Page 54 of Bewitch

“It’s my turn to go, though.”

“I know, but. Lot of times we go together, and maybe this once, we can use the money from our food plan for more than just bottled water.”

“Are you sure?”

I nod. I’m on day three of eating healthy and doing well. As for the day before that, I ate a few nuts more than I should’ve. Not even a full extra serving. It could’ve been a lot worse, and it certainly hadn’t been a binge. Was it absolutely that I had those extra nuts? No, but I don’t want to be a slave to calories counting and macros and all of that. I’m trying to relearn my disciplines toward food and develop better habits. This will test that.

Kaylie and Eliza come with us, and we end up sitting with a few other students too. We’re at a long table, and I sit next to Kaylie and across from Eliza. Brooke’s next to Eliza. The girl on my other side eventually gets up to leave. I’ve been picking at my chicken curry. It’s good, not great, and I’m fine with not eating all of it. The portion size was a little larger than it needed to be, in my opinion.

It’s not long before someone claims her seat, and I look over to see a guy I’ve never seen before. He smiles at me. “Hey, I’m Dave Rivera. You are?”

“Dawn.”

“Dawn. My favorite time of day.

“Really? Most people prefer to be sleeping then.”

He laughs. “I bet you sleep easy at night.”

I furrow my brown, not at all certain what he is talking about. Wait. He’s not talking about sleeping as in sleeping together? As in sex being why I sleep easy at night?

A bit uncomfortable now, I shift away from him and turn back to Kaylie. “Hey, about that janitor,” I start.

“So,” Dave says, “what’s your major?”

“Just a second,” I tell him. “The janitor you told me about—”

“That was Eliza.”

“Right. Sorry.” I grimace and give Kaylie an apologetic look. “A lot going on.”

“I get it. Eliza, did you ever get the name of that janitor?”

“Carl,” Eliza says. “Carl Fetto. At least I think that’s his last name.”

“Have you seen him again?”

“The one I want to see again is you,” Dave interjects.

I ignore him. “Has he done anything else to you or anyone else that you know of?”

Eliza makes a face. “I’ve been avoiding him as much as I can,” she says. “I’m sorry.”

“No, no! Don’t apologize. I get it. The guy gives you the creeps. I wouldn’t want to be around him more than is necessary. The girls who were with you when that… incident happened, who were they?”

“Incident might be too strong of a word,” she protests.

I shake my head and point a finger at her. “Don’t do that. Don’t minimize your feelings to conform.”

She nods, looking a bit out of sorts yet, but then she starts to hum. “I love this song,” she says.

I laugh and shake my head. It’s too loud in here for me to hear the music that’s playing, but she starts to sing along. She loves to sing, but honestly, she tends to be a little off-key. Doesn’t matter which song she’s singing.

Few of the others sing along with her, but I don’t join in.

“Do you like this song?” Dave asks.

“It’s not too bad,” I say with a shrug.

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