Page 43 of Collision
“Hey, stranger.” Thomas takes a sip of his beer, making his biceps strain against the tight fabric of his shirt. With his eyes half-closed and his head slightly tilted back, he looks me from head to toe in a manner so brazen that it makes me blush. But wasn’t he supposed to be at the frat party?
“Did you just do stuff in there?” I ask abruptly while the girl in front of me walks away with a disgusted grimace.
I don’t know what is bothering me more: the strange twinge of jealousy I feel or the small thrill I have at the realization that I’ve never done anything like this. Maybe Tiff has a point. Maybe, from time to time, I really should lose control and be more daring.
“I fucked her over the sink, if that’s what you mean.” Seeing my disgust, Thomas tilts his face to one side and looks at me with a small, obscene grin on his lips. “You wanna take a ride on the carousel yourself? The blond used up lot of my energy, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“Thanks, but I wouldn’t be caught dead with you.”
“If you change your mind, you know where to find me.” He winks at me.
“If I change my mind, I’ll find my boyfriend,” I retort testily.
Flatly refusing to set foot in that bathroom, I decide to go to the one downstairs. Who cares if there is a huge line?
What an idiot! When I think about what I almost let him do this morning, I want to slap myself. I go back into the room and, through a window overlooking the garden, I spot Travis outside with his classmates. I slump onto an out-of-the-way love seat, and a gentle handtouches my shoulder. I look up and see Leila, green eyes rimmed with long lines of eyeliner, her hair pulled back in two French braids, and pink lipstick to finish the look.
“Hey, am I bothering you? I saw you sitting here all by yourself.” Despite Travis’s warning, my gut tells me that she can be trusted. I move a little to make room for her.
“No, go ahead and sit down. I didn’t even know you were here, I’m glad to see you.”
“A girl I know from class asked me to come with her, but she’s disappeared somewhere.”
“Are you having a good time? You look a little upset.”
“Other than the fact that I haven’t slept in days and I hate my roommate? I’d say I’m doing great,” she complains, collapsing into the cushions.
“What’s wrong with her?” I ask with a smirk.
“Every day she brings someone new to party in the room, and at night she snores so loud I want to throttle her.” She mimes strangulation with her hands. “Last night I was so tired that, at the umpteenth snore, I seriously thought about smothering her with a pillow.” We both burst out laughing. “I’m so exhausted, I could fall asleep right here,” she concludes, rubbing her face.
“I’m sorry, finding the right roommate is harder than you think. Hang in there, and if it doesn’t work out next year, you can always live off-campus,” I advise.
“I look forward to that day,” she says with a laugh.
We stand in silence for a while watching the crowd around us. They are yelling and dancing, completely consumed by the mixture of alcohol and the throbbing music.
“Do you do this often?” she asks me after a moment.
I look at her. “What?”
“Isolate yourself in a crowd.”
“Let’s just say this isn’t my scene.” I hug my arms against my body.
“Yeah, not mine either.” Leila stops talking for a few seconds, then continues, “Look, this might sound weird, but would you like togo upstairs with me? I was hoping to talk to you in private,” she adds, clearly agitated.
I follow her up the stairs, unsure of what to expect. We enter a room filled with antique furniture that clashes completely with the rest of the house.
“This is the guest room. Nobody ever comes in here, so we won’t be disturbed,” Leila explains.
“Have you been here before?”
“My brother knows the owner, and last year we came to some parties here.”
“Oh, I see.” I ignore the implied information about Thomas “knowing” Carol and turn my full attention to Leila. “Now, what did you want to talk to me about?” I ask, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Leila looks nervous. Very nervous. She keeps rubbing her hands together and biting the inside of her cheek. She tosses her gaze around as if looking for the words. “Okay, it’s not easy for me to say what I’m about to say, but you deserve to know.”
