Lunatic Fringe Read Free

against the damp
asphalt of the darkening driveway, that Lexie finally saw more
people. The rain had dwindled to a light drizzle, and two pairs of
footsteps echoed on the pavement around the corner, accompanied by
the hushed conversation and giggles of young lovers. Lexie paused,
box in hand, wondering what to do. It felt somewhat pervy to wait
and see what these people were up to, but if they were two
well-disguised murderers, well, it’d be better to meet them
head-on. She reached to the back of her waistband, expecting to
find her mother’s knife, until she remembered that she had stowed
it in the duffle bag in the cab of the truck.
    From the shadow of the dormitory, the
couple emerged holding hands. They were too far away for Lexie to
make out their faces, but already she felt foolish for having
panicked. The woman was tall, thin, and improbably blond. She was
so pale she could pass for another street lamp, her hair a spiky
nimbus about her head. The boy was smaller, squarish, with brown
hair cropped close to his scalp. He wore the cuffs of his shirt
buttoned, but the collar was open revealing the v-neck of the white
t-shirt he wore beneath it. Despite the rain, they were barely wet,
as though they had just emerged from shelter.
    The pair clearly didn’t notice Lexie,
who stood frozen in uncertainty beside her truck, as though she had
interrupted them rather than the other way around. The luminous
girl leaned against her date, pushing him up against the brick wall
of the dormitory. She pressed her mouth to the boy’s, while his
hands wandered up and down her body. This was about to get awkward.
Lexie wouldn’t be able to get into the building without disturbing
them, but hiding in her truck seemed childish and absurd. What
would the new Lexie do in this situation?
    Setting the box back in the truck bed,
she tiptoed to the driver’s side door, opened it, and slammed it
shut. The boy whipped his head toward the origin of the noise, but
the girl merely chuckled. They walked toward her, the blonde girl
leading the way.
    The girl stuck out her hand, white in
the mottled street lights. With unflinching eye contact and a
friendly, robust voice, she introduced herself as Blythe and her
friend as Mitch. Mitch thrust his hand forward in greeting, and it
was then that Lexie noticed his smallish hands and smooth cheeks,
and realized that Mitch was not a boy, but a short, boyish-looking
woman. It was a lot for her to handle right away. But Mitch didn’t
comment on Lexie’s hesitation, and, after making brief and cordial
eye contact as they shook hands, he left the talking to Blythe, who
seemed determined to create a conversation.
    “ Moving in?” Blythe asked.
Her pink lips parted to reveal a row of straight, white teeth. The
silver frames of her glasses complimented her skin, which was
nearly translucent in its paleness.
    Lexie shoved her hands into her pockets
and shrugged, swinging her head to indicate the remaining boxes in
the truck. Her facility with speech evaded her, and she struggled
with her options before nodding. Her ears grew hot as she realized
that this was her first chance to make friends, and she was blowing
it with her awkward non-conversation. Blythe chugged onward, happy
to fill in the blanks.
    “ Here,” Blythe said,
stepping toward the bed and lifting two boxes filled with books.
She foisted them onto Mitch and grabbed another two for herself.
Despite her thin arms and overall pallor, Blythe carried the heavy
boxes with ease. There were plenty of thin, sweet-faced women in
Lexie’s hometown, but most of them were content with letting their
men do all the heavy lifting. Blythe didn’t seem to subscribe to
this philosophy of deferral. With a soft grunt, she stepped towards
the propped-open door. The streetlight haze drew shadows along
Blythe’s face as she walked, her cheekbones slicing into the night
air around her face. Her eyes were eerily pale, the color one might
associate with ice water, but her