the diary | hummels/lewandowski

3

CARINA

"It was really embarrassing. He just...I don't know, he started saying a bunch of nonsense. And I left, because I felt so humiliated, and—"

"Didn't I tell you that Robert was an asshole?" Lucy smiled at Carina as they got ready for the opening game of the season. Football was evidently a pretty big deal at St. Theresa's—though it wasn't like that was surprising. The first game of the season was always a big deal, too, according to Lucy. Their house—formally called The Delta House—functioned as a sorority, and always threw the afterparties for the opening game.

Carina had never really been to a party, or even a real football match. Sure, the boys back home played it in the dirt roads of the villa; but that was about it. The ones who were serious about it moved to the city, and usually never came back.

"Don't worry, Carina. He'll see you in this outfit and wish he hadn't humiliated you earlier, that's for sure." Lucy finished Carina's makeup and smiled, tossing the tube of mascara in the drawer.

Carina looked down at what she was wearing. As a member of the Delta house, she didn't really have much choice—they had routine outfits for all of kinds of big social events—and on the first game of the season, Deltas always wore black heels, a white tank top with the Greek letter Delta on the right breast, and black bottoms; preferably a miniskirt. Carina had willfully borrowed a black denim skirt from the girl in the room next door, Kate. Lucy, however, was wearing shorts. This outfit had been traditional for decades—Carina even remembered seeing a Polaroid of her mother wearing it. Of course, it looked much better on her tall and long-legged mother than it did her.

Or was that just something Carina told herself? Everyone else had complimented her during fittings—even Bridgette looked impressed. Carina's body wasn't really thin or curvy, but in between; with a nice small waist, toned legs, and a round butt. It was an awful cliché to act like Carina just so happened to have the perfect body but didn't realize it—but it was also the truth.

"Thank you, Lucy. It looks great." Carina stared at her reflection, smiling a little. She was pleased with the girl she saw—no longer the new and shy Carina, but a beautiful and alluring one.

"It wouldn't look half as nice if you didn't have such a pretty face already. Come on, Bridgette will kill us if we arrive after the whistle." Lucy grabbed Carina's hand, causing Carina to blush, before rushing her downstairs. All 13 of the girls that lived in the house traveled in a group to the field, and on the way, Lucy didn't let Carina's hand go. "You blush like crazy when I hold your hand," She stated, amused. "Why is that? You don't have a crush on me, do you?"

Carina's face turned even redder. "No, of course not." She responded, quietly. "I think I'm just like that," She lied. Well, sort-of lied. "Any physical contact flusters me."

That was true—but when Lucy's warm hand enveloped Carina's, it reminded her of a girl she knew named Maria, which reminded her of her crazy misadventures back at her old school in Italy—another story for another chapter. "You amuse me, Carina. Do you really mean to tell me that the boys back home weren't all over you?"

"Well, there were hardly any. So many of them would move to the city for work, or football. Only the old ones and little children stay. And the girls, because back home, we are taught the traditional way—that being a housewife is what's best. Not many girls go to a real school, or have their own dreams. Most get pregnant around my age." Carina shrugged as they turned the corner onto the men's housing block. She realized that they were taking the most circuitous route possible to the field, and that Bridgette was forcing them to do that on purpose—she wanted to parade the girls around like they were objects.