Water and Blood

  Still within hearing distance while walking away, I heard as the brunette added, “I hate freshman. They always think they’re better than the rest of us. Did you see how she talked down to us?” I had no choice but to talk downward because they were seated. She wasn’t the brightest, I guessed.

  “I hate fake people,” I added under my breath as I found my way back to my car.

  I opened the trunk and looked at my few belongings. I had packed only two suitcases and two boxes. Good thing the dorms came furnished. I stared at my sparse possessions and sighed. The fact that I was on my own for the first time was starting to sink in. I looked over my things, picked the lightest box first, and took a deep breath. Time to walk the gauntlet.

  It’s strange how you can pack your life into just a few boxes. It took me a total of three whole trips to my car to bring my life into my new room. It also didn’t take long to unpack it. In less time than it took to drive to my college, I was moved in and officially home. As strange as it was, this ten-foot-by-ten-foot space with two beds, two dressers, and two closets was where I’d be spending most of my time for the next four years.

  I sat on my bed and stared at the empty bed across the room. My roommate, Sim, would arrive later today. She had been gone all summer in India and would be arriving later than me. I was excited to meet her, but being alone didn’t bother me. My mother and grandfather often left for short weekend trips while I was growing up, always under the direct care of our maid. Adding to it, the dorm website said that Murdley was the quiet dorm, for those that wanted a bit of solitude in college. I didn’t mind this in the least. In fact, I didn’t get stuck in Murdley like most of the students. I chose this dorm. I didn’t want to live in the party dorm, Mordoch, which was on the opposite side of the square from Murdley. The dorms at Morton Carole were actually four buildings that were connected to form a square with an inner courtyard; Murdley was one wall of the square with Mordoch on the opposite side. I was completely happy to find my room didn’t even face the inner courtyard. I would get all the peace I wanted in my room, and maybe a little bit more.

  Outside my window, which faced the campus’ winding paths that meandered between large, ancient trees, Morton Carole students were wandering around. Most probably arrived yesterday and were already making friends. I didn’t know a single person attending Morton; I was miles away from home and all my high school friends. It was a bit scary to start over, but it was for the best. I was really only going to miss a few of my friends, and they wouldn’t ditch me just because I went off to some small school in the middle of nowhere.

  As I puttered around my room, trying to find something to do, a massive maple tree outside my window caught my attention. It looked like the perfect reading tree. I could sit outside and feel the breeze instead of being stuck in my stuffy new home. I wandered down to the tree with my book under my arm. A reading tree was exactly what I needed. I could find time to make new friends and fit in later, after I got through my latest novel.

  I opened the book to where I left off. It was new and the pages crisp. Most of my books were a bit tattered from multiple readings, but not this one. It was the third in the latest series I was hooked on. I bought it new when it came out two days ago, and I was already almost finished with it.

  I began reading just where I left off. Marie, the protagonist, was just finding out her best friend was a demon. It was sad. Marie’s family had descended from angels that were hunting demons. I felt bad for her. It was easy to slip back into the story and forget about the world around me. I continued to read and ignored the person who sat down next to me at my new reading tree. No one could pull me out of my little world. I needed to find out what Marie was going to do. Would she hunt her best friend? I could hear imaginary music playing as I got more absorbed into the story. If I could write music, I’d have a soundtrack to each book I read. The real world was completely gone as I read with the tune playing on in my head. I turned page after page and didn’t even know how long I had sat there. The last page came too quickly and the book was done. As with the rest of the books in the series, I would have to read it again.

  I closed my book and looked up from under the maple canopy to the blue sky above. I had a normal life, but girls in books always went on adventures. I guess that was what going far off to college was to me, an adventure. My future was already planned, but I’d give anything to be one of those heroines. I wanted to live the life I found in these books. I was still lost in thought over the ending when there was a thump on my lap. College students were walking all around and a few tossing a football between them. I looked down expecting to see a football.

  It wasn’t a football. The head of a perfectly cute guy was lying across my lap. He had tipped over from sleeping next to me and stayed fast asleep, even after his fall. I looked at him and waited for him to wake. I mean, his fall startled me out of my daydreaming. He didn’t wake. He kept sleeping peacefully.

  He was gorgeous—underwear model material. His dark hair had a glint of red in it and was splayed across his forehead. He had high cheekbones and perfectly-shaped lips. Stubble ran across his cheeks, and it seemed like it had been days since he had shaved. I looked at his fluttering, sleeping eyes and wondered what color they were. Mystery man just kept sleeping, like he had often found himself on unknown girls’ laps, and it didn’t bother him. I needed to move soon, but I was stuck, and I couldn’t help but admire him. He had his shirt off. It was draped partially over his shoulder now, but mostly on the ground beneath him. My eyes wandered down him to find he was very fit. All of the muscles around his shoulders and arms were perfectly defined, along with his washboard abs. His athletic shorts were low on his hips, showing off more than I had been close to in a long while since I’d attended an all-girls high school. I turned my head away before my eyes drifted any further. I had to stop checking out this guy. I mean, yes he literally fell into my lap, but I was beginning to feel like a creeper. How could he still be sleeping?

  He murmured a few words in his sleep. “Maat mitra.” I didn’t know what that meant, and I was sure they were another language. Beautiful boy spoke another language, at least in his dreams. A language I had never heard. He continued to talk softly enough that only I could hear him, but none of it was in English, or any language I knew, for that matter. He was foreign, beautiful, and laying across my lap half naked. If I were a bit bolder in my ways, I’d say I hit the lottery. This was going to go down as the oddest start to my school year, but an embarrassing one once he woke up and found me drooling over him.

  I looked around at the other college kids wandering about. No one seemed to even notice underwear model guy sleeping on my lap. Or maybe no one cared. Didn’t this guy have a girlfriend following him around devotedly? Someone out there had to be pissed at me right now. I glanced back down at him. Yes, he was probably the cutest guy I had ever seen in person, but that didn’t make it any less weird. I needed to move now, before he woke up and it got even more awkward.

  Gently my hand moved under his head. His hair was soft, softer than I expected, distracting me again. The dark auburn color was different. It was almost a chocolate brown, but the red gleaming through it made it otherwise. He was a guy, but the color was just actually pretty. The red was subtler than my own hair, which was a very noticeable bright red. I would have given anything to grow up with hair as dark as his.

  Back on task, I lifted his head gently so I wouldn’t wake him. He was a bit heavier than I expected, but I kept going, needing to get away soon. The longer I stayed, the more likely he would wake, probably with my drool on him. Slowly, I slid my legs out from beneath him, and I moved his head to the ground with my hand still beneath it. With my other hand I grabbed my book and pushed myself up to a squatting position. I inched my hand out from beneath his head and quickly made a run for it back to my room. I dodged students as I ran around the corner of the building to the stairs. He was already sitting up, awake, and looking around.

  I didn’t notice
the two students in front of me until it was too late. I bounced off the larger of the two. He was gigantic—probably the largest college student I had seen yet. His shoulders alone had to be at least three feet wide. He smiled at me and quickly grabbed my arms to keep me from falling down. He didn’t move an inch. He was as solid as he was massive, and I was just a measly fly.

  “Sorry about that,” I mumbled. I needed to get away. It looked like underwear model was looking around for me as I turned the corner.

  “Watch where you’re going,” the tall, skinny guy next to the guy I bounced off of replied. He was as abnormally tall as the other was wide.

  “Not a problem,” the guy I ran into said. His voice was low and there was a slight chuckle in it. “I don’t mind when beautiful women run into me. You can run into me anytime, sugar.” He winked at me as I blushed.

  I quickly stepped around the two guys and hurried back to my room. An embarrassing start to college, for sure. I flopped down on my bed… I might not survive after all. Morton Carole was a small college with only a few hundred people in each graduating class. I was sure to see “underwear model” guy, “tall ornery” guy, and “big, run-into” guy on campus. And, as most of the students lived in the dorms, I’d probably see them more than I wanted in the one cafeteria. Ugh. College was just beginning, and now it sucked. I threw my pillow over my head. Maybe I could just climb into bed, go to sleep, and start this day all over.

  The door clicked as someone unlocked it from the other side. I sat up from my self-wallowing. In strolled a petite, olive-skinned girl with long, dark hair. She was followed by a man in a turban and a woman in a sari. My new roommate, Sim, had arrived with good enough timing to distract me from my failed first day of being a grown-up. Her grin grew as she saw me, and she ignored her prattling father, coming over to me instead of where he was pointing.

  “I’m excited to finally meet you,” Sim said, still ignoring her father and mother who were now disputing something about the room. All I caught was that the window wasn’t exactly how the dorm people had described and that Sim’s mother thought they should have come to measure.

  “Do you need some help?” I asked. Anything to distract me was a good thing at this point. Not like I could make my day any worse.

  “Mom, Dad,” Sim interrupted her parents. “We are going down to get stuff from the car.” Her parents nodded and kept arguing about details of the room. I was surprised they actually heard Sim. She reached over and took the keys out of her animated father’s hands.

  I turned to follow Sim back out of the room. She wove her way back through the adjoining hallways that I hadn’t used yet. All four dorms were connected, but it was actually more trouble to go through the dorms than around the outside. I’d have to tell her that for our way back. Navigating the narrow hallways with boxes sounded like it would just add to my failing day.

  “When did you get here?” Sim asked.

  “This morning,” I replied. “We spent the night in Minneapolis, rather than show up here at ten last night.”

  “And your parents are gone already?” Sim asked. “I’m going to have to push mine out of here after I get everything to our room and even then, I doubt they will leave easily.”

  “Grandfather got called by a client. He’s in the private antique business. If a rich client calls, he goes immediately. They left before I even drove up here.” I tried not to make the story sound sad. I was really used to it by now. Grandfather had gotten called away almost weekly for as long as I could remember.

  “Oh, you moved in all by yourself?” Sim sounded sad. Even if she had just been complaining about her parents, she seemed to like their doting.

  We made it back through the dorm facing the parking lot and out to her parents’ car. The midsized sedan was packed full. I couldn’t even find where Sim sat for the ride. Sim took one box and a bag.

  “Could you wait here until my father comes down? He’s supposed to be helping while Mom unpacks,” Sim explained. “If one person always waits at the car, we won’t have to keep tossing the keys between us. My parents always demand I lock my doors. Something about America not being safe.” Sim rolled her eyes at the last comment.

  “Sure,” I replied. Sim wove her way back through the lot.

  My thoughts began to wander and underwear model’s face flashed in my memory. I could still feel how soft his hair was. I kind of wanted to touch it again. If I had been brave, I probably could have sat there longer with him. I mean, when am I ever going to be alone with a guy like that again? I had to stop thinking about him. Those thoughts were a bit stalkerish and depressing, but I couldn’t help my wandering mind. I really shouldn’t be left alone. I looked around the parking lot for a distraction. I didn’t want to see any of the guys I met today, but I needed something else to think about besides underwear model guy.

  Sim’s dad, Mr. Singh, made his way back to the car, his turban bouncing with each step. Maybe it was because I never had a father around, but I always pictured dads to be like my friends’ fathers. They were all lawyers and doctors, very serious men with no bounce to their step. Mr. Singh was very energetic and spoke with a thick Punjabi accent.

  “Miss Mari, you’re waiting very patiently,” he commented, coming up next to me. “By now my Simardeep would be yelling at me to hurry up and nagging about how long it took me. Your parents raised such a patient child. I’d love to know how.”

  “I’ll have to ask my mom for you,” I replied, picking up two boxes. Mr. Singh smiled at me as I walked away.

  I walked around the dorms on the wider pathway outside. It was easier to maneuver between college students on the sidewalk than in the three-foot wide hallways. I kept my eyes open as I turned the corner; this time I wasn’t going to run into someone on my way. No one was around the corner, and I made my way inside to climb the one flight of stairs to our floor. As I neared my room I could hear Sim and her mother arguing. Sim seemed to be as loud as both her parents, and even had a hint of an accent when arguing.

  “Where should I put these?” I asked, interrupting the glare that Sim was giving her mother.

  “On the bed is fine,” Mrs. Singh replied in a friendly tone, like there hadn’t just been an argument.

  “I’ll go get more,” I suggested, not really wanting to get between the mother and daughter war that was going on. Mrs. Singh smiled and nodded as Sim continued to glare at her. I quickly backed out of the room and into the hall. I never really fought with my mother over anything. It was strange, but funny, to see them argue.

  As I began my walk around the dorms yet again, I was continuing to be cautious. I slowed as I neared the corner. Underwear model guy was standing just around it, talking to big guy and tall guy. I stopped before I could make it around, and paused to see which way they were going.

  “I swear I found her this time,” underwear model guy said. His voice was as beautiful as he was. “The goddess promised I would know when I found her. I do know. I found her.”

  “Just like the last twenty-three times,” tall guy replied. His voice was fairly nasal for such a tall guy. I would have expected maybe a deeper voice.

  “Dee, don’t tease him,” big guy warned. There was a mixture of warning and sympathy in his voice.

  “No. I swear to you guys. She’s the one,” underwear model replied, unfazed by his friends doubt. “Maat came to me in my dream. I promise you this girl is the one we’ve been looking for.”

  “Sure, just like Melissa,” tall guy remarked. “Or was it Sarah, or Jenny? Just admit it, Seti, you found another pretty face you want to make yours. By all means, man, go ahead. No one is stopping you. Can you tell us who she is so that we don’t go after her, too?”

  I backed up slowly. I didn’t need to hear more about underwear model’s conquests. Guys like that always had girls throwing themselves at them. He was a lot more appealing before learning that he was a player. I went back inside the dorms and prayed they wouldn’t come in as well. Looping back through the do
rms, I exited the door to the parking lot. The guys were nowhere in sight. I dashed across the lot and made it to Sim’s car at about the same time she did.

  “Papa,” Sim complained. Her father was lying in the driver’s seat, trying to take a nap. He opened his eyes and grinned sheepishly at us both.

  “Old men are allowed to take naps,” he replied. Mr. Singh was not what I would consider old.

  “And I suppose that means young girls have to carry everything up themselves?” Sim had her hands on her hips just like her mother had when Mr. and Mrs. Singh had been arguing upstairs. Sim was being a mini-me of her mom, and I had to hold back a laugh at the sight of her posed like that.

  “Oh, sweet of you to suggest that, dear,” Mr. Singh replied as he closed his eyes again.

  Sim huffed and went back to the trunk to grab more boxes. She wasn’t really mad. I was getting the feeling that it was more of a routine in their house to argue over everything. I grabbed a few more boxes. It seemed like we were only about half-way done with emptying the car. There were many more trips to go to move Sim into our room.

  “Can we go outside this time? Those hallways are just too crowded,” Sim asked.

  I wanted to say no in case we ran into underwear model and his friends—literally or figuratively, but I just nodded. I didn’t have a good reason to not go that way without telling her about my wreck of a morning. Maybe with Sim I wouldn’t be as accident-prone.

  “Why did you pick Morton?” Sim asked as I walked beside her on the sidewalk.

  “To get away,” I replied. I could tell Sim that. I could not tell my mother, grandfather, or other friends that. No one would understand how I wanted a few years away from the life I grew up in. It wasn’t a bad life. We all had good homes, a great education, and enough money to never want for anything, but it was just stifling. Even here at college I wasn’t completely free from my life, as I already had my degree planned out to allow me to continue with my grandfather’s business. For once, just once, I wanted to be free and have a life that I chose. “Six hundred miles from home was the biggest draw.” Sim looked in awe at me. She was from Minneapolis and only a two-hour drive from home. I got the distinct feeling she wouldn’t be far from home ever.