Sisters Till Death

VI

    "Sorry for...interrupting." She said looking over to Angelo, shirtless, laying on his bed.

     "Trust me, we wouldn't be a thing even if the world was ending and I was desperate." I said flatly.

     I expect Angelo to playfully pretend to be offended, flinging his mouth open and bunching his bushy eyebrows together. Instead he stared down at his bed almost as if he thought I'd make him invisible.

     "I'm sorry, but why are you in here in her bed." She cut her eyes at Angelo with venom in her tone.

     "I'm...um...I'm..." he seemed stuck on his words.

     "He's my roommate. He's who they placed with me instead of Camellia."

     She kept her eyes trained on Angelo, while Angelo's eyes didn't falter from his bed once.

     "Well I'm Sarah. I'm Camellia's sister." She turned to me and changed the subject, "Foster sister, actually, but I've been with her since we were little so she was like a real sister to me. I'm sure you've heard that she's gone missing."

     I nodded.

     "This isn't like her." She said, "I know my sister. She wouldn't disappear suddenly, and if she did she would've told me in one way or another."

     Her hands continuously shook. Whenever she wasn't fiddling with her fingers, she was rubbing the dark bags under her eyes with the palm of her hand, hoping the visible exhaustion would disappear that easily.

     "She was so excited to come here." She said, fighting back tears, "But whenever I go to the police about it they just think she's taking some type of 'off time' for herself!" anger began to force its way into her voice, " 'Oh trust me! She probably got cold feet from college. Probably wanted to do her own thing for a little bit. She'll probably call you in a few weeks or so.' And then turn me in the direction of the door!"

     I reached over to pick up a box of tissue from my nightstand drawer and offered her one. She wiped her cheeks, patted under her eyes, and wiped her nose then threw the tissue away. She stared down at her hands for a while then looked up to me.

     "Please. Please! Help me find her."

     I stared at her distressed features and a pinch of empathy struck me.

     "Okay," I said, "I'll help you."

•*•*•*•

     The next day, I needed to go to the campus studies, or the library as everyone calls it since "campus studies" seems too extra. I walked through the columns and columns of lined up shelves filled with books. As I walked through, I caught glimpses of people on the computers, typing papers and watching YouTube, and people sitting in huddles at tables. I came here to research a topic for my persuasive essay that's due in a couple of weeks, but I also I decided to try to be somewhat social.

     I guess.

     I scanned the room for a group or a person who would seem interesting to me.

     I kinda feel like a stalker now.

     I looked around at the people I saw. "Group of guys, twelve o'clock." I thought, "Nope. Too idiotic. Two girls, two o'clock. Nope. Too annoying. Group of boys and girls... 9:57-ish? Anyway, nope. Too "I'm better than you" like. Ugh. This is hopeless."

     I started to leave but then a group caught my eye. It only had a boy and a girl sitting there. The girl was dressed in majority black, kinda like me but today I wore a black top with with blue jeans and black knee high boots with a simple black choker to accessorize my outfit. She had rich dark skin and her hair was thick and pulled back into a large puff in the back of her head. She stared blankly at the boy as he made flamboyant gestures as he spoke to her. He had dirty blond hair that was messy but looked perfectly placed at the same time. His skin was olive and he had brown freckles that were bunched around his nose. He wore a bright red funny graphic shirt that had a drawing of a sleep-deprived-looking boy staring wide eyed at a tv screen with a game controller in his hand. His shirt matched his bright smile as he laughed with the girl, who began to chuckle at him.