The Tenth Dance

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I left Cookies and Crafts with less faith in humanity than ever. The one silver lining in the situation was that I at least had a plateful of pink frosted cookies to take back to my room, to boost my spirits. And my weight. But we'd worry about that later.

"Nice paper pants," Nigel complimented, nodding at the origami paper I had clutched in my other hand.

I scowled. "It's an elephant."

"Oh...uh, that's what I meant."

"Well, at least you managed to finish something," Chris grumbled. He hung slightly behind Nigel but in front of Patrick and the two Indian boys (Parth and Aditya, I'd learned their names were) as we made our way back up to the third floor. Knitting, it turned out, was not one of Chris's strong suits. The 'scarf' he'd been working on turned out to be more like a giant, tangled ball of yarn.

Mandy and Sidika had already headed up to their rooms early. I'd stayed behind, working feverishly to get my origami elephant to stop looking like an origami distaste. The cookie lady practically had to boot us out of the dining hall, Patrick included. Guess his RA privileges didn't extend to university-sponsored midnight cookie mini-binges.

"You guys're welcome to chill with me if you want to talk through some things," the RA suggested as he stopped in front of his room. "My door is open. Always."

We nodded, but none of us took him up on the offer. I didn't know about anyone else, but just thinking about the nameplate incident was bringing me a throbbing headache. I just wanted to go to bed. Drift off to sleep. Forget about the horrible events of today.

I swiped into my room and turned around to close the door--only to come face-to-face with Chris and Nigel, who had followed me all the way to my room. "Uh," I said, not exactly nicely, "can I help you?"

Chris avoided eye contact with me, gazing down at his feet with his eyebrows drawn together. As if he was still lost in thought, mulling over the conversation we'd had with Patrick and some of our hallmates. Nigel, though, craned his neck to peer over my shoulder and into the room. "Your roommate. She's okay, right?" He bit his lip.

"She's sleeping." Although how Nigel had managed not to notice, I had no idea. Olivia's deafening snores were carrying right through the door. "Do you want something from her? I feel like you've been asking about her a lot."

Nigel swallowed and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Just...just checking up on her. Making sure she's good and all."

"She's an international student new to the states. Not a headless chicken." I couldn't stop the words before they tumbled out of my mouth, but I regretted them the instant they did, especially when Nigel's eyes widened and he backed away.

"Hey, what's your problem?" Chris demanded. "Nigel's just being a good hallmate."

I shook my head, swallowing hard. I was misdirecting my anger. "I'm sorry. It's just, Olivia's been through a lot today. Everyone has. And I'm kind of on the edge right now." Turning toward Nigel, I said, "I appreciate you looking out for her." Even if I didn't quite understand why. "I'll let her know you came around when she wakes up."

He shook his head quickly. "Nah, that's alright."

"You sure? It really wouldn't be--"

"Seriously, it's fine." With that, Nigel began backing away, down the hall. Chris followed him, once again pointedly not looking at me. "Good night, Amelia."

"Good night." I closed the door and flopped into my chair. No way was I getting any sleep tonight. I was wide awake, my mind whirling with all the events that had transpired. Struggling to comprehend what had happened.

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