Rae of Sunshine (Light in the Dark 1)

“And you don’t like football?” She gaped. “But it’s like…necessary to the way of life.”

I snorted and tilted my head. “Oxygen is necessary for life, not football.”

She shook her head and started walking. I didn’t know where she was going since she had no idea which car belonged to me.

I pointed to my car when we reached it. “It’s that one.”

“It’s cute,” she smiled.

I laughed at that. Cute was certainly not the word anyone would ever use to describe my clunker of a car. Looking at Barbie I was pretty sure she probably drove a cute little Volkswagen. I had a cute car once, but that had been before.

Before what?

Before I destroyed everything.

With Thea’s help it wouldn’t be necessary to make another trip out to my car. We walked back to our dorm and I noticed the guys playing football were gone. Maybe if I were a normal girl I’d tell Thea about Cade. Then we’d laugh and talk about how hot he was. But I wasn’t normal, not anymore.

Luckily, Thea didn’t talk much on the way back.

She ended up spending several hours on her computer while I fixed up my side of the room. There was nothing personal on my side. It didn’t scream This is Rachael Wilder’s Room! It could have been any girl’s room on any campus at any school. The day that ruined my life effectively stripped me of my identity. I ghosted along, a fragment of the girl I used to be. I think my parent’s had hoped college would snap me out of this ‘phase’, but day one was a resounding failure.

“I like your comforter,” Thea said, looking over at my side of the room.

I eyed her bubblegum confection of a bedspread and looked down at my gray and yellow one. “Yeah, it’s the life of the party.”

She let out a laugh and looked around at all the pink. “I guess we can’t all be as bright and colorful.”

“And thank God for that,” I cracked a smile, smoothing my hand over the bedspread before sitting down. “One of us has to be tame.”

“So,” she bit her lip, closing the lid on her laptop, “I was wondering if you’d want to go to a pool party with me?”

I narrowed my eyes. “How on earth is there already a party at this place? Isn’t today the first move-in day?”

“It’s not tonight,” she corrected me. “It’s Sunday, and it’s kind of a big deal around here. Only certain people get to go, because it’s invite only. Since my brother is, well my brother, I was invited, but I won’t know anyone but him and his friends and I don’t want to be alone. Please, come?”

A pool party was not my thing, and I hadn’t worn a bikini in a year. Looking at her pitiful face and pleading eyes made it impossible to say no.

“Fine, I’ll go on one condition,” I warned, staring her down so she didn’t get too excited.

“Thank you! Whatever it is, I don’t care!” She clapped her hands together.

“I’m not swimming,” I told her. “I can’t swim,” I added, to avoid any possible questions about why I didn’t want to swim.

“What do you mean you can’t swim?” Her perky nose scrunched together. “Everyone knows how to swim.”

“Not me,” I sighed. I could swim, but I wasn’t the strongest swimmer. The real reason for not swimming had more to do with not wanting anyone to see the scar on my abdomen than with my weak swimming abilities.

She frowned. “Well, that’s fine. Most girls lounge around anyway or at least that’s what my brother said, but he probably just doesn’t want me to wear a bikini. He gets all pissy when guys look at me,” she rolled her eyes. “Typical brother.”

I didn’t have a brother, so I didn’t know. I shrugged, because she seemed to want some kind of response.

Thea stood from her bed and stretched her stiff muscles. “I’m starving. Do you want to grab something to eat?”

Food. I’d completely forgotten about dinner…and lunch for that matter. All I’d had at breakfast was an apple. My mom would’ve clucked her tongue and given me a lecture for already failing to take care of myself on the first day of school.

I was a bit afraid to agree to go with Thea, though. Despite my warning, she seemed all too eager to band together and become besties.

But I’d hate myself if, God forbid, I let her go by herself and something awful happened to her. I didn’t need a fourth death on my hands. Yes, fourth.