“I don’t care.” He leans down to start the process all over again, and I pull back a step.
“Well, I do. Don’t get me wrong, that was an amazing kiss, but we need to get back to the dorm. Lily is coming over tonight.”
“Oh. Okay.” He’s still staring at me. He’s looking into my eyes, then down to my mouth. I swear he’s inching closer, but I back away a little bit. “That kiss was incredible, wasn’t it, Pixie?”
I nod and smile up at him as we start to walk toward home. I nearly fall over because my legs are so shaky. Alex must have noticed my current state of Jell-O legs because he smiles and wraps his arm around me to give me support as he leads me to the dorm.
When I enter my suite, Brooke is coming out of the bathroom completely naked. Luckily, Alex dropped me off at the door without needing to check on any break-ins. I’m glad, the last thing I need is for him to see Brooke’s perfect body.
“Stare much?” she spits.
I ignore her and walk into my room, shutting my door to her angry sneer. I start to chant to myself silently.Focus on my fun night with Lily. Forget about my roommate from hell. Think happy thoughts. I repeat this in my head until I’ve had a chance to turn on my music. I unpack my book bag and organize my school stuff on my desk. A loud knock on the front door brings me out of my mantra. I run out to catch the front door before the naked Lucifer gets there.
“Lily!” I squeal. “I’m so glad you’re here. This is going to be so much fun. I need time with friends. And, boy, do we have things to talk about!” I say this louder than I normally would so Brooke knows that I have company.
“I’m excited too. I brought my tunes and some old DVDs. I didn’t know what you wanted to watch, but I brought some of my favorite horror movies.”
Ugh. “You know I hate horror movies, Lily.”
“I know, but I chose some classics, so you shouldn’t get too scared, my little chicken,” she says, tickling my side.
“Whatever. You know I don’t sleep well afterward––and when I say that, I'm actually saying that I don’t sleep for like a week.” I’m utterly childish when it comes to those movies, but I can’t help it. I sigh and add, “But you’re my guest. If you want to watch a horror film, we will. But I can’t guarantee that I won’t be hiding under my covers during the entire movie. Deal?”
“Deal. Now, show me to your fancy private room, Miss Matthews.”
I show her my private room while she unpacks her little overnight bag. We talk about school and our favorite classes. Hers is Life Painting too but for obvious reasons. I encourage her to speed up her unpacking process, as we need to get ready to go to dinner; Alex will be here soon to walk us down to the cafeteria.
“Ooh, Alex? Is he the guy that’s been saving you from Bradley this week?”
Lily knows everything there is to know about Alex. “That’s the one. He’s been really great. He doesn’t need to keep escorting me down to the cafeteria, though. I can go it alone. I think he wants to be sure that no one bothers me, but he should stop worrying about me.”
And I mean that. He should stop worrying because; I’m used to it. I’m used to the way people talk to me––how they perceive me. When you’re built like I am, fuller figured, people think they can comment on your body, especially as it relates to food. True story, one time I was working a cotton candy booth for my high school art club fundraiser. I was happily spinning the cotton candy and selling it like crazy, having a great time with my fellow art friends, when a guy stepped up to our booth and asked me if I “was eating all of the profits.” I was struck completely mute by his words. It ruined my entire day. I don’t even like cotton candy. I have a million stories just like that one—some more painful than others. There’s a saying that I find to be true:Tell a girl she’s beautiful, she’ll remember for a moment. Tell a girl she’s ugly, she’ll remember it for a lifetime. It’s been several years, but it still makes me wince whenever I think about that guy and his remark.
While we wait for Alex, we chat about school and plans forthe semester, that is until we hear a knock at the door. I’m tempted to make a run for the door, you know, to beat Brooke to it, but her room is dark and things are quiet which means she’s gone, thankfully. Lily beats me to the door. Opening it, she squeaks with surprise, “Hanky!”
I giggle at her name for him.Hanky?I’m not surprised to see him. No doubt Alex told him that Lily was coming over. So, it makes perfect sense. When I spy Alex behind Hank the Tank, I wave. “Come on in, guys.”
As he steps in the door, Hank says, “I heard there was a hot little art student down here for a slumber party. I thought I’d offer to escort her to dinner.” Hank continues, “I also wanted to hear more about this slumber party. Will there be naked pillow fights? If so, I’d like to volunteer to referee that match. I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt. Fair play and all that.”
Lily titters, “Oh, Tank, you’re hilarious.”
“Tank? You called me Tank? Oh, Lily-kins, you know I hate that name. You're very naughty today, aren’t you? Do I need to punish you?” He stalks toward her.
Lily giggles again. “Punish me? I hope so! And if you do, I can start calling you Spanky instead of Hanky.”
Hank reaches out, taking Lily’s hand and pulling her out of the dorm room. “Let’s go sweet cheeks, I’m hungry.” Hank swats Lily’s bottom as they walk down the hall, which causes her to shriek with delight. What a pair.
I look at Alex as he says, “I had no idea they knew each other when I told him you were having a slumber party with her. When did they meet?”
“In Life Painting.”
“Oh,that’sthe girl.”
“What about her?” I ask, concerned.
“Nothing, except I think old Tanky is in loooove.”
“It doesn’t surprise me. They spend the entire time in class making googly eyes at each other. And from what I’ve seenalready tonight, I’d say they may have already seen each other outside of class as well.”
