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In front of me, movement catches my attention, and I look up to see Penny sitting back in her chair.
If everyone in the room staring at me like I’m some kind of monster hurts, it’s still nothing compared to the feeling that rips through me when I look back at Penny. Regardless of how I said I wasn’t going to make friends, I had. Losing her was hurting more than back in high school when the kids I’d been friends with all my life turned their backs on me.
Picking up my phone, I stand and walk through the dining hall, trying my best to pretend I can’t see the sneers or hear the whispers as I pass each table and walk to the door.
Outside, the moment the doors to the dining hall swing closed behind me, the only thing I can hear are the cicada beetles causing a racket in the trees, until they’re drowned out by the roaring sound in my ears. All I want to do is run back to my dorm, but even if the path didn’t take me straight past the dining hall windows, I’m not sure I’d make it without falling over.
Instead, I head in the opposite direction, circling around to the back of the building to the staff entrance. Finally hidden away from everyone, I reach out, resting against the building before I stumble.
“You knew this might happen, and it’s not the end of the world,” I tell myself, out loud, over and over, until the roaring in my ears finally quietens and I can hear my words.
I turn around, leaning against the building, and then take more deep breaths.
“Everyone knows now, and at least you don’t need to worry about them finding out. The worst is over.” I’m trying to be positive, but the feeling isn’t resonating. “Now you can focus on finding the truth.”
“Ms. Tori?”
XVI
Tori
Turning my head, I find Doris watching me from the doorway. She’s tall, with short, cropped hair, and curls tipped in red. There are a few wrinkles around her eyes, and she looks like she’s in her late forties, but I suspect she’s older.
“You’re due to start your shift shortly. Would you consider starting early? We’ve had so many people dining in that the plates are piling up.” She gives me a kind smile, and with that one action, I’m certain she heard everything Syn said.
Nodding, I turn and head over, following her inside. As I go to swipe in, she briefly pats my shoulder and then leaves me. I’m not sure why, but that makes me want to cry more than everything that happened on the other side of the dining hall.
Instead, I go to the dishwashing station. As Doris said, there’s already several stacks of dishes, and as I look at them, I realize they’re worse than usual. Not just the amount, but the state they’ve been left in.
Normally, for the dinner service, the wait staff clears the tables, and once they’re in the back, they scrape the plates and stack them. The lower plates in the piles look like they’ve been scraped, but the further up, it’s clear that’s not happened. As one of the waitresses appears, carrying several plates, I can tell by the speed she’s moving, they’re just too busy.
With a sink full of soapy water, I start on the closest pile, scraping the contents into the giant trash cans, soaking the plates that need it, and then using the dish hose to rinse the others before I load the dishwasher.
Over and over, I repeat the actions in a cloud of steam. It takes at least two more hours before the final plates come in, and by the time I’ve finished, the only person left in the kitchen is me and the chef who’s still here to lock up.
I’m exhausted as I follow him outside, and I don’t stick around to watch him. My feet feel like they’re on fire, the small of my back is burning, and I’m flexing my fingers because they feel so stiff. Despite trying to be careful, there’s several stains on my shirt, and I know there are splatters of food on my face and my arms, thanks to the overzealous dish hose with a geyser-like spray sending bits of food flying all around.
It's nearly midnight, but as it’s a Wednesday night, campus is quiet. I’ve since learned that most students head into the city on the weekend to party, but during the week, if anyone is partying, it’s in their dorms. That’s not quite the college experience I was expecting here… Not that I’ll ever get an invite anymore.
When I get back to my dorm, there are a few girls wandering around, but like I’m a ghost, not a single person acknowledges me. Not even to sneer or make an insult. Although I’d heard Syn tell everyone to ignore me, I wasn’t expecting them to take the instruction so literally.
Tonight, I’m too tired to care. All I want is a hot shower and to collapse on my bed. Thankfully, I don’t have a shift tomorrow, but being at work so late tonight means I’ve not had chance to do any reading for Coffee Dick, aka, Dr. Wright’s class.
In my room, I peel out of my uniform, throwing everything into the laundry hamper hanging on the back of my door, and then I head into the small bathroom. Of course, the light isn’t working. Using the light from the bedroom, I stand in the doorway, staring up at the dead bulb.
The university won’t send anyone out to replace that at this time, and I’m not going to bed when I feel this grimy. Too tired to care, I head in and turn the water on, grateful that it’s instantly hot.
Behind the frosted glass, and in the shadows of the bathroom, I can only just make out what I’m doing as I wash and condition my hair on autopilot. My eyes are barely open, and I’m prepared to have the worst bedhead in the morning instead of drying my hair tonight.
With my hair up in towel, and another wrapped around me, I head back into my room, ready to sit down and at least attempt to put a brush through my hair when there’s a knock at the door.
I head over, pushing the laundry basket to the side so I can peer through the peep hole. “Penny?” Not caring I’m still in a towel, I open the door.
“Hey, can we…” Penny’s eyes widen. “What the hell happened to you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Frowning, I glance down at the arm which isn’t hidden behind my door and almost at once, my mouth falls open. My skin is mottled in blue, varying in intensity from navy to pale blue. “The fuck?”
Without closing the door, I walk over to my mirror. Speechless, I stare at my reflection. My skin is naturally tanned. Only, currently, I look like some weird experiment where someone tried to breed a Smurf with a human and something went wrong.
