A Real Disaster (3 page)

I should tell Sabrina that I had a
change of heart. I’ll just tell her that image really isn’t me and I wouldn’t
feel comfortable with it. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about what my parents
would think. At least I won’t disappoint them. I could just not tell them but
parents find out everything somehow.

 
“Lily,
are you listening?” Sabrina asked suddenly.

Her voice snapped me back to the present
and I stared at my roommate. The words were at the tip of my tongue but I
couldn’t utter them. Deep down I knew I needed to at least try going out and it
didn’t matter what it would do to my parents. I couldn’t worry about them. It
had to be one or the other and this time I decided that it was going to be me.

“Sorry, what were you saying?” I said as
I ran my hand through my hair. “I got a little distracted.”

Sabrina sighed but, surprisingly, kept
her nasty retorts to herself.

“I said that we need to go shopping for
you.
Tonight.
You can’t keep going around campus with
what you are wearing now. You need something sexy that shows off that body of
yours.”

“Shopping?” I stuttered. "I hate
shopping."

"Come on. We don't have to be there
all day."

"Well, I don't have much money so I
won't be able to buy much."

"Then we can just shop for deals.
How's that sound?"

I hadn't been shopping for a while. In
high school I only went to the mall to eat at
Bennigan's
with my parents. Then we would shop afterward. It sounded like a lot more fun
going with the girls.

"Okay, let's go. But only for a few
hours."

"Deal."

Chapter
Three

By the time Sabrina and I got back to
the dorm rooms I was exhausted. My head hurt from the scents and sounds of
women shopping and gossiping. My arms hurt from changing in and out of clothes
at a rapid pace. All in all I felt like I was run over by a Mack truck.
Sabrina, on the other hand, was still as bouncy and happy as she was when we
entered the store six hours ago. She was like the energizer bunny; she kept
going and going and going. I flopped down on my bed, too tired to so much more
than lie down. Sabrina flittered around the room putting her clothes away and
whistling.

“So how hot is the card for you Sabrina?”
I asked with a grin.

Sabrina looked at me and laughed.

“I mean, by the work out that the card
got today, I’m surprised that it hasn’t disintegrated yet.”

“Yeah well the card is in very good
shape. I make sure of that every month or so. It gets a physical, you know.”

 
“Every few months?”
I asked, shocked.

Sabrina goes shopping every few months?
For what?
What could she possibly need that badly to go
shopping for? I never shopped unless I really needed something. There were
times that I was so stubborn that I didn’t go shopping until I had only one
thing left to use.

“How much do you spend then?”

“Just as much as I did today,” she
admitted.
“Sometimes more.”

More?! She spent nearly two thousand
dollars on herself.

“And your father doesn’t notice?” I
asked.

“Nope.
I told you, my
dad goes through money like
it’s
water. He’ll never
miss the money now or any other time.”

“Wow,” I said.

I wasn’t sure if I was in awe or if I
was disgusted. I never met anyone who had that much money, let alone able to
spend that kind of money without a second thought.

“But it was worth it, don’t you think?” Sabrina
asked and I knew that I was supposed to nod my head.

It didn’t matter if I really thought it
was a good idea. Sabrina, I learned, liked to know that she was right with
whatever she suggested. Underneath the party girl, Sabrina seemed to
have
 
really
low
self-esteem. During our shopping trip she pulled me over to the side and
explained that she had been a good girl. She had been a geek, a nerd. Sabrina
ate in the bathroom every day at school just to keep from getting teased and
bullied. She was overweight and covered in acne. High school was horrible for
Sabrina and she refused to let college be the same thing. So she got skinny,
took care of her acne, and became outgoing.

“I guess so. It was fun.”

“Do you like what you got?”

“I love them!” I said and smiled.
“Even if I had to shop for deals.
Thanks for taking me out.”

“No problem. I needed it as much as you.”
Sabrina shrugged. “And now you can get rid of all of your lame clothes. They
are disgusting, you know.”

She stuck out her tongue and shuddered.

“I thought that I was going to have to
burn them when you were at class one day.”

“Nice, Sabrina.
Great way to start the year.”

“Well the clothes are that disgusting!”
she exclaimed. “I can’t help that, can I?”

“You’re ridiculous,” I muttered.

The two of us looked at each other
before my lips curved into a smile.

“Are you hungry?”

“Starved, what do you want, Pizza or
Chinese?”

“I can totally go for some sushi,” I
told her.

Sabrina rummaged around in her desk
drawer, pulling out menu after menu.

“Do you just have menus lying around,
waiting?”

“I grabbed the menus to the best fast
food places around here when I moved in. We can’t cook here so what the hell
else are we supposed to do.”

It made sense.

“Well… Good job. At least one of us
thought of this.”

“When your parents are away for most of
your life, you kind of learn how to fend for yourself.”

Sabrina lost her smile and I shifted on
my bed uncomfortably. An awkward silence filled the room. Sabrina sighed and
looked at me.

“Well anyway, it’s whatever. I’m going
to go order. You might want to hang up your clothes before they get wrinkled.”

“Sure, no
problem.”

Sabrina slipped out of the room,
clutching her phone to her hand.

*
         
*
         
*

Dear
Mom and Dad,

Hey
guys. First I want to say that I miss you…
A lot.
College is a heck of a lot different than I thought it was going to be. But
it’s a not a bad different. It’s actually a pretty great different. The girl
that is sharing my dorm with me, Sabrina, is awesome. At first I thought she
was a little weird and she thought the same about me. She had these My Little
Pony dolls on her dresser, all lined up and staring at me.

Anyway,
since I know you’re wondering, I wanted you two to know that I am eating right
and taking my vitamins. I’ve been exercising three times a week just like at
home. I’m doing everything that I promised you that I would do if you let me
live in a dorm.

Anyway,
I better get going. I have a lot of books to pick up and things to organize.
Classes are going to start soon and I don’t want to be ill prepared. As usual
I’ll give you a call on Sunday night.

I
love the two of you and I can’t wait to see you over break. Say hi to everyone
over there for me.

XOXOX

Lily

Who uses email anymore?

I do.

I closed the computer and put it on the
desk. It was nearly ten and I was exhausted. At least I knew that this time I
was exhausted for a reason. Sabrina was off somewhere with Elizabeth, doing
whatever those two did. She left shortly after we ate and she wore one of the
many different outfits she bought that day. They didn’t invite me on their
little outing and I was okay with that. I had enough of the
Bobbsey
twins for the next couple of days.

I lay down on the bed and curled up on
my side. My eyes were heavy and I felt each muscle of my body relaxing. For
once I didn’t chastise myself for the time as I closed my eyes and let my body
fall into a deep, deep sleep.

*
         
*
         
*

What was I thinking?

 
I
looked through my closet the next day. It held a rainbow of clothing, and more
short skirts than I ever thought. How could I ever let Sabrina persuade me to
buy all of these things?

“Don’t you dare over think this,”
Sabrina said.

I jumped at the sound of her voice. I
turned to see my roommate lying in bed, blankets wrapped around her body like
some kind of cocoon. Her eyes were closed but there was a smile on her face.

“We had fun yesterday.
You
had fun yesterday so don’t you dare
deny it. The clothes look kick ass on you. Just try it out, okay?”

“You sound like I actually have a
choice,” I said.

“Even if you did have a choice, we both
know what choice you would make.”

I closed my closet doors and went back
to the bed.

“How was your night?” I asked Sabrina
when she finally opened her eyes. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“That’s because I’m like a ninja,” she
joked. “I can get in and out of places without making a peep.”

“Are you going to actually get up? We
have things to do! The weekend is only two days away.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

Sabrina shifted but she made no move to
remove the covers.

“Give me five more minutes.”

“Sure, whatever,” I said.

Sabrina turned over and dug her head
underneath her pillow. Rolling my eyes, I left the dorm room and shuffled down
the hallway. The hallway was quiet and my footsteps echoed against the wooden
floor. Everyone was nursing some kind of hangover or bad decision made. Boys
were tangled around some girls while others slowly moved around.

Ah the life of the college student.

“Well hello
there sunshine!”
I heard someone call down the hall.

My head whipped up and I spied Turner on
the other side of the hallway. When he saw me looking at him he waved his
hands.

“Hey,” I said and quickly walked down
the hall.

I didn’t want Turner to continue to yell
and wake up the rest of the dorm. When I approached him, Turner pulled me into
his arms and hugged me.

 
What
was he doing? I didn't really mind. I hadn't been hugged by any guy that was
not part of my family. This was already new territory for me and it seemed
awkward. I could feel the heat radiating off of him and his body felt tense.

God, I was being hugged by a
good-looking guy.

“How have you been? Did you decide
whether or not you are coming to the concert?” Turner asked.

“I don’t know yet. It seems like fun but
it’s
right before classes. I’m not sure it’s a great
idea.”

“Really?
It’s the last
hurrah before the nightmare of classes and exams. You
have
to come. It’s the only way to start the year off right.”

“I’ll think about it. But I’m not going
to make any promises. There’s too much going on in my life.”

“Fair enough.”

Turner stepped back and stared at me.

“Do you want to go get some breakfast or
something? We can eat some pancakes or something?”

“That sounds like a date and I don’t do
dates.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t’ know you…”

“No, you don’t,” Turner admitted. “But
how are you supposed to get to know me if you don’t go out with me?”

He was right, of course, but I didn’t
let him know it.

I didn’t want him to know it.

“Sorry, Turner, but I can’t. I’m going
out with my roommate actually. We have some plans and she’s just getting
ready.”

“You’re roommates with Sabrina right?”

I nodded.

“Well then we can go to breakfast and
you’ll still be back in time to go out with her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Rumor has it that she takes forever to
get ready.”

It was true, Sabrina did take forever. I
was running out of reasons to say no.

“Turner, I just can’t, okay?” I said. “I
can’t.”

“You can’t?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t
want to!”