Colors of Us

4| Arianne

Morgan blew her nose into a tissue, then tossed it onto the pile in the garbage can, which promptly tumbled onto the floor. "Did you get the flyers printed?"

"Printed and posted around campus." Arianne itched to throw it away but kept her fingers to herself. Morgan hated when Arianne picked up after her. It wasn't that Morgan was messy, okay, she was a little messy, but she always cleaned up after herself. It just took longer than Arianne preferred.

Her mother used to joke that Arianne came out of the womb thinking and planning, and damnation to anyone who got in her way, especially during nap time. Arianne supposed it was true, but it wasn't anything she could turn off. Her mind just worked that way. Although, now that she thought about it, she hadn't been so neat and organized when she saw Garrett in the back room today. She hadn't even picked up the papers she dropped till later.

"Thanks for covering for me," Morgan said.

"Of course." After all, she'd been the one to rope Morgan into helping. They'd been short on volunteers, and she knew Morgan would say yes. She said yes to everything which made her a blast to hang out with but had also gotten her into some hot waters. More than once Arianne had to bail Morgan out of some sticky situation like the time she'd streaked across the girls' field hockey game during Homecoming Weekend. Arianne had been studying when Morgan phoned, asking to if she could bring a set of clothes to the girl's bathroom in the east wing of the science building, third stall from the door.

Morgan's phone dinged. A few seconds later, she groaned, "Do guys really think dick pics are the cure-all for every female problem? Like someone bestowing me your magical penis is going to make my fever disappear."

"Who is it this time?" It was hard keeping track of Morgan's black book of booty calls.

"Vince."

Ah. The Italian stallion who was as big as a tank and liked it rough. "At least it's a good one." She'd gotten a flash during a particularly vigorous session.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you had that ramming into you for over an hour."

"At least it's not Jimmy." Who they aptly nicknamed, Skinny Jimmy. His quick race to the finish line wasn't anything to brag about either.

Morgan sighed. "I feel like Goldilocks searching for the right fit for my vagina monologue."

"Maybe you should worry about the guy fitting instead of his package."

Morgan sneezed. "At least I'm out there trying."

Arianne's muscles tensed as she braced herself for the onslaught that happened at least once a week. "I told you, I'm concentrating on school."

"And the hundred other projects you're a part of. If you have time to serve soup to the homeless, you have time to date."

Arianne untied her ponytail and shook out her hair, letting the tangled locks fall down her back. It usually wasn't so frizzy this time of year, but the humidity from the meditation session had turned her hair into one of those chia pets. She could feel the tiny wisps near her temple coiled into curly cues, and nothing, not even heavy duty hairspray could tame them. "Not interested in dating," she said, combing out the tangles and quickly braiding it, tying it off with a suede string she picked up from a thrift store.

"And apparently not interested in fucking either."

"You don't know that." Arianne booted up her laptop and sat back waiting for it to load. The thing was ancient, but she'd bought it off Craigslist for a hundred dollars so she couldn't complain.

"I do know because I'm your roommate. You never spend the night anywhere."

"Who needs a night? Give me an afternoon break and a broom closet."