Chatoyant College Book 9: Sundered

Chapter 78: Ice Cream

Naomi was actually around when Dawn went looking for her (she wasn't always), and she agreed enthusiastically to ice cream. They made quite a crowd in the hallway. "So where are we going?" Corrie asked.

"Well, I don't really know," said Deborah, looking around at them. "I don't want to take you all away from your homework for long enough to go back to the city, and I think we'd better take two cars, anyway. Is there anywhere around here you go for ice cream?"

They all looked at each other. Dawn thought back over the semester, but she couldn't remember ever getting ice cream except when the dining hall had it. There wasn't any in the dining hall tonight, even if they wanted to go in and use up another meal credit. "There must be an ice cream place in West Ashburn," she finally said.

"Or if not, in one of the other small towns," Corrie agreed.

"Wait, I remember going for ice cream in West Ashburn now," said Naomi. "It's a frozen yogurt and ice cream place. They might not even be open, though."

"Do you remember the name?" Corrie asked, reaching for the handle to her dorm room. "I could look it up online."

Naomi frowned. "It was... Moo Food? Moo Cuisine? Something like that."

"Okay," Corrie said, pushing the door open and propping it that way. "Just a minute." She opened her computer and began to type. "Naomi, Google is suggesting Moove Food. Like moooooove over." She exaggerated the "O."

"That must be it," said Naomi.

"Good, because their website says they're open year-round." She got up and walked back toward them. "And since it's in the town right here, we don't have to bother with the car."

"It's pretty cold out there," said Deborah.

"I think we're used to it," said Dawn. "Besides, the parking lot is practically as far away as the main street of the town is."

"Farther, depending on where you parked," said Corrie. She grinned and tugged her new hat down a little lower. "I don't think I'll get too cold, with this keeping my head warm."

No one else had any arguments against walking to the ice cream shop, so they started going down the stairs. Dawn wondered how much Corrie's mom knew about what had happened on Sunday—obviously, since she wasn't surprised by the shaved head, she knew Corrie had been hurt and was better, but did she know about the magic? Or about Paul? What about how Dawn herself had been injured? She flexed her right hand into a fist. It didn't feel any different at all under normal circumstances, but it still grated on her to know that it didn't work the way the rest of her senses did.

"So have you heard anything else about Paul?" Deborah asked Corrie as they went down the stairs. Well, that answered part of Dawn's question, at least.

Corrie shook her head. "As far as I know he's still locked up. I guess there will have to be a trial eventually, but I'm just as glad not to have to hear anything about it for now."

"I'm sure they would have told you if they were letting him go," said Roe. "I wonder what the college knows about it—like, do his teachers know why he's missing class? Not that it matters, since I'm sure he couldn't pass this semester anyway."

"Professor Lal probably talked to the administrators and explained what happened," said Corrie. "Or the security guys did. I doubt they're just wondering where he is." She looked over her shoulder at the rest of the group. "Or do you guys know? Does anyone have a class normally with Paul?"

"No," said Dawn, frowning. She had to think about it—her psychology and physics classes were huge—but she definitely would have recognized Paul.

"I don't think so," said Edie, as the others agreed. She frowned. "That's kind of odd, isn't it? You'd think one of us would share a class with him. What classes is he even taking?"

"All I know is that he was in the same building as me at the same time as my biology class," said Corrie. She sighed. "But so was Byron."

"You haven't been having the best luck with boys, have you?" Deborah asked. Dawn wondered if she was trying to turn the subject away from Paul.

Corrie shrugged. "I guess not. Maybe next time. Hey, Roe, do you know if Troy's cousin Link is single? He's pretty cute."

"Maybe you should try dating girls," said Naomi. "That can be fun." Dawn looked at her roommate in surprise. She wasn't dating any girls, was she? Maybe it was just one of her awkward jokes.

Corrie laughed, at least, as she pushed open the door to the building, letting in a gush of icy air. "I'll keep that in mind as a fallback plan."