Page 30 of June

“Yeah, probably not good. But it’s something to do. Plus, it’s air-conditioned,” Viv replied.

“Please tell me how they can afford to air-condition a theater they only use, like, three times a week, but not our dorm rooms where we live.”

Viv laughed a little and replied, “Honestly, it’s cheaper to do that.”

“Then, just charge us more to live in the dorms to cover the cost. It’s sweltering, even with the fans we have on constantly.”

“I was actually thinking about asking my parents for one of those swamp coolers,” Viv shared. “You put ice water in it, and that cools the air it puts out. Before they moved, our house didn’t have AC, so we had a bunch of those that you can plug in and move around the house where you need it. Our room is so small that we’d only need one.”

“How much are they?” Caroline asked.

“Depends, but like a hundred bucks or something for a smaller one. We don’t have ice in the room, and the mini fridge won’t be able to hold enough, but we have the kitchen on the floor. We could buy a big bag of ice, label it with our room number on it, and put it in the freezer. Plus, the water from thesink is pretty cold and takes forever to heat up, so we could use that in a pinch. It might help.”

Caroline thought about how much money she had in her bank account right now and replied, “I’ll go halvsies on it with you, if you want. We can go find one in the store, I guess, or order online. It would just take longer to get here.”

“Do you want to go to the store instead of the movie? We can grab ice, too, while we’re there.”

“Yeah, I–”

Caroline stopped when they rounded one of the science buildings and she saw Enid sitting at their table. Yes, it would forever be known to her astheirtable now. The only problem was that Enid wasn’t alone there. Caroline wondered if Enid thought of that table as her own or her table with this other woman – or, rather, women because another woman had just sat down at the table next to the one Caroline didn’t know.

“Care?” Viv asked.

“Yeah?”

Caroline couldn’t tell all that much from where she was because she wasn’t exactly close, but it looked as if the other two women might be together because they were touching each other. Maybe a hand was on a thigh. That could mean thattheywere just friends with Enid. That was a good thing. Caroline might relax a bit and worry about why the possibility of Enid sharing that table with another woman bothered her so much later.

“Care?” Viv said again.

“Yeah, sorry. I just saw someone I know,” she replied.

Viv followed her gaze and uttered, “Oh.”

Caroline felt a buzz in her pocket, which wasn’t a distraction that she wanted right now, but she pulled out her phone anyway.

“Oh, cool,” she said, having read the message. “Jodie’s at the hall now. She’s waiting for us. Do you think you can meet up with her and tell her I’ll be there in a few minutes?”

“Yeah, sure. Um… Why?” Viv asked before she looked back at the table. “Got it. I’ll tell Jodie.”

“Thanks.”

Caroline nearly gave her a sympathetic smile, but that wouldn’t have been right. She needed to trust Viv when she said that she understood that Caroline didn’t feel the same way and that she’d be okay with her being with someone else.

“See you in a few,” Viv said.

If Caroline weren’t mistaken, she thought she heard a little bit of excitement in Viv’s tone, but she shook it off and decided that this could be her only chance to see Enid. She planned to approach and at least ask for her number so that they could maybe hang out later. Then, she watched the two women stand and walk off. Enid was, thankfully, alone now, and that made her a little more confident as she approached.

“Hi,” she said when she arrived at their table and saw Enid staring down at her phone.

Enid looked up at her, smiled, and said, “Hey.”

“Can I maybe join you?” she asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Enid replied and motioned for her to sit in the chair next to her.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Caroline said as she put her bag on the chair next to her.

She had only brought it because she thought she might want to eat outside today and could get some sketching in.

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