Page 3 of Steeling Her
“Your room is 45A on the fourth floor. It’s the fifth door from the elevator. A means North, so you’ll be on the north end of the building. Here’s a map of the building and one of the campus. Your roommates are Haley Jackson and Danielle Connors. Your keys are in that envelope. If you lose them, it’s a hundred dollar fine, and you have to get the locks changed too. There’s two keys in there, so try not to lose any of it.” She points over to the free elevators, and I wheel my case away from her. I’ve got a feeling she hates her job.
My mom falls into step beside me as we wait to allow other girls to enter the elevator with us. Pressing the different floors each of us are going to, we all wait in silence. My floor was the first stop. Excusing myself around the others, we both make it out and make our way to 45A, which was further away than I originally thought. I open the envelope to retrieve my keys but my mom notices the door is open upon hearing voices inside.
“Yeah, I’m from here. Well, two towns over, b—” a blonde girl stops talking to the dark brunette-haired girl when she sees me. “You must be Carter!” she beams at me, running over with the other girl following her. “I’m Haley! Hi! Nice to meet you!” She holds out her hand for me to take and I shake it.
“Yeah, I’m Carter,” I say nervously. Meeting new people was never my strong point; I’m quiet, shy, and so bad at talking. I don’t have many friends. They only want to know me because of my last name and what it comes with. Most girls befriend me to get to my brothers, then they dispose me like trash.
“I’m Danielle! I love your shoes!” the other girl introduces herself too.
“It’s nice to meet you. And thanks, I like yours too,” I mumble, embarrassed by the compliment. I fix my hair awkwardly as I stand under their gazes, studying me.
“You’re going to be the shy one, aren’t you?” Haley smiles at me.
“She’s always been shy, but college is the time to get out of that shell of hers. Live a little honey. Not too much, I don’t want to see you in your birthday suit on TV. Neither does your father,” my mom jokes, making us all laugh and, little by little, washing the awkwardness between us away.
After spending some time with us, my mom decides to leave. She hesitates at first. Then she cries, more like wails, “My gosh, my baby is all grown up! Your father is so proud of you, sweetie! I’m sorry he and your brothers couldn’t come to see you, but they’ll visit. They promised me they would.” She pats my head, sliding it down to cup my cheek. I see the tears stinging her eyes and one drips down her rosy cheeks.
“It’s fine, Mom. I know they’re busy. I’ll be fine.”
Giving me one last squeeze, she says goodbye to the girls and walks out the door, blowing a million kisses at us. Once she leaves, there is a short silence in the room. I stare at the closed door, almost waiting for her to open it back up and take me back to New York. But it doesn’t.
“Your mom is so cute!” Haley gushes at the door. “I’ve a feeling we’re all going to be great friends! You both seem like my kind of girls! So why don’t we go out and celebrate our newfound freedom? I know there’s a party on tonight. We can meet college boys there. Who’s in?”
Danielle shoots her hand straight up while I rub the back of my neck. I’ve only been to one party in high school and the cops got called. Safe to say, that scared me for life.
“Um, I think I’m going to skip it. I’m a little tired tonight. I just want to settle in and adjust—” I tell her but she shakes her head no.
“Carter, come on! Please, it’s our first night here I want to party with my new friends. It’ll be fun, I promise you. If it’s not, we’ll come home.” Haley begs me clasping her hands.
“Parties aren’t really my thing—”
“Well, this year they will be! Look, we’ll all stay together and leave together? How about that?” she pleads once more. Her eyelashes are batting at me. I smile to her and give in. I couldn’t think of anything worse than going to this party.
“Yes! Okay, so, I can do your hair and makeup and then let you borrow a dress if you want? I don’t want you to feel pressured.”Too late for that.I nod and place my bag down on the table.
I feel Haley’s tools poking my face as I sit there with my eyes closed. She’s instructing me while I’m sitting down in her tight-fitting red dress she gave me for the night. It feels like a corset. I’m struggling to both breathe and hide my stomach, which I know is on full display right now. I really need to start exercising.
“Carter, you have a such a natural glow on your face!” Haley whines playfully. I snort at whatever that means. “Done!” She clicks something.
I open up my eyes adjusting to the light to see myself in the mirror. My eyebrows shoot up, and my eyes widen at the sight of me. “Wow . . .” I whisper, moving my face from side to side and allowing the lighting to hit in different angles. “You’re good at this,” I tell Haley, who is sitting there proudly while pulling on some heels.
“I know, lots of practice.” She smiles at me once more. I can tell she’s one of those girls who likes to dress up and wear makeup. She’s naturally stunning—beautiful, in fact. Same with Danielle. She has pale skin that makes her look so mysterious. She’s super funny and feisty. Haley likes to talk, but I like those kind of people; it saves me from having to speak. She can do it for me.
“Carter, you have a banging body! You should wear dresses a lot more!” Danielle comments, making me blush. While she finishes off her own makeup, Haley pours us some shots before we go out. I feel the sting burn down my throat as I take the shot. I scrunch up my face at the aftertaste.
“Ugh, I hate tequila,” Haley says, and yet, we both drank the crap.
“Then why did we drink it?” I ask innocently. I’ve decided that tequila isn’t really my drink. I’ve come to an understanding that it’s just not going to work out.
“Meh, to get drunk quicker?”
I put the glass down on the table and shake my head. “Oh no, I don’t want to get dru—”
I start before Danielle interrupts me, “Carter, you look like you need at least one wild night. You don’t need to get drunk, but it certainly helps in order to tolerate the people we’re going to meet tonight . . .” She stands up to check her makeup and likes what she sees. Strutting over in her heels, she takes the three shots that were lined up for her. She drinks them with ease, with no faces being made in disgust of the taste. “Unlike you two, I love tequila.” She winks, finishing off the last shot.
We all grab our clutches, signifying we’re ready to leave. Walking out the door and towards the elevator, we meet a couple of girls who are going to the same party as us. Haley keeps talking to them while I just stand with Danielle, listening and smiling at their conversation. I’m so bad at meeting new people.
My hands nervously run over my dress, trying to smooth down the nonexistent wrinkles in it. We walk towards a house booming with music, and my phone buzzes in my purse. I fish it out to see my dad calling me. I tap Haley’s shoulder and tell her, “Hey I’ve got to take this. I’ll come find you guys inside?”
