Before the sleep

Chapter three

Mommy

"Took you long enough," Carmen snapped when I entered the dorm.

She sat in front of the only mirror in the room, right by her unmade bed. Sporting a cream bra a short shorts, she brushed her already glowing hair.

I dropped my keys on one of two bedside tables separating our beds.

"I was in class," I said. "Are you ready for us to go eat?"

My stomach growled at the thought of potential food. I didn't want to go eat this morning before class because of the promised we made to each other on the road to the campus.

"Oh, I already ate." She continued to brush her hair as if she was just talking about the weather or something.

"I thought we were going to go eat together. You promised that before we even got here. We made a pack to always eat together for at least the first month until we felt more comfortable here."

She threw me a dirty look in the mirror. "You're acting like such a spoiled little brat. You were expecting me to spend the entire time without food. It's already noon for God's sake."

"I haven't eaten either because I wanted to keep my promise," I crossed my arms over my chest. "You should stop making promises if you're not going to keep them."

"I promised to eat with you until I felt comfortable enough around campus. Guess what? I'm already comfortable so I'm off the hook."

She grabbed the curling iron then turned her music on to end the conversation. My anger and disappointment was drown out under Katy Perry's Hot and Cold. It was moments like that which made me doubt our friendship. Carmen wasn't a bad person but sometimes she'd act like the she was the only girl in the world that mattered, anyone else was there to follow and server her.

I dropped the backpack on the floor as I laid on my small bed, looking up at the white ceiling. The wall felt like they were closing in on me. I wasn't used to small spaces since I grew up in a bedroom five times as large as this one. College reduced me to life as a poor. I had never slept on a twin bed before. My bed had always been king size, covered in the smoothest silk my mother could purchase, with soft pillows under my head which felt like pure feathers.

I draped my arms over my eyes, summoning the picture a particular set of brown eyes melting me in place. A slight change in the lighting made me uncover my eyes. Carmen was standing over me, dressed in leggings and tank top.

"You're going to class like that?" I frowned.

"Duhh, why do you think I'm dressed like that?" She flicked her hair back over her shoulders. "Anyways, about Friday night. I'm really sorry for the way I acted, you were a really good friend coming back to get me so fast. I shouldn't have been mad at you for leaving, you were never fun enough for parties anyway."

I raised an eyebrow in disbelief and sat up straight. Carmen never apologized unless there was something else coming. She was going to ask for something. I knew it. I also knew I would succumb to it regardless of how reluctant I may be of it at first.

"Don't worry about it," I said coolly, waiting for her to throw the curve ball.

"Why did you leave so fast anyways?" She put her hands on her hips. "I know you don't really do anything when you go to parties. You just sit on a danm corner and embarrass the hell out of me but you've never just left before."

I shrugged, "I guess I got more bored than ever. There wasn't anyone I knew."

"So you didn't make any new acquaintance? Like some idiot you happened to give my number instead of yours?"