Page 18 of In Too Deep

Another laugh came from the purple haired girl across the room. This laugh was less playful. “Careful what you wish for, cutie pie. If you had a real mattress there would be a lot of piss, vomit and unspeakable body fluids mashed into it.”

Kris frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

“Have you never stayed in a hotel? You think they change those mattresses every time a guest leaves? You think this place replaces the mattresses every year?” She made a disgusted face. “They might sanitize the plastic cover, but that’s probably it.”

Kris took a quick step back from her bed, as if the mattress was suddenly covered in blood and guts. “Oh god, that’s disgusting.”

“You really aren’t from around here, are you?” Izzy asked as Kris took a deep breath and returned to spreading the sheet over the mattress. Kris shook her head. “And I’m guessing you aren’t from a college town either.”

Kris stopped tucking the sheet and frowned at her. Was it that obvious that she was a hick girl from a hick town who just took the bus to the city and was scared to death? She suddenly felt naked, vulnerable, alone. She wrapped her arms around herself and asked. “How do you know?”

“Well… You have the cutest little country girl accent, look absolutely adorable in your high school volleyball t-shirt, and you expect an awful lot from your college.”

Kris chuckled and sat on the bed to look at Izzy. She suddenly felt very foolish, yet she also felt a connection with Izzy that again, she couldn’t explain. It was as if the girl with the purple hair could see right into her soul.

Kris shrugged and bit her lip to push back the tears she felt coming on. She said, “I honestly don’t know what to expect. And it’s kind’a scaring the crap out of me.”

“Well there you go,” Izzy said with an exaggerated wave of her hands. “They key being happy in this world, my little cutie pie, is to have NO expectations. That way, you are never disappointed!”

Kris smiled and looked around the room. In that moment the reality of how much her life was changing finally hit her with full force. This was it. She had left everything she knew and now belonged to a vast, gray city with different people, different rules, different everything. She had to wonder if she would ever find her place in this strange new world.

She lay back, resting her head against the pillow she’d brought and closed her eyes as tears prickled them, threatening to spill out. She felt the tiny mattress shift and the scent of vanilla filled her nostrils.

“You okay?” Izzy asked in a soft tone, her fingers touching Kris’ wrist. Kris opened her eyes and looked down at Izzy’s pale hand on hers, which was deeply tanned from all the time spent outside on the farm.

She quietly said, “I guess I just feel a little out of place.”

Izzy’s fingers lowered to cover Kris’ hand. In that moment, Kris had the urge to turn her hand over and wrap her finger around Izzy’s hand. Maybe Izzy could keep her grounded through all of this newness.

“I’m a native New Yorker.” Izzy said quietly, as if telling a great secret. “Born and raised in the urban jungle. Stick with me and you won’t feel out of place for long. I promise.”

She gave Kris a smile that immediately made her feel better. She reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind Kris’ ear. “Who knows, maybe we can even do something about that boring hair.”

Kris couldn’t help the adoration she felt for the strange girl smiling at her. Izzy had no reason to help Kris. If anything, Kris was bound to be a pain in Izzy’s neck. They were so different.

In her mind, Kris was as boring and ordinary as a pebble, while Izzy sparkled like a diamond with glitter on top. Still, the fun, punk girl with purple hair and piercings was willing to help her adapt to this new life. She felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

The smile that came to Kris’ lips was one of genuine gratitude. She sniffed back the tears and said, “That would be great. Izzy.”

“You got it, cutie pie!” Izzy sang as she clapped her hands. She pushed herself off Kris’ bed and bounced to her side of the room, dancing to an imaginary tune in her head.

Kris watched as Izzy went through the contents of her big old suitcase, pulling out clothes, shoes; even some posters and a variety of knickknacks to decorate her side of the room.

Kris knew at that moment that she had never met anyone quite like Isadora Ryman. Izzy.

* * *

Soon, Izzy’s side of the room was decorated with posters of heavy metal bands and naked women covered completely in tattoos. She had several small pillows she tossed on the bed, all decorated with pastel colored alien faces. Kris watched with great interest. It was all so different from the ceramic roosters and pigs that decorated her parents’ farm house and the dreadful pink ballerinas in her old bedroom. She hated those things, though she never told her mother so since she was the source of them. She loved everything Izzy had just thrown across the room. Actually, she was beginning to think she loved everything about Izzy.

Once she was finished decorating, Izzy looked at Kris and cocked her head to one side. “Don’t you have stuff to put up?”

Kris shook her head. “No. I didn’t really like anything that I had back home, so I left it there.”

Izzy grinned and walked over to Kris. She flopped back down on the bed and threw an arm around Kris’ shoulders, tugging her close. A warm river ran down Kris’ spine.

“We gotta fix that,” Izzy said. “Dorm rooms are all about expressing yourself and bringing out whatever is inside of you. They’re a blank canvas, you know?”

Kris thought about it for a moment as she scanned the blank walls on her side of the room. She felt like a blank canvas and couldn’t wait to discover what her decorations would be. She grinned at Izzy and said, “Would you help me?”

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