air. “We did it, baby!”
She springs up from the chair and runs over to me, pulling me into a hug, jumping up and down. “We did it, we did it, we did it!” she chants, and then lets go of me, pirouetting off to take Meiko in her arms and doing the same to her.
I laugh. “Okay, well how about we get me drunk so I can be in the same dimension as you.”
“Anything for you, Avril,” Elle says to me with a wink, eyeing my outfit as she goes to their mini fridge, opening it.
I look down. I’m wearing my trusty black combat boots with lug soles, a voluptuous red plaid skirt, and my denim jacket over a strappy black bodysuit. “Avril Lavigne?” I ask.
“You’re giving me those vibes,” she says, pulling out a pear and strawberry cider, handing it to me. “Don’t worry. It’s so nineties. I love it.”
I roll my eyes. I do not look like Avril Lavigne. “I was actually going for gothic Lana Del Rey.”
“Well, your tits look incredible. But I don’t know how you can wear a bodysuit,” Elle says, cracking open her can. “Wedgies galore. Ooooh! Meiko! Turn it up!” she suddenly yells at Meiko, who has climbed onto her bed and is looking on her laptop. Meiko dutifully reaches over and turns up the volume on the portable speaker beside her. “Telepathy” by +++(Crosses) comes on, getting louder. I prefer Chino Moreno in the Deftones, but this band is still hella good.
Elle starts dancing around me, bumping and grinding, cider spilling. “Hurry up and drink, baby.”
“All right, all right, stop humping me,” I tell her, cracking open the can, even though I chip off half my metallic red nail polish on my forefinger doing so. “And this bodysuit is comfortable, believe it or not.”
“I love them. Makes going to the bathroom a bitch,” Meiko says. “But it looks hot,” she adds appreciatively.
Honestly, I’m not a bodysuit kind of person, but this sucks me in in all the right places, and I don’t have to wear a bra with it—it’s got built-in underwire which really lifts the girls up.
“It’s got a snap closure crotch,” I tell her. “Better than a bathing suit.”
“Easy access.” Elle laughs. “That’s even hotter. You know we’re going to get you laid tonight, Lenore.”
I look at Meiko. “You’re in on this?”
Meiko shrugs. “Elle says you need dick. I’m telling you, women are so much easier to manage.”
“Hey, I like what I like,” I tell her, taking a sip of my cider. “But you shouldn’t put all your stock into me getting a guy tonight. I just wanna get drunk.”
Meiko laughs, getting off the bed, joining the dance around me with Elle. “Maybe we’ll all get lucky.”
“Whatever,” Elle says, rolling her eyes. “I saw the hot blonde you were with last week.”
“Exchange student,” Meiko says with a devious smile. “She already went back to Germany. I’m a free agent.”
“Then here’s to all of us,” I say, raising my can in the air. We all clink our cans against each other, Elle going in extra hard so that our cider spills over.
