“Got it in one.”
Best. Night. Ever. Yay yay yay!
The conversation is stacked high with anecdotes I don’t know, stories I don’t share. Like this Becca chick, who just rolled up with her dog. I slap an interested look on my face, like I’m really engaging with it all.Living my best life, here.
I swig my wine, studiously ignoring Lewis, who’s staring at me for some weird reason.
“They’re actually pretty nice girls, you know. Carrie, Amelia, Becca, and Lois, I mean. At first, they freaked me out, but now that I know them better? I almost kind of like them.”
He’s trying to help me out, I know—but it all just feels so damn awkward. My friends are back in New York, and Ineverhad to sell them who I was. I never had to hide who I was, either. But things are different here—I feel out of step, all weird and angled, like a steak lover at a vegan convention.
Those four make being a girl look like a breeze—laughing and chatting away like it’s the easiest thing in the world. Next to them, I’m like some kind of mindfuck Rubik’s Cube. I’ve never felt so out of place in my life. Instead of feeling bored, like I expected to feel, I find myself ruminating, overthinking every micro interaction. For the first time in my life, I actually want to be like them—and that depresses me.
I drain my wine, my gaze sweeping the living room. It’s twice the size of mine. I had no idea they did dorms this big, and I’m wondering whether that’s because the Campus Drivers get some kind of VIP deal or because Lewis and his friends come from money. I hope it’s the former—not because I give a shit about special privileges, or anything, but because at least that way I wouldn’t feel worlds apart from my mentor. I still have no idea who Lewis really is, which is part of what makes it all so exciting and raw.
“Wild, huh?”
I turn in my seat. Lois has just snuggled up beside me on the couch.
“What is?”
“This place, I mean. It’s epic. First time I came by was last Thanksgiving, and my mind was blown. At the time I was homeless, too, so you can just imagine the FOMO.”
“Homeless?”
I straighten in my seat. I would never have imagined that—she looks like the kind of girl who has her shit together.
“Yeah, it’s kinda a long story. I’ll tell you about it next time.”
Next time?
She flashes me a warm smile. “You live on campus?”
“No, farther south—with my sister and her partner. And my nephew,” I add.
“How old?”
“He’s six.”
Carrie and Amelia collapse onto the sofa to my left.
“Coming through, Lois! We want to get to know the only Campus Driver with boobs, too!”
I’m trapped in a gaggle of girls, and though I really want to shove them away from me, I know I can’t.
Play nice—remember?
“Don’t scare her,” Lois warns her friends. “Because you can be scary, queen. Remember what a freak you were just a few weeks back?” She shoots me a look. “She was a friendophobe.”
“Who blackmailed people,” Amelia adds.
Carrie brushes back a lock of blond curls. “Hey, that was then! I saw how you smashed Lewis’s face into your car, and that was when I thought to myself—I wanna be that girl’s BFF. Even though I hate the idea of a bestie, deep down. It feels too much like a part-time job—it’s hard enough having to be Donovan Wolinski’s girlfriend.”
“Rein it in, Carrie.”
“Did I make an oopsie?”
Manic pixie dream girl vibes.
