Letters by Her [Book 2]

Chapter 21

Junior Year

The hot summer months seemed to drag on endlessly as Dusty navigated her way around an almost deserted campus. Being in the sorority house was the worst part. It was so eerily quiet it unnerved her to come back after classes to a house so big and so empty. At night, she would awaken at the sound of a creaking floorboard or an expanding pipe, convinced that someone had broken in.

Occasionally some of her sisters drifted back for a few days, usually with someone from home who they wanted to show the house to. Dusty was always grateful for their company, and they would be kind enough to let her tag along with them for meals and even cinema outings.

Dusty began to realize how much she'd cut herself off from the rest of the sorority when she'd been preoccupied with Kyera. The desolation of summer school was unnerving, but she was enjoying the opportunity to get better acquainted with a few of her sorority sisters.

Classes weren't that bad. The number of students attending was about a third of that during normal term time. Dusty didn't really get a chance to speak with people in her classes, none of whom she recognized. They all appeared to be fiercely driven and focused solely on their studies; she wondered if perhaps they had been given the same ultimatum that she had.

"So it's not so bad, being there alone?" Kayla Black asked.

"Not really." Dusty was sitting in the lounge area of the sorority house, lying on the sofa, the television nearby playing some reality series she wasn't even paying attention to. Her textbooks and study aids littered the floor. Since there was no one around to berate her,
Dusty could be as messy as she liked, and the lounge area was big enough to let Dusty spread her paperwork around.

Having the television droning on in the background also helped create the illusion that she wasn't actually alone. "I mean, I can come up and visit if you like?" Kayla offered, desperate to see her daughter.

"No, it's fine." Dusty quickly shut down the idea, aware that her mother wouldn't be able to afford the train fare to come and see her and couldn't bear to think of her going into debt just to keep her company. "I'm really busy with schoolwork, and I'm also thinking about getting a job." Both parts were true.

For a long time Dusty had considered working in a department store or waitressing somewhere. She planned on sending money back home, but previously she'd felt like she had no time to spare, mostly in part thanks to Kyera, but since she'd not heard from her since their argument, she concluded that she was gone from her life, freeing up a lot of her time.

Each time she thought of Kyera it felt like being thumped in the stomach. Dusty missed her terribly and tried to keep herself busy so that she couldn't think about her. A job would be another tool to stop her thoughts wandering back to her as they so liked to do.

"A job? Don't go overdoing it, Dusty. You need to focus on your studies," Kayla warned, already panicked by the fact that Dusty had been held back in summer school due to her previously poor performance.

"It'll be fine," Dusty reassured her mother.

"Are you sure you're not too lonely up there?"

"No, it's okay. Besides, Ashley is coming back early to be with me, so she'll be here in a few weeks."

"That's nice." Kayla sounded relieved. "But don't let her distract you from working. No more parties!"