Page 8 of False Idols

She gives me a knowing nod and sighs. “My mom grew up in a hippy commune down in Florida and that’s why she named me Sunny. I’m lucky I didn’t come out named Moon Beam, honestly. I get it.”

I can’t help but laugh. “Moon Beam is kinda cool.”

Sunny rolls her eyes and waves a hand. “No it isn’t, but you’re being nice about it and I like nice.”

Sunny’s words hit me like a brick. I’m not nice. I put the man I love away for murder. I’m a monster.

“Hey, where’s the rest of your stuff?” Sunny asks and points a finger at the duffle bag I’m still carrying. “Is that all you brought?”

“Uh, someone is coming with my stuff.” I don’t know who, because my mom didn’t say. “And I’m sort of into minimalism, there’s not a lot anyways,” I lie, because for all I know no one is coming with my things.

“Minimalism? That’s pretty cool.” Sunny jerks a thumb at the pillows on her bed. “In case you can’t tell, I’m not. I loooooove stuff. Love it!”

“Yeah?” I move to the side and drop my duffle onto the other bed, because one bed is just as good as the other and I don’t know what else to do with myself. I put the suitcases I’m carrying down on the floor and turn to Sunny. I’m ready to try and tell her she doesn’t want me as a roommate, but she’s not looking at me.

She’s at the door and staring at the dry erase board. “Who wrote this?” Shit. She saw the whiteboard. “You’re Santiago, right? Why would someone write this nasty word here?”

“It’s a long story. I did something terrible, Sunny. Th-they, I mean, I deserve it.”

Sunny looks at me and narrows her eyes. “No, you don’t.”

“Sunny, you don’t understand.”

“You’re my roommate and no one does shit to my roomie,” she says and rips the dry erase board off the door before she stomps out of the room and into the hallway. I’m stunned at her response, but my mouth drops open when I hear her yell a second later.

“Who the fuck wrote on my board, huh?” Sunny doesn’t sound bubbly anymore. I hear the sound of her smacking the dry erase board against a door and I sprint for the hall.

“Sunny, wait!” I yell when I hear her continue down the hallway. She’s pissed and from the sound of it, she’s not settling down until she gets an answer. I can't believe she’s defending me. She doesn’t even know me.

“Sunny, please, you don’t understand!” I run out into the hallway and see she’s a couple of doors down and arguing with a girl I’ve never seen before.

“What’s your problem, asshole?” Sunny asks and points a finger at the dry erase board. “You think this is funny?”

“Fuck you! You don’t know what she did to Beau!” There’s a murmur of agreement from around us and I hear a few girls pipe up.

“She’s going to hell.”

“She shouldn’t be in our school!”

I wince at their words. Shame burns through me hot and quick. I want to melt into the floor and vanish. When I imagined doing penance this year for what I did to Beau, I didn’t imagine I would be bringing anyone else into it with me. I can’t let Sunny do this.

“Sunny, it’s okay. Really-” I start, but she’s not listening. She’s toe-to-toe with the girl that wrote on our dry erase board.

“And I don’t fucking care! She coulda ran him over with her car and hit his mama for all I care. You don’t pull this shit on my roommate, you got it?”

“She’s a liar!” The girl screams back and then sees me approach. She points a finger at me. “You should be ashamed of yourself showing your face on campus after what you did to Beau Du Pont! No one wants you here you, fucking cunt!”

Her words hit me like a slap. There’s so much hate in her eyes and I can’t even make myself hold her gaze. I know what I did to Beau. I deserve everything she’s saying. I hold up my hands and I see they’re shaking. Oh god, why am I shaking?

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean t-”

“Fuck you, you’re the cunt!” Sunny explodes and slaps the girl's finger with the dry erase board. “I catch you writing shit like this again on our board and I’ll beat your ass, bitch.”

The girls in the hallway watching from their doors gasp at Sunny’s words. I can’t help but join them. It’s so opposite to the happy girl I just met. It’s like a switch got flipped and I’m speechless, just like the girl that yelled at me. When she opens her mouth to speak, Sunny snaps her fingers at her.

“You don’t talk to my roommate. You shut your mouth or I’ll do it for you.”

The girl shuts up and Sunny stomps down the hallway towards me. “That goes for everyone on this floor, you hear me? I’m not playing with any of you Midwest bitches. I’m from San Antonio and I fight!”

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