Forsaken (5 page)

              The door flew open and a petite girl with chunky layers of red, blonde, and brown hair stood before us.  “Hey Kira!” Not waiting on an answer, she turned her attention to me, “And you must be our new roomie! Willow! Carmen!  She’s here!” She wrapped me in a bear hug, and then motioned for us to come inside.  Two more girls walked into the room.

“Look
guys, she’s here!” She was practically jumping up and down with excitement.

             
“You’ll have to excuse Phoebe. She forgot to take her meds today,” the dark haired girl joked, as she collapsed dramatically onto the couch and took a big gulp of Gatorade. 

Phoebe
shot her a look and rolled her eyes. “That’s Carmen, she’s just mad cause I beat her at tennis on the Wii today.”  Then she whispered loud enough for everyone to still hear, “I’ve got a wicked back hand.” Glancing over at the girl on the couch, she stuck out her tongue.

“I’m Willow
,” the third girl gave me a very genuine smile.

             
“I’m Anastasia; it’s nice to meet you.” I returned her smile.  The second I said my name, the other two girls quit arguing and looked at me the same way Kira had earlier.  Feeling extremely awkward, I continued, “But you can call me Stasia.”

             
Willow recovered first. “Welcome to Lorelei, Stasia, we’re really happy you’re here.”

             
Kira squeezed my shoulder and turned towards the door. “You girls help Stasia get settled in and I’ll stop by tomorrow to see how things are going, okay?” She gave me a wink.  After she left, I turned and looked at my new suitemates.  They couldn’t have been more different.

             
Phoebe was no taller than 5’1, and her tri-colored hair matched the rest of her rocker girl style. She was wearing gray skinny jeans, red Converse sneakers, and a vintage AC/DC t-shirt. Her hunter green eyes were on the smaller side, and they crinkled up when she laughed. Her smile was infectious and could brighten an entire room.  Willow lived up to her name as she floated into the kitchen in a white strapless sundress with lace trim, bare feet, and unruly, wavy blonde hair braided down her back.  Wisps of hair feathered out around her round face, framing her full lips and big blue eyes.  Her demeanor was very calming and put you at ease right away.   Carmen’s Brazilian descent was evident in her dark features and long legs.  Her deep brown eyes shined with confidence and her mouth seemed to be stuck in a permanent smirk.   She gave off a distinct aura of attitude.  Her dark chestnut hair was piled on top of her head in a loose bun, and she was still lounging on the couch in yoga pants and tank top.

             
Phoebe’s slender hand slid into mine. “Come on, I’ll show you your room!  You get to share a bathroom with me!” She pulled me farther into my new home.  The common room was like an apartment, with a small galley kitchen on the right that opened up to the rest of the room via a bar with four wooden stools.  A small table sat in the space between the kitchen and living room, but I could tell they never used it by the amount of books and papers piled on top of it. The living room had a comfortable-looking cream-colored couch decorated with fluffy turquoise pillows, a cream and turquoise striped love seat and two recliners, which all encircled a wooden coffee table.  A flat screen TV like the ones downstairs hung on the wall and glass French doors that led out to a balcony facing the ocean.  There were four bedrooms, two on each side of the common room.  Phoebe opened one of the doors and my jaw dropped.

             
“We did a little decorating,” Phoebe said sheepishly. She launched herself onto the bed in a flurry of giggles, sat Indian style and waited for my reaction.  The queen size bed was covered by a white down comforter and at least ten pillows of different sizes and shapes. A long wooden dresser with a mirror stood opposite the bed and an armoire towered in the corner.  A big, blue shag carpet rug decorated the floor. Behind the bed, hung three large picture frames with the words Live, Love, and Laugh written in swirling letters.  Everything was decorated in light blue, silver, and white.  There was a small closet and another door that led into the bathroom I’d be sharing.

“So
what do you think?” I could tell the suspense was literally killing her.

             
“I absolutely love it!” She jumped off the bed and gave me another quick hug.  Over her shoulder, I spotted my luggage in the corner, waiting to be unpacked.  I couldn’t believe how amazing my new home was.  I was expecting a cramped dorm room with maybe a mini fridge.  This rocked.

             
“I picked out the comforter!” Carmen yelled from the other room.  I could tell her attitude was really just a cover for the very caring, sweet person she really was on the inside.  It made me wonder what happened in her life to cause her to build walls around her heart, too.

             
“You guys are too much, honestly, this is amazing.” I addressed all of them with gratitude.  Phoebe beamed with pride.  I looked at her, slightly perplexed by how very normal she seemed as well. 

             
“Everybody here seems so normal.  So…what brought you here?” I hoped the question wasn’t too personal, but she gave me an equally perplexed look and frowned.

             
“The same thing that brings everybody here, silly,” she replied.  Before she could continue she sniffed the air and her green eyes lit up with mischief. I did the same, hoping I remembered my deodorant this morning, but the rich, sweet smell of cake filled my nose, instead.

             
“Hey Carmen, what time is it?” Phoebe shouted into the other room.  I could hear the delightful anticipation in her tone.

             
“Smells like….cupcake thirty!” Carmen called back to her. Willow snickered from the kitchen.

             
“Cupcake thirty?” I questioned Phoebe, but she just licked her lips and dragged me up to the bar.

             
“Willow’s our baker and cook all in one” She announced proudly and pulled out a stool for both of us.

             
“Same thing, Phoebs.” Carmen pulled up a stool, too.  She pulled her hair back, as if preparing for an eating contest.  Phoebe unfolded a napkin and tucked it in the collar of her shirt, creating a make shift bib.  I was half expecting them to grab their forks next and start beating them on the counter chanting ‘we want cupcakes’.  I could tell I was going to enjoy living with these girls.  If nothing else, they were entertaining.

             
“No they aren’t, a baker
bakes
things, a cook
cooks
things.  Duh.” Phoebe and Carmen started arguing and I peeked up at Willow, who was in the process of taking the cupcakes out of the pan and spreading on icing.  She shook her head at the other two with a disapproving frown and handed me the first cupcake.

             
“Go ahead and add referee to that list,” she said warily, then spoke up to interrupt Phoebe and Carmen “I’m gonna give these cupcakes to our best friends next door if you two don’t stop,” she threatened, and by the way she said it I can tell by best friends, she meant the complete opposite.  Carmen and Phoebe shot Willow mock looks of horror, then grinned, and stole a couple of cupcakes each. 

             
Phoebe bit down into one. “No way am I letting any of these cupcakes get wasted on those hateful be-otches,” she huffed through a mouthful.

             
“These are really good,” I complimented Willow, as I took another bite of the red velvet cupcake with cream cheese icing. “So I take it I won’t be getting a welcome basket from our neighbors?”

             
“Not unless it has poison in it,” Phoebe made a face normally reserved for spiders or snakes. “I swear they are pure evil.”

             
“Definitely evil,” Carmen agreed, “but it was pretty funny when Olivia got pinched by that crab yesterday.  It’s bad when the wildlife don’t even like you.” She giggled and raised her dark eyebrows at Phoebe.

             
Phoebe put her icing-covered hands up in defense. “I promise I had nothing to do with it.  Seriously!”

             
Willow grinned, showing her dimples, “Uh huh, likely story, Phoebs.”

             
Before I could figure out how in the world Phoebe would be able to make a crab attack someone, a yawn fought its way out of me, and I felt the exhaustion of the day hit me like a sledgehammer.

             
“Oh Stasia, I bet you’re exhausted!” Phoebe said sympathetically, “Plus you need to get your sleep.  We’re going out to the beach tomorrow.  Only two more days until classes start, so we have to take advantage of every minute of freedom.”

             
I said goodnight to my new roommates and headed to my unbelievably awesome bedroom.  I shut the door and smiled as a renewed sense of hope filled my heart.  The House of Lorelei already felt like home. 

~Ӂ~

The next morning, I woke to the aroma of sizzling bacon and singing.  I didn’t know if I’d call it singing, however, more like nails on a chalkboard.  I threw on some sweats and peeked out of my bedroom door.  Phoebe was sitting on the couch listening to an IPod with her hands in what could only be described as a portable sandbox.  I could tell it was a type of pottery shaped in a square, completely filled with sand.  Maybe everyone there was two fries short of a Happy Meal, after all.

             
I walked out into the living room and noticed Willow working her magic in the kitchen.   The sight of scrambled eggs, bacon, and cheese grits cooking on the stove had my mouth watering.  I was going to get spoiled if she kept this up.  Right when I sat down at the bar, a very irritated looking Carmen came out of her room and scowled at Phoebe.

             
“Somebody find that dying animal and put it out of it’s misery before I jump off the balcony.”  She took one of the ear buds out of Phoebe’s ear, “Hey Taylor Swift, give it a rest.”  Instead of a witty comeback, Phoebe put the ear bud back in, blew a kiss at her, and started singing louder.  Deciding it wasn’t worth it, Carmen took a seat beside me. A couple of minutes and one song later, Phoebe snuck up behind us, planted a kiss on each our cheeks, and then hopped up onto the stool on my other side.  She still had a thin layer of sand coating her small hands.

             
“Man, I’m starving!  Shaping sand really works up an appetite,” she sighed dramatically and propped her elbows up on the bar.  Yep, definitely a couple fries short.

             
After filling my stomach with a five star breakfast a-la-Willow, I was sporting a light pink bikini beneath a white, cotton cover up and we were on our way down to the beach.  I was a little nervous, knowing the whole school would probably be out there, too.  But, at least I had three new friends to lessen the anxiety…three very tan and very in-shape new friends, to be exact.  Seeing Phoebe’s perfectly sculpted figure in a silver Roxy bikini, I decided I definitely needed to do some shopping.  Glancing at Carmen, who resembled a Hawaiian tropic model in her red bikini, I decided some sit ups wouldn’t hurt either.

Outside the sun was shining and the breeze picked up the smells of the beach as it swirled around us.  The aroma of tanning lotion and saltwater assaulted my senses, making me smile.  There were people playing beach volleyball, groups of girls laying out, and groups of guys watching the groups of girls laying out.  The tide was on the way in and the waves were dotted with surfers.  We found a clear spot on the sand and put down a soft cotton blanket that held all four of us. 

             
“It doesn’t get any better than this,” Willow breathed and slathered some SPF 30 on her pale skin.  I was about to agree when a group of guys ran by us carrying surfboards, throwing up sand with their feet on the way to the ocean.

             
“Hey!  Watch where you’re going!” Carmen shouted and wiped sand out of her dark eyes.  They just kept running and I couldn’t help but admire the view.  Tan and shirtless, with swim trunks hanging low on their hips, they made it to the water, and immediately jumped on their surfboards and started paddling out.  They all had very dark hair.  Not one of them had brown or blonde hair.  I wondered if they were all related somehow.

             
“I’d like to watch where they’re going for sure,” Phoebe told Carmen and winked a green eye at me.  “Carmen, on the other hand, only has eyes for Logan.” She started making kissing noises and Carmen threw a stray seashell at her.

             
“Is that your boyfriend?” I asked Carmen.

             
“She wishes,” teased Phoebe.

             
“Whatever, Logan can’t stop drooling over Cassie long enough to notice anybody else,” Carmen sighed and laid back down. “I’m so over it.”

             
“You’re imagining things. He’s definitely into you, not Cassie,” Willow commented, as she put on some light white Wayfarer sunglasses and a straw hat.             

             
“Yeah, it’s just hard to tell because Cassie throws herself at anything that walks,” agreed Phoebe.  She turned her attention to me. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get to meet Cassie soon enough. We have the pleasure of living beside her, Olivia and the other two evil queens.”