Letters by Her [Book 2]

Chapter 16

"You've been hanging out with that girl a lot," Ashley noted as Dusty sat at her desk, using her vanity mirror to help her style her hair. She was going for a loose bun, but it wasn't quite working.

"What girl?" Dusty asked, playing dumb.

"The girl with the black hair. What's her name, Kaya or something?"

"Kyera," Dusty corrected.

"I was close." Ashley shrugged. "Anyway, you keep blowing me off to see her. Are you guys dating or something?" Ashley stood poised in the center of their shared room, eager to hear her friend's response. She was already dressed to impress for the party that night, decked out in dark skinny jeans and a neon pink top that accentuated her skin tone.

"No, we're not dating, just hanging out," Dusty quickly explained. In contrast to Ashley her outfit was much more subdued; she was wearing denim cut-offs and a university branded hooded top.

"You're hanging out with her a lot." Ashley overemphasized the last two words.

"She's interesting." Dusty tried to appear nonchalant.

"Mmm." Ashley pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Do you like her?"

"She's a nice girl, yeah."

"No, don't be coy with me, Black. I mean, do you like her, like her?"

Dusty blushed beneath her friend's scrutiny and nervously tucked a lock of stray blonde hair behind her ear.

"No, it's not like that," she began explaining, unsure if she even could since in her own mind everything was a confused mess. "We just enjoy hanging out together. I mean, I guess I do kind of like her, but I don't think she's into me, so..." Dusty hung her head. It was the first time she'd vocalized exactly how she felt about Kyera, even to herself.

"Have you told her that you like her?" Ashley sat down on the bed so that she was closer to Dusty. Her mascara- framed eyes were narrowed in concern. Dusty just shook her head, her own eyes cast downward.

"Maybe tell her that you like her; see how she feels."

"Yeah." Dusty didn't sound thrilled by the suggestion.

"Are you worried about the girl back home? Is that why you're down?"

Dusty looked up, surprised and impressed by Ashley's intuition. It never failed to baffle Dusty just how well her friend could read her. It was comforting to know that Ashley would always be able to see through whatever veil she was shroud-ming herself with.

"Valentine? I, I don't know. Maybe...I guess."

"You want my opinion?"

"Always." Dusty smiled, knowing full well that Ashley would share her view whether or not it was sought after.

"You haven't seen the girl from home for, like, over a year. And you see Kesha almost every day, which means that you two have a connection. She's here, this is now, and you only live once. Worry about the girl back home when you are actually back home."

"Kyera."

"Huh?"

"Her name is Kyera, not Kesha."

"Sorry, I'm so bad with names lately," Ashley apologized. It didn't surprise Dusty that she was struggling with names since she was currently dating about five different guys.

Dusty had lost track of whom Ashley was seeing, each night a different guy would wait politely downstairs to take her to dinner or to a movie. "It's like shoe shopping," Ashley would explain to her bemused sorority sisters. "I like to try on lots of pairs so that I can pick the one that fits me best."