Poseidon

Left hanging

Tara was in her bed, she'd been worried sick, but I told her I was just under, and I was cold, that's it. She believed me, or then Poe had reached out. He was a good guy, we just weren't made for one another, clearly.

When I had my shift at the library, and then went back to the dorm, I packed up my stuff, hugged Tara goodbye, and went to the parking lot where Sophia would pick me up. She was studying in LA, a scholarship to the entire thing, and had promised to drive down for me, even thought it was one hell of a detour.

We were from Merced, CA, close to San Jose and San Francisco. Six hours plus drive from San Diego, only four from LA, but she'd still driven those extra two hours to get me.

I loved her.

Her car, a used Kia in dark blue, turned into the parking lot. She had everything funded, as did I, but she had a swanky job next to, I didn't. And I had to pay for housing, she didn't.

She stopped her car next to me. I put my stuff on the backseat, knowing she'd used the trunk, and got into the passenger seat.

We look alike, the same hair color, eye color, facial shape. Most say we look like twins, and since she's to years older than me, it's not unlikely we could be the same age.

"Good to see you," she said and leaned over to hug me.

I hugged her back and buckled up. "How's class today?"

"Long," I said and leaned back. "We were going over something from our midterms I hadn't flunked."

She snorted. "Right, fun times." She said. "Hey, I think we're changing when I don't want to drive anymore."

"Sure thing," I said and took off my shoes, pulling my legs to my chest. "I like my roommate," I said.

"Good!" Sophia said. Her hair was in a ponytail, her trademark hair-do. "How is she?"

We'd texted and called, obviously. "She's from Arizona," I said. "Hadn't really been to the water, she's gay," I said.

"Really? You never told."

"It never came up," I said. "She's scared to tell her parents. They've told her brother that if he ever came home wit a boyfriend, he'd no longer be welcome."

"Shit," Sophia said. "I mean, I'm bi, but it's not like mom and dad ever cared."

"Nah," I said. "I told Tara they wouldn't. She's a lot softer than I thought, and she, for whatever reason, needs me around sometimes."

"Oh, novel," Sophia teased.

"Shut up," I said. "How's your roomie?"

"Oh, don't remind me," she said. "She's the best and the worst. She has zero respect for silence in the room before ten, so I'm living at the library."

I snickered. "Oh, you deserved that one after teasing me all of last year."

"That's hardly fair," Sophia said. "I just wasn't super into the goth music she listened to."

"Oh, so Tara is all for Greek myth, and Athena, the Greek goddess, was goddess for wisdom, and Sophia stems from the Greek sophists, which were a group of thinkers, and it also means wisdom."