Chapter 20
The next day was a little weird at first. I slept in late, and so Gina walked in and I was on the floor. I think that weirded her out a bit.
“Do the beds not work?” She had really nice shoulder length hair that she died a bright, fiery red, like Adrianna Grande, only her face wasn’t so sweet. She had this mischievous look about her, like she was planning a grand heist, and she had a nose piercing and three earrings in one ear.
She showed up with just two huge suitcases, which was different from the ten boxes (at least) I had.
“Hi! You must be Gina!”
She smiled weakly. “I must be.” She took my hand that I held out to her and shook it a little bit. “Um, Lainey, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool.”
She turned to look at the room. “Um, which side do you want?”
“Left.”
“Okay. I didn’t want to…” I started but she just started unpacking. She was one of those girl who didn’t seem to talk much. “Um, why don’t I just turn on some music? What do you like?”
“Got any flyleaf?”
“Only the Memento Mori CD.”
“That’s fine.”
I turned it on and Beautiful bride came on through the speakers. She started singing and she wasn’t bad, but she wasn’t great.
“So, um, after I unpack, I have to go shopping. My friend volunteered me for a blind date, and I need a dress for some fancy restaurant date.
“Hey, can I come? I might as well learn to get around town. And, besides, it could be good to hang out.”
“Uh, sure.” We unpacked for a while and at noon we decided to go get lunch at the mall, putting off cafeteria food and ramen noodles another day.
When we were in my car, I opened my mouth to speak, leaving the music off.
“So, you’re not from here, huh?”
“No. I’m from Cali, actually.”
“Wait. So you grew up in California, and decided to come to Maryland for college.”
She frowned. “Yeah, I guess. I always liked smaller towns. Not much into the whole busy beach scene.”
“You rich? Cause this place is the most expensive out of state tuition in the country.”
“Yeah, well I’m not poor.”
I was quiet, hoping I didn’t offend her. I probably shouldn’t have brought up money. “So what are you majoring in?”
“Um, business. You?”
“Creative writing.” She was really quiet when I was. Either it was just weird and we needed to get to know each other, or this was going to be a quiet year.
When we got to the mall, I dragged her to my favorite Chinese food place in the food court. I told her what to order, and then went to McDonalds. I would have gotten Chinese food, but I had just had some last night, so I wasn’t interested. I just got a chicken sandwich and a large Pepsi and went to find Gina. She was sitting in a corner, waiting for me.
“You seem awfully quiet. Tell me about yourself, seriously. Talk to me!”
“Um, okay. This Chicken is good.”
“Not good enough.” I laughed. “What do you want to be when you graduate?”
“Animation artist. You know, with cartoons and stuff.”
I was confused. “Then why are you majoring in business?”
“My dad. He wants me to be some stuffy business lady who wears dress suits. And since he’s paying my tuition…”
“You don’t have a say.”
“Now you’ve got it.”
“Well, do you have a job?”
“No. I just got in town last night.”
I smiled. “Well, I might be able to put in a good word at work tomorrow.”
I didn’t give any details, but she didn’t ask for any. I’d talk about it later.
“So, what’s your favorite color?”
“Red.”
“Band?”
“All of them.”
I kept asking these sorts of questions while we ate, and for the first time in a month, I thought about that day I met Kyle, when he asked me the same things that I’m asking Gina.
“Type of food?”
“Italian. Especially of the pizza variety.”
“Uh huh. So why are you eating Chinese food?”
She burst into laughter. “Because you told me to.”
“Alright, let’s get going. I need a few new dresses, actually. One for the date, and one for the orientation on Friday. I don’t know how long it will be til I can use a washing machine.”
“Oh, I found a Laundromat on the way to campus, about five minutes away, I think.”
“Oh. Well that will be useful information. You have a car?”
“No. I figured I could walk around places, catch buses.”
“No, you can use my car, just ask first, and fill it up with gas when you’re done.”
“No, you don’t have to-“
“Please, we are sort of living together now. We’re practically married. Wat’s mine is yours.” Then I realized how that might have sounded, so I added, “No homo!”
We laughed a bit and walked over to the dress shop Carly showed me.
“Um, this place is great if you need a cheap dress. Let’s start here.”
She walked in and frowned. “Um, what’s cheap in your opinion?”
“Look at the price tags. This place isn’t as expensive as it looks. Generic brands and stuff.”
I walked over to the racks in the back. This part of the store had mostly sundresses, not fancy dresses or like what I got the last time I was there. “Okay, test of your style. You pick a few dresses, and I’ll try them on.”
She looked nervous. “Okay. So what colors do you like?”
“Any.”
“Okay, how about this?” She pulled out a cute spaghetti strap dress with a black, purple, and pink floral design, that looked like it would come down past my knees. It was really a lot more girly than I thought would catch her eye.
“You like that?”
“Um, I don’t know. It’s not really my style, but you seem really perky and girly. No offense.”
I smiled. “None taken.” I took the dress from her hand and went to try it on. It fit well, but I wasn’t sure it would look nice. I went out to look in the mirror, and I didn’t hate it.
“Oh, that’s nice.”
“You think? I’m not sure.”
“Okay, well, how sure are you? Name a price.”
I looked at myself more closely I felt and looked a lot older and more mature, in a good way. It would be perfect for the orientation. Besides, the dark colors were a nice contrast against my blonde hair. “Um, thirty bucks.”
She walked closer and looked at the price tag. She frowned, then switched to a smiling face, and said, “twenty five.”
“Okay. I’ll wear this one on Friday, now I need one for my date.”
“Don’t you own a dress?”
“I do, but they’re all less than appropriate for a date at a restaurant, and more appropriate for date at a house party. I pulled up a picture on my phone of the purple one from Katie’s party.
She laughed. “When was the last time you went on a date?”
“Um…” I debated whether I should admit my pathetic past love life. Not that I would change it, but I didn’t like saying I had never been on a date, or had a boyfriend or anything. “A while.”
“Well, that would be fine.”
I laughed. “Ha, no way. It doesn’t even come down to here, and the neckline is like, this low.” I pointed to the appropriate length on my leg and pointing to a spot on my chest.
“That’s the point. Unless you’re one of those, ‘always leave the wanting more,’ kind of girls.”
“Um, I don’t even know this guy, and I don’t want him getting the wrong idea about me on the first date. I’m really a goody goody kind of girl.” When I’m not stealing my friend’s boyfriend, or getting drunk and making out with random guys I added mentally.
“Fine. Here, try this on.” She handed me a pale pink one inch thick strapped dress with a thin brown belt around the waist. “It would be nice with a white cardigan in the fall, and take away the belt.”
I took it and went into the changing room to try it on. I didn’t really like it any more than twenty dollars, and it was thirty.
When we finally got back to our dorm, it was three thirty and Katie and Riley were already done unpacking. Their door was open and they were just sitting around with music playing, talking and painting their nails. I pulled Gina into their room and introduced them all. “I love your hair,” Katie said as she stood up to come shake her hand.
“Thanks.”
“Um, Katie, tomorrow we’re working, right?”
“Yeah. Um, by the way, can I talk to you?”
“Sure.” She was already by my side and turning to walk out the door, grabbing my wrist on the way.
“I just wanted to ask about tomorrow night. You’re okay, right? You’re not gonna try to scare this guy off, right?”
“You know, the thought hadn’t occurred to me, but now…” Her face was warning me not to try, so I laughed. “Joking. Look, Katie, maybe it’ll be fun, I get that, but just don’t expect that nothing will happen from one date.”
“I won’t. but you don’t expect nothing will. By the way, I’m coming over tomorrow to help you get ready, and I want to see what you’re wearing.”
“What makes you think I already decided?”
“Let’s see. You have shopping bags from that dress store you showed me, and Gina just brought it up in there.”
“Okay, I’ll show you.” Then I went into my room and put my bags on the bed and came back out, closing the door on my way. “Tomorrow.”
[A/N: Okay, are you guys excited to read about the date? I’m excited to write about it! Will Caleb be her knight in shining Armor? Keep reading to find out! I’ll update soon! Don’t forget the cover contest! Oh, and this story was just a filler, waiting for what’s happening next!]