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“Sure thing,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “Not to change the subject, but how are you holding up? Last time I saw you, you were, you know…”
“Shedding tears?” Tara finished, flipping her hair over her shoulder as if crying were the most blasé thing to do with one’s bodily functions since breathing. “I’m a seasonedsobber, and I clean up quickly. I’m fine. Thanks for checking in.”
“Good to hear it,” I said. “I… think.”
Tara slid herself off her bed and skipped over to her closet. “Your things are in here,” she said, lugging my suitcase out of the tight space. “And then some.”
She took a shoebox off of the top shelf and tucked it under her arm. Once I took the suitcase, I followed her back out into the hall, and we headed to my room. I unlocked the door to find Vivian’s side of the room just as chaotic as usual, except for the fact that she was absent. I tossed my suitcase back onto the floor.
“Watch this,” Tara said, pulling my desk chair out from under my desk. She stepped onto it and hoisted the shoebox up toward the ceiling. Before going any further, she put her index finger against her lips. “Shh!”
“Ah, I see what’s going on here,” I said as she pushed one hand up against a square ceiling tile to shift it aside. Smirking, she stuffed the box up into the ceiling, and carefully replaced the tile. Before hopping back down to the floor, she pointed her finger at the tile closest to the wall, and counted the number of tiles to the one above her. “Three from the windows and five from the wall. Remember that.”
“You remember that,” I laughed. “I’m not going to stick my hand up there any time soon.”
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and I couldn’t help but shudder as I swiped open the screen. I’d expected to find some venomous text from Vivian, or possibly my mom, considering the Dean might’ve contacted her about everything going on. Instead, it was a package notification from the front desk of the building.
The rest of my clothes.
“What’re you smiling about?” Tara asked, bouncing over to me to peer over my shoulder. “Is it that Leo kid? He was cute.”
I snorted and decided to ignore her mention of Leo. I needed to forget about the three of them, just for a few hours. Heck, even a few minutes would do it for me. I needed a break. Mentally.
Emotionally.
“I have to head down to the mailroom,” I said. “I got a package. Should be my clothes.”
“Oh, awesome,” Tara said. “That means I get my leggings back!”
We exited my room, and Tara decided to stick around with Kenny for a bit in her room while I’d go to pick up my package. I couldn’t help but feel genuinely happy, a bit giddy, as I glided down to the lobby floor in the elevator. This was a good sign. I was here to stay.
If I could get through Vivian, I could get through anything. I’d earned my place here at Freeman in the most abstract way possible.
The line for the mailroom was pretty short. From what I’d overheard from conversations with upperclassmen, the lines could snake out the door of the lobby on the worst days. I was the fifth person in line. I leaned against the wall, watching students come in and out of the lobby doors.
“Kat?”
I turned around to find that someone had joined the line behind me. Elliot.
“Hey,” I said, smiling at him out of decency more than anything else. “How’s it going?”
“Uh, you know,” he said, leaning against the wall beside me, leaning in toward me a little bit so that our shoulders were almost touching. “Just anticipating my classes to start.”
I snickered. “How riveting.”
He kept his gaze on me, smiling with his eyes more than anything else.
“So, uh…” he said, lifting his hand to scratch at the back of his neck, “there’s this party…”
I almost wanted to throw up on him.
“Oh, yeah?” I choked out. “Count me out.”
“Wait, it’s not likethatkind of a party,” he said, nearly reaching out to grab onto my shoulders. The person at the front of the line left the desk, and I shuffled forward as the line became shorter.
“I don’t want anything to do with your parties,” I muttered, trying to keep my voice level. I’d had enough attention drawn onto me for one day.
“Kat,” he sighed. “Seriously. I’m sorry about how things have been—”
