Chatoyant College Book 5: Parents' Weekend

Chapter 6: Edith and Edie

Thankfully, Edie didn't have to wait too long. Shortly after they went outside, her parents and grandmother came around the corner of another building, looking around. They were obviously lost. Edie waved at them. "Mom!" she called. Her mom looked up, saw her, and pointed for the benefit of her dad and grandmother. They started walking towards them. Edie walked quickly to meet them partway.

She hugged all three of them happily. Nervous as she might be to talk with them, she was glad to see them. They represented most of what she liked about home, so it was like having a piece of the comfort of home without having to run into any of her classmates from high school. "Hi!" she said. "You made it okay? I hope you didn't get lost."

"Not until we got here. We weren't sure which dorm was yours." Her mom held her at arm's length. "Oh, let me look at you. Have you lost weight?"

"A little bit, I think. I have to climb five flights of stairs several times a day."

"You look wonderful, Edith," said her dad. He tugged gently on one of her curls. "You're letting your hair get long."

Edie laughed, feeling a little embarrassed. "I just haven't had time to get it cut."

"Well, I think it looks lovely," said her grandmother. "I miss having long hair." She patted at her own short white hair, carefully coiffed in perfect curls. "And are these your friends?" she added, looking over Edie's shoulder.

Edie's stomach twisted slightly as she turned. She tried not to show her nervousness, steeling her hands to keep them from shaking. "This is my roommate, Corrie. And... this is Leila." They knew who Leila was.

"Oh!" said her mom. "I'm so glad to meet the both of you."

Her dad reached forward to shake Corrie's hand. "Me too. Edith seems much happier here than she was in high school."

"Aren't we all?" said Corrie with a laugh.

"Well, I don't think everyone has the good luck to end up with a roommate who's also her best friend!" said her dad.

"That's true," said Edie. "I was really lucky. And, of course, I wouldn't have met Leila without Corrie."

"No need to be shy, dear," said Edie's mom, beckoning. Edie turned slightly and realized that Leila was still hanging back a bit. "We all know who you are. We might have been uncomfortable with Edith's, um, choices at first, but we're all fine now." She ended her sentence with a pointed glance at Edie's grandmother. They must have been discussing this in the car. Edie felt the knot in her stomach untwist a little. She could be fairly confident that none of them would say anything unpleasant.

Leila stepped forward to shake hands with both Edie's parents, smiling her always-radiant smile. "Well, I am very pleased to meet you. You have obviously raised Edith very well. She is a very sweet girl."

Edie's dad laughed. "I don't know if we can take all the credit for that, but thank you!"

"Do you want me to show you around campus?" Edie suggested.

"That would be lovely," said her grandmother.

"I'll wait here for my family to show up," said Corrie. "See you later, Edie." She walked back to the door of Gilkey as Edie, Leila, and her family started up the path.

"She calls you Edie?" asked her mom as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Oh... yeah, a lot of my friends here do, actually." Edie had almost forgotten that it was a relatively recent nickname, only given to her by Corrie at the beginning of the school year, barely a month ago. She'd gotten used to thinking of herself as Edie, except when she was with Leila. Well, this wasn't much of a stretch. She might have to get used to it all over again when she went home for break, though.

"A lot of your friends?" asked her dad. "Like who?"

She repressed a flash of irritation at the partially-concealed surprise in his voice. He had every right to be surprised that she had multiple friends. She was still surprised sometimes when she thought about it. "Well, Corrie, of course. And Dawn—I know I've told you about her. And her roommate, Naomi, and Annie, and Roe, and Lorelei, the RA..." She trailed off, feeling shy about her litany of friends. She often felt like they were mostly Corrie's friends, anyway. "But Leila prefers Edith," she finished.

"It is quite an elegant name," said Leila.

"This is the theater building, where Leila spends most of her time," Edie said, since they'd just reached it.

"Art classes are held there, too," Leila pointed out.

"What year are you in, Leila?" asked Edie's grandmother.

"Oh, I'm a senior. Which means, hopefully, that I will get all the good parts in plays this year."

Edie took her time showing her family around campus—thankfully, it was a nice day. Oddly, as the tour went on, her grandmother and Leila seemed to talk more and more. She would never have imagined the two of them would find anything to talk about. In fact, they were mostly talking about mundane things, like daily college life, what Edie had to look forward to in the next few years of school, and cooking, but they seemed to enjoy it a lot.

Since they had discussed having lunch in the north field, where a special lunch with a performance by the school's jazz ensemble was being held, Edie ended the tour there.