Chatoyant College, Book 1: New Student Orientation

Chapter 12: Crafty Girls

While she was pondering, she realized, the conversation had moved on without her. Dawn was waving a hand in front of her face. "Earth to Edie!"

"Sorry," she said, feeling her cheeks warm with embarrassment, but still feeling a little warm glow of happiness inside. She really did like that nickname. "My brain got derailed. Were you asking me something?"

Corrie nodded. "I just wanted to know if we could see your knitting."

"Oh--sure!" Edie grinned broadly. That was something she had all to herself as well, wasn't it? True, she might not have taken it up if her grandmother hadn't taught her, but she would have had to learn somehow, and it certainly wasn't something her friends from high school did. She bent down and dug through her bag to pull out both the first finished sock and the half-finished one she'd been working on earlier. She handed the finished one to Dawn. "This is just a simple lace sock. I'm about halfway through the second one--I'm about to turn the heel."

"This is so cool!" exclaimed Dawn, turning the sock over and over in her hands before passing it on for Naomi to admire. "I wish I was crafty like that. My mom tried to teach me to sew but I can't even manage a straight seam with a sewing machine."

"I could teach you to knit, if you want," Edie said shyly. To her surprise, she realized she'd pretty much gotten over her initial reaction to Dawn as a pretty girl, but the thought of holding her hand to guide the needles and yarn brought it back again. She hoped she wasn't blushing too hard. "It's nothing at all like sewing. I'm not good at that either."

"Really?" Dawn nodded slowly, smiling. "I might just take you up on that offer."

"This is really cool," said Corrie, tossing Edie's sock back to her. "I'm afraid that I'm not too interested in crafts, though. So Dawn may be alone in your knitting lessons. What about you, Naomi? You're obviously a crafty type."

Naomi shook her head dismissively, laughing. "Oh, no, one craft is enough for me. I only brought a little bit of my fabric collection and it takes up the entire bottom drawer of my dresser." The dressers were quite generously sized, considering the size of the space they had to fit into, so Edie knew she had a lot of fabric.

Edie grinned and put her socks back in her bag. "I know what you mean. I actually worked hard on using up a good portion of my yarn stash so it would be easier to move." Having kicked her shoes off, she was able to comfortably point with her foot to the trunk at the foot of the bed--large enough for two drawers the size of those in the dresser. It was nice to have the storage space, even if it did make the rooms feel even more cramped than they already did. "It's all in there, with just a little room to spare, and the needles stuffed in a corner."

"Do you have a sewing machine, Naomi?" Dawn asked. "I didn't see it in the room."

"Oh, I have one, but I didn't bring it with me. I mostly do my sewing by hand. It's relaxing and takes up more time that would probably otherwise be spent getting myself into trouble. Besides, I'm pretty sure the theater department has machines for costuming."

"Are you planning to be a theater major?" Edie asked. Though she wasn't much of a seamstress herself, she'd always been interested in costume design, and was taking an introductory acting class for the sole reason that it was a prerequisite for every other theater class.

"No, probably art, but they're in the same building. And anyway, the teachers at my high school let me mess with all the theater stuff."

"Hey!" said Corrie, her voice a mock reprimand. "Didn't we decide this wasn't high school anymore?"

"What, no comparisons allowed?" asked Naomi, sticking her tongue out.

Corrie shook her head, grinning. "Nope. In fact, let's pretend high school never existed. College is our only existence!"

"What about after college?" Dawn asked. "I don't know about you, but I've got ambitions. Even if I haven't completely decided what they are yet."

"Nope!" said Corrie, giggling and falling on her side. "Jeez, this bed isn't too soft, is it? Right, I was saying, we don't have to think about after college for like three more years. Freshman year at least is just for us."

"I'll drink to that!" said Naomi. "And I am thirsty."

"Drink what?" Edie asked. She looked around the room. "We don't even have any bottled water in here."

"There's vending machines on the second floor," Dawn offered. "I noticed them this morning."

"Ooh, perfect," Corrie said, bouncing to her feet. Edie couldn't quite tell how she'd managed to get herself upright, or, for that matter, where she'd gotten the energy from. "It's been hours since dinner. I hope there's some good food in the machine."

"I'd ask how you stay so skinny," said Edie as they headed for the stairs, "but I already know."

"I don't usually have midnight snacks," she admitted. "I may gain that freshman fifteen after all."