Conviction by Amanda Lance Page B

Melinda knocked on one, though it seemed pointless since she immediately went ahead and let herself in.
    The entire apartment consisted of a single room with what looked like a separate but adjoining bathroom. It was clean, though small, and as the petite girl at the sink began fiddling with the pipes, they made a terrible sound that made me jump.
    Melinda put her hand on my shoulder. “You okay?”
    I swallowed and nodded.
    She turned her attention back to her friends. “God, you guys take forever.”
    “Well, if mirror hog over there would hurry up, maybe we could get a move on!”
    I looked over my shoulder and sure enough, one of Melinda’s friends with a streak of pink in her hair gaped at herself in the mirror.
    “Hey,” she said to herself, “I need it more than you do.”
    “You’ve got that right.”
    The girls she introduced me to were of course prettier than me, and reminded me of Elise in the sense that Violet put on eyeliner flawlessly in the apartment lobby without a mirror and left-handed, even though she was obviously right-handed. I couldn’t tell if her hair was naturally straight or if she spent hours with a straightener somewhere, killing and fraying the copper ends until her tresses were as direct as the rest of her.
    “Hi, you’re Addie, right? Mel’s weirdo roommate?”
    Mirror hog’s mouth fell open and she extended her leg to kick. “Geez, Vi, blab much?”
    “Uh, nope, actually. She has it right there. My Dad wanted ‘weirdo’ to be my middle name but Mom opted for Marie instead.”
    “Hey, that’s my middle name, too.” The new presence startled me slightly, probably because I didn’t have time to analyze it. In class it was always different. I was the first one there, I’d watch people coming in and out of the room; study them without them knowing it. But when people snuck up on me from behind I never liked it. Maybe it had something to do with not socializing in school, but I had noticed I was more prone to it after being attacked on the Diyu . I shook slightly; it seemed there were some things that even Charlie couldn’t protect me from.
    “Damn, I’m sorry.” She laughed, but not really. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
    I counted to thirty and then I was calm again. “No problem,” I lied.
    She laughed and drank from a water bottle, though water was obviously not in the bottle. “I’m Cora, by the way. You’re coming out with us tonight, right?”
    I nodded.
    “Cool.” She shrugged. “The more the merrier.”
    Melinda, Violet, Kenzie, and Cora mostly talked amongst themselves while we walked to some fraternity house a few blocks away. Every now and then I’d nod or try to include something I thought was clever, but mostly I remained quiet and kept to myself. And though I wondered exactly where we were going, it became obvious when we came to the cobblestone house with the booming music and bubble machine sitting on the patio. Honestly, I was just glad that the party didn’t look as crowded as I imagined. There was the sultry smell of smoke in the air and a couple of bottles laying on the dead grass. I thought I saw a used contraceptive in the bushes, but other than that, the outside of the house didn’t even look like it belonged to students. Melinda mentioned something about the fraternity itself, but I faded in and out, my mind a potential million miles away with Charlie.
    While Melinda, Cora, Kenzie, and Violet easily disappeared, I constantly kept reminding myself to uncross my arms so my anxiety wouldn’t be so obvious. The music bouncing from the speakers was crude and I couldn’t tell if it was supposed to match the video game on one of the larger televisions or if it was just music. I stared at the TV for a few seconds before the graphics hurt my eyes, so I walked away.
    Cora offered me her water bottle and though I was reluctant, I eventually took a swig, not feeling pressured but desperate to encompass the spontaneity I felt going on around