Second Lanark

Kiss the Girl - Part 15

I'd been back from Thanksgiving a week. I had successfully avoided Rob by going out the exit closest to my room and keeping myself busy meeting people at the other end of the hall. I was trying to take my mom's advice to heart and not isolating myself with just Lark and Trisha.

Lark hadn't thawed to Jill at all, but Jill had come back from Thanksgiving as though nothing had happened. It was driving Lark nuts that she was trying to pretend that they liked each other again. I wasn't sure if Jill was pretending or not; it was perfectly possible she thought repairing their friendship was as easy as acting as though it had never fractured.

As I opened the door to the floor, I heard the Little Mermaid soundtrack drifting along the hall. It had to be at full blast. I couldn't help grinning when I heard them singing all out to the chorus. I hitched my swim bag higher up on my shoulder and hurried down the hall. I peered in the door, but they weren't there. As Part of Your World hit its chorus again, I realized they were singing from the bathroom.

I knocked on the door and when I didn't get a response, I knocked louder.

"Come in!" Tricia called over the music.

I swung open the door and dropped my swim bag. Tricia and Lark were both in the bathtub in their bathing suits, a forty of peach schnapps was perched on the edge of the tub and shot glasses were lined up on the rim of the bathtub. It was Wednesday. Of course, this was happening in our bathroom.

"What in the world...?" I asked, trailing off. They were ridiculous, but I couldn't help grinning.

"You're always at swim practice and we were feeling left out," Lark pulled a spare set of my goggles down off her forehead. I didn't even realize they were there.

This was one of the weirdest things I'd ever seen.

"So, because I'm at swim practice a lot, you guys decided to put on your bathing suits, do shots of peach schnapps, sing the Little Mermaid and," I gestured to the tub, "swim in the bathtub."

"Solidarity, yo," Tricia made some sort of gang sign with her hands and took another shot.

"You're spending too much time with Josh," I said, laughing.

"Do you want to come in?" Lark asked, sloshing around in the water, trying to figure out how the tub could possibly hold another person.

I shook my head. "Definitely not." I laughed. "But, I will take one of these." I snatched one of the shot glasses off the edge of the tub and downed it. "Where's the Little Mermaid coming from?"

"My room," Lark said with a hint of triumph. "Jill took off to write some essay or something."

"But, her desktop computer is in your room," I said, wondering if Jill was writing it out by hand and then typing it up.

"I don't know." Lark shrugged and took another shot. "I don't ask questions."

I shook my head and left the bathroom. Her attitude towards Jill was starting to drive me around the bend and off a cliff. She wasn't just avoiding her anymore, sometimes, she was downright rude and mean. Tricia seemed able to let it slide, but I was struggling. I was starting to wonder if Tricia had been right, maybe they just needed to clear the air and start again.

I sat down to do some of my own work when there was a knock on our dorm door. I crossed over to the door and swung it open, but stopped short when I realized it was Rob.

"You busy?" he asked, speaking a little louder than normal over the sound of The Little Mermaid.

I moved over to the bathroom door and shut it tightly. I did not want Lark or Tricia listening in, and I also did not want Rob to see that I was living with two lunatics. Although, their singing alone might have been enough to qualify them.