Torrential Read Free Page B

mom that I didn’t make a lot of friends. I can’t imagine how lonely it must be to not have any at all.
    I notice that someone’s written my name on a piece of paper and taped it to my door. May , surrounded by flowers. For some reason it makes me want to cry—it’s tangible evidence that this is really my new home.
    When I go inside, Opal’s at her desk, paging through a biology textbook. She’s braided her hair, something I’ve never quite gotten the hang of doing, and put on earrings. She sees me and pushes her chair back, smiling. “Can I help you set up?”
    Twenty minutes later, we’ve got everything unpacked and my side of the room really looks like me . My green-patterned bedspread, my ancient teddy bear I deliberated about bringing but finally decided it might help me keep from getting homesick, a framed photo of my mom—my dad’s arm is around her shoulders, but he’s been clipped out—a wall hanging I got at a yard sale, a few other odds and ends. The sunset light streaming in from the window illuminates it all, making it look much nicer than it ever did in my dingy room back home. I’m so excited to be here. I’m going to be happy here, whether or not some guy named Sebastian Crane hates me.
    Right as we finish, Tanner bursts through the door, a six-pack visible under the bulging flap of his bag. He’s changed into his favorite shirt, which is years old but stretches across his muscles just the way he likes, and—oh, duh—he’s trying to impress Opal. He slings the beers on my new desk and cracks his knuckles. “Sorry for the wait. My douche of a roommate drank all my booze and I had make a run for the store. Shall we?”
    We sprawl in a circle on Opal’s shag carpet, which is somehow clean, despite the fact that the old shag carpet in my room at home sucked up more crumbs than a vacuum cleaner. The beer’s not even cold, but Tanner downs two in the time it takes me to pop a tab.
    “So how was your tour?” Opal asks, propping her chin on her hands. Out the hallway, I hear drunk hollering. I guess all colleges are the same like that. “Did you like campus?”
    “Yeah!” I say enthusiastically. “ It’s really beautiful. I especially like that garden over by the dining hall. And the pool completely blew my mind. Your swim team must have an awesome budget.”
    Tanner snorts into his drink. Opal fidgets, toying with the end of her braid. “Yeah, they do really well so the school gives them a lot of money. You were at the pool? Did you run into—”
    “Sebastian,” groans Tanner, flopping onto his back and scratching his chest with his free hand. “Don’t even talk to me about that guy. Whenever I see him around I just wanna—” He cracks his knuckles again.
    Hastily I change the subject, asking Opal if she wants another beer. She accepts, and soon both she and Tanner are fairly inebriated, trading stories about their least favorite professors and laughing about things that happened last year. I don’t really want to get drunk, and I take only small sips. Neither of them notices. Every so often, Tanner’s hand drifts to Opal’s thigh, which makes her smirk.
    I should be having fun—it’s my first night at my new school and I’m with my best friend and my roommate, who is surprisingly cool. But it’s like something settled in my chest the second I saw Sebastian, and I can’t seem to shake it out. But I don’t want Tanner to know, and so I laugh with the two of them until it’s nearly one in the morning.
    When Tanner stands up, he teeters like a tree about to fall and Opal has to grab him around his waist. “Thanks,” he slurs, patting her clumsily on the head. “You’re a total—you’re really…I’m gonna go to the bathroom.”
    “Will you make it or are you gonna fall headfirst in the toilet?” I call after him as he staggers into the hallway.
    “I use th’ urinal,” he grunts at me before the door crashes shut. I smile. Tanner’s an idiot when he’s drunk,