April Shadows (Shadows 1)

"No problem," Brenda said. "You can use mine."

Ugh, I thought. They even share toothbrushes. If I have to share a dorm room with another girl like this,I won't go to college.

Celia smiled and shrugged. "Thanks," she said, "Nice shower, Hi. April," she added, laughed, and closed the door.

"Aren't you going to dress for dinner?" Brenda asked me. "It's special for Mama."

"What? Oh, yeah. sure. I have something new to wear since I lost weight." I said, fishing for a compliment.

Brenda nodded. "Good," she said and turned back to her closet.

I should have invited someone to dinner, too. I thought angrily, even a homeless person, a stranger, so I wouldn't feel alone.

At dinner. Celia took over some of my duties without Mama asking. She helped serve, and when Brenda tried to get up to do something. Celia insisted she sit.

"I have to earn my keep," she said, and Brenda laughed again.

Did they always giggle at whatever each other said? I wondered. I had never seen Brenda act so immature.

"You don't earn your keep at the dorm." Brenda teased.

"Oh, and you do. I suppose." Celia countered, bumping her hip against Brenda's shoulder.

That got Mama started on questions about the dorm. She started to tell stories about her own college experiences, stories I had never heard her tell. Because I had yet to attend college, I couldn't contribute anything to the discussion.

"I'm going to go to college as far away as possible," I finally blurted. Everyone turned to me. "I'd like to go to college in Europe, in fact, so I can meet interesting people who are different."

"You?" Brenda said. "You've never slept anywhere but here, never been away except on family vacations when you were much younger. We haven't gone anywhere like that for almost two years, in fact."

"Yes, we have," I said, my eyes burning. "When we went to see Daddy."

How she could forget that irked me. I saw her flinch and blink as if I had thrown a cup of hot water in her face. She glanced at Celia, whose smile quickly evaporated. Mama's forehead creased, and her eves grew small.

"I don't mean something like that, April. I mean going away for fun, sleeping over at a friend's house or something."

"You never did, either. Brenda."

"But I'm not telling everyone I want to go to college in Europe. You are," she said so sharply it brought tears to my eyes.

"Well. I do," I insisted. "In fact." I added, quickly fabricating. "Uncle Palaver invited me to join him and Destiny on his tour one of these days, a

nd I might just do that this coming summer."

Brenda started to laugh.

"I might!" I said.

"Okay, good for you." Brenda said. "Don't get so emotional,"

"It's all right," Celia said softly to me. "I can't say I wasn't high-strung when I was a kid."

"I'm not a kid. I'm fifteen, nearly sixteen, and in some countries, women are married at my age and already have children of their own,"

Everyone stared, and then suddenly, they all laughed. Even Mama looked hysterical.

"They do!" I cried, which made them laugh harder. "Stop laughing at me!"

"We're not laughing at you." Mama said. "It's just funny to hear."