Chatoyant College, Book 1: New Student Orientation

Chapter 13: A Midnight Snack

When they reached the vending machines--tucked away in a little nook just past the fire door--there was someone there already. The short dark blue hair looked familiar. The girl belonging to it turned around as they approached, a can of soda in her hand. "Hi, girls!" she said. "I guess I'm not the only one looking for a late-night snack."

"Hi, Ever," said Corrie.

"Oh, you're good. I remember you're Edie," she said, indicating the correct person, "but the rest of you I can't quite place."

"You're easy to recognize, with the blue hair and the oak leaf tattoo," Edie grinned. She was flattered to be recognized, and hoped she wasn't blushing.

"That's a totally sweet tat, by the way," Naomi said.

"Thanks!" Ever grinned. "Well, I'll get out of your way."

"If you're here for a snack, we can wait," said Dawn. "All you've got is a drink."

Ever looked down at her soda and sighed tragically. "You are too right. Alas, all the snacks in this fine vending machine have too much salt for me. I have a sensitivity. Maybe this weekend I'll go into town and pick up some non-salty snacks." With a nod and a wave, she was gone.

The girls all picked out a drink. Corrie and Naomi also got snacks, Corrie looking quite blissful as she munched on her cold popcorn. "You didn't actually want alcoholic drinks, did you?" Dawn asked Naomi apologetically. "I didn't think of that until we were already out of the room."

Naomi shrugged. "That's what I was thinking, but it's no big deal... for that matter, I don't have anything alcoholic to drink right now."

Edie swallowed her sip of cola. "I didn't even think of that. I've never had anything alcoholic to drink."

"Well, 'this is college' seems to be the theme of the night," said Naomi with a wicked grin. "I've got a new goal: change Edie's drinking status."

"What--I--" Edie sputtered, grateful she hadn't tried to take another sip. Had she implied that she wanted to drink anything alcoholic? She wasn't necessarily opposed to it, but she wasn't exactly gung-ho about getting drunk now that she was in college, either. She tried to remind herself that she'd decided college was time for trying new things. Still, she'd like to try them in her own time, not have them forced on her by a girl she'd barely met.

"Oh, don't traumatize the poor girl!" Dawn said with a laugh, putting a protective hand on Edie's shoulder. "If she doesn't want to drink, she doesn't have to."

"Don't worry, Edie," Naomi said, though her expression hadn't changed. "Nobody's going to make you do anything you don't want to do. This is college, remember?"

"Right," Edie said faintly as they reached the door, still not really sure how to respond. Corrie, who unlike Edie always seemed to remember her keys, opened it and let them all in.

"I wonder if you even have to keep the door locked," Dawn said, seating herself back on Edie's bed as though she'd never gotten up. "It doesn't seem like people here are likely to steal stuff."

"It's habit, I guess," replied Corrie with a shrug.

"I don't think we should leave the door unlocked until we know for sure that it's safe," Edie said doubtfully. "We don't even know all the people who live here yet."

"You're so practical, Edie," Naomi said with a yawn. "And I mean that as a compliment."

"Uh. Thanks?" No, she definitely hadn't decided how to feel about Naomi yet. Well, maybe that would change when she'd known her for as long as she'd known Corrie and Dawn... the next day. She'd thought she would get along with her well when they started talking about crafts, but so far she had proven to be entirely unpredictable. Okay, unpredictability wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but thinking back on the evening, the only things that had given her warm feelings toward Naomi were the crafts and the fact that she was Dawn's roommate. Oh, and the boobs... but that was another kind of warm entirely.

Naomi yawned again and stood up. "Well, I'm going to turn in. You coming, Dawn?"

Dawn glanced at Corrie and Edie and shook her head. "I'll hang around for a while longer, if you two don't mind." Edie glanced at Corrie and shrugged.

"Okay," said Naomi. "Good night." She walked out, letting the door slam behind her.