Laura pushed her books away. ‘I don’t see why you are taking it, anyway. Isn’t it unrelated to your major?’
‘You mean, how does psychology relate to fashion merchandising?’ Holly replied. She shrugged. ‘My advisor says it should be valuable, especially when determining customer purchasing habits. Still, maybe I should have gone into an easier major … like physics or microbiology.’
Laura groaned. ‘Look at us, in the college library on a Friday night in one of the coolest cities in the world. Our life is passing us by. I mean, when did anything exciting ever happen in a library?’
Holly raised an amused eyebrow. ‘I’m sure that some of the world’s great thinkers would argue with you on that.’
‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. What I mean is, when was the last time you met a cool guy at a library?’
Holly looked at a guy sitting several seats down from them, poring over a chemistry textbook. He met her gaze, then shushed them and scowled.
Laura flipped her hair, rolled her eyes and gave him the finger. ‘See my point?’
Holly shook her head. ‘OK, what do you have in mind?’
‘Ah,’ Laura replied, jumping up and down in her seat. ‘I thought you would never ask. There’s actually this party tonight, at the Kappa house. I know a guy in my feminist theory class, he asked me to come along.’
Holly rolled her eyes. ‘A frat party? I thought you said something about meetingcoolguys? And you met him in afeminist theoryclass? What - does he think that it’s a good place to pick up chicks?’
Laura swatted the air. ‘Whatever, it’s just for fun. Plus he is kind of cute. Come with me.Pleeaaassseee… ?’
Holly considered her friend for a moment and looked at the alternative, her books and the shussher who had just stood up from his seat – probably to report them to the head librarian. He was wasting his time – Holly knew Inga, the librarian wouldn’t entertain his complaints. A kind, friendly woman who knew Holly and Laura well, Inga Laurila was well-used to student shenanigans.
It was true tho; Holly kind of did need a night out. And she supposed a frat party was better than nothing.
‘What the hell … ?’ she conceded. ‘But I have to go change and put some makeup on. I can’t go anywhere looking like this.’
‘Oh? I didn’t think you cared about what some frat boys thought about you.’
‘I don’t, but it’s Manhattan. And here, standards are necessary.’
As they left the library, Inga smiled and called out in her native Boston accent. ‘Leaving so soon?’
‘A different kind of research!’ Laura called back, winking at Holly. ‘See you tomorrow.’
A little later, the two girls rushed through the doorway of their dorm building, eager to get changed and ready for their impulsive night out.
Just as they were pushing through the heavy metal door that led to the stairway, their resident advisor called out to Holly from the lobby.
She turned around. ‘Hi Kirsten. What’s up?’
Kristen rummaged around underneath the front desk. ‘Glad I caught you. There was a delivery for you earlier.’
‘A delivery?’ Holly repeated, eyebrows raised. She took the package from Kirsten, eyeing it suspiciously. Then, noticing that there was no return address on the packaging, she felt her fingers tremble.
This was the second time a package with no return address had been delivered to her. The first time was the day she’d been sent her bracelet and the hourglass charm from her dad. But that had been over two years ago.
And, more to the point, her dad was long since cold in the ground.
‘Holly, come on, hurry up,’ Laura said, tapping her elbow.
Holly snapped out of her reverie. ‘Sure, sorry.’ She began to follow her roommate up the stairs, her feet on autopilot. She continued to stare at the package in her hand, wondering what it was and who it had come from.
When they reached their room, Laura immediately hustled about, shuffling through drawers and plunging into her closet.
Holly, however, sat down at a small table and turned the box-shaped parcel over and over in her hands.
Her fingers shook as she found scissors to cut through the packaging tape and reveal the contents.
