Chatoyant College, Book 1: New Student Orientation

Chapter 27: Excuses

Dawn felt very quiet and subdued as she said goodnight to Corrie and Edie and went into her own room. There was no way what had happened last night had been a dream. It was too clear in her mind. Maybe she'd imagined Ever's reaction when she tried to ask Lorelei about it, but that was all.

And why had there been no answer when she tried to knock on Annie's door? Annie's roommate--Salome--still lived there, didn't she? She tried to tell herself that Salome must have just been out doing something, but it was hard to convince herself when the image of the girl's bewildered face was so burned into her memory. She wanted to just relax and read a book or play a mindless computer game, something to get Annie's disappearance off her mind, but there was her roommate, Naomi, talking to her enthusiastically as soon as she got in the room.

"Hey, Dawn," she said. "Where have you been all night?"

"In the city," Dawn replied. "Corrie's mom took me, her, and Edie out for pizza."

"Oh, that's pretty cool." Naomi nodded. "Hey, you know, they're showing The Princess Bride tomorrow night out behind the gym. Are you guys going to go? I was thinking I might."

Dawn couldn't help smiling a little when she heard that. What could be a more perfect date movie than The Princess Bride? It was too bad she had to disappoint Naomi, though. Maybe she, Corrie, and Edie could go as a group, but she didn't know if the other two even wanted to, and they wouldn't be likely to bring Naomi along unless she asked specifically. "Um, I'm planning to go with Rico."

"Can I come with you then?"

"Well, it's going to be just me and Rico... like a date."

"Oh!" Naomi laughed, seemingly unperturbed by her misunderstanding. "Sorry. Of course. Well, have a fun time then."

Dawn decided to change the subject. "What have you been up to today?"

Naomi shrugged. "Not much. I went to the carnival--I saw you guys there, but you left before I could say hi."

"Yeah, sorry about that," she said, remembering how quickly they'd gotten out of there after Corrie's confrontation with her ex. "It was sort of an emergency."

"Anyway, I met a few more people who are going to be art majors, and we just hung out on the grass for a while."

"That's cool," said Dawn. She wasn't really paying attention to the conversation. She couldn't stop thinking about Annie. She stood abruptly. "Hey, I'm going to go talk to Lorelei."

"Okay," said Naomi, turning her attention back to the magazine in her hands. "See you later."

She had only gotten partway down the hall when she saw a familiar face, though it looked far calmer than the last time she had seen it. "Salome!"

The girl turned quickly, leaving her key stuck in the door. She was smiling when she turned, but the smile quickly vanished, to be replaced by a puzzled frown. "Uh, hi." She plainly didn't recognize Dawn, but that didn't bother her. She'd never actually spoken to Salome before, after all, and wouldn't even know her name if she hadn't heard Lorelei use it.

"Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, sure." She stared at Dawn, frowning. "Um, do I know you?"

Dawn shook her head and sighed. "Is Annie back yet?" She had a sinking feeling in her stomach.

Salome's frown deepened. "Annie?"

"Yeah," said Dawn. The feeling in her stomach sank all the way and dropped out of the bottom. She felt shaky. "You know, your roommate?"

She glanced over at her door doubtfully. "I don't have a roommate. Guess they... didn't get enough people to fill all the beds."

The excuse sounded made-up. Was Salome lying? But even if she was, what reason would she have to hide Annie's disappearance? And she was the one who'd told everyone that Annie was gone. Dawn took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She'd play along for now, but she wasn't going to be happy about it. "Okay. Sorry to bother you. I must have... had you mixed up with someone else. Um, have a nice night."

"Sure. You too." Dawn could feel Salome's eyes on her back until she closed the fire door at the end of the hallway.