“You told me the truth.” I gripped his hand. “I’m not going to pretend this island doesn’t freak me out … that this witch thing isn’t going to give me nightmares … and that these zombies aren’t unbelievably weird. But this is my home now, and you told me the truth.”
Galen relaxed a bit, but his eyes remained guarded. “So now what?”
“Now?” I flicked my eyes to the incredibly odd and yet romantic picnic. “Now we eat the dinner you put together and get to know one another outside of a catastrophe. After that … it’s anyone’s guess.”
Galen’s lips curved. “Seriously?”
I nodded.
“That sounds like a great plan.” Galen led me toward the blanket. “I brought pie, too.”
“Oh, who doesn’t love pie?”
“No one I would ever trust with my life … or my heart.”
At least we had that in common.
Awakening
Covenant College Book One
One
“Why is everyone naked?”
It took me a second to register the comment. It took me another second to register the comment was from my father. It took me almost a full minute to respond.
“No one is naked. They’re just not wearing shirts.”
I was hoping he wouldn’t make a big deal about this. I didn’t want to be embarrassed before I even met these people.
I could hear my dad mutter something under his breath while my mom put a hand on his arm to soothe him. I hoped that would be enough prompting. If I had to pull out the fake tears, we were all going to be upset.
I was following my parents down the fifth floor corridor of Wharton Hall – my college dorm. As an incoming freshman, this was a nerve-wracking, and exciting day for me.
It had taken a lot of effort to talk my parents into letting me stay in a co-ed dorm. If Dad had his way, he would’ve forced me into an all-girls dorm – and that would have been ugly.
Actually, my mom didn’t seem to care about the coed dorm. In fact, she’s the one who ultimately changed Dad’s mind.
“It will be safer for her to have boys around,” she’d argued. “They can walk with the girls to their night classes and even go to parties with them.”
Parties were another story, of course. Dad wanted to pretend those didn’t exist. I found that pretty funny – especially since he was reportedly banned from all the bars in our small town when he was my age because he liked to fight a little too much – and fighting for him involved throwing furniture and people through windows.
My name is Zoe Lake. I’m eighteen years old, and I’m from a very small town in Northern Lower Michigan. It has one stoplight and six bars. Yeah, you do the math.
The town was so small I graduated with fifty-two people – one of whom was my own cousin. There weren’t a lot of choices in classes, after-school activities or friends. I essentially made a choice in middle school: I was going to be popular. To achieve that goal, I aligned myself with the ‘in crowd’ for the duration of my stay in the district.
I didn’t hate my friends, I just didn’t particularly like them. I was just biding my time.
When it came time to select a college, I had a big decision to make. My grades were good enough to get me into one of the big state universities. Ultimately, though, two of my high school friends opted to go there – and I really didn’t want to go to the same school they were attending for fear I’d fall into old patterns.
I wanted to go to a school where I didn’t know anyone, hence Covenant College.
Covenant College is a mid-sized school in mid-Michigan. It’s ninety minutes away from home – too far for my parents to stop in on a whim, but close enough I can go home on weekends. Looking around at all the shirtless beefcake preening in the hall – I doubted I would want to be too close to home on weekends.
My parents stopped outside room 506 and then turned to me expectantly.
I was a little nervous, but I didn’t want them to think I was jittery in case they tried to help me make friends – like when I was in kindergarten. Instead, I took a deep breath to calm my frazzled nerves, tucked my shoulder-length blonde hair behind my ears, and opened the door.
Two girls in the common room greeted me. They were surrounded by their own belongings – which they hadn’t yet moved into the adjoining bedroom.
I took a quick glance into the bedroom, noticing no one had laid claim to a bed. Since we were freshman, we only had the two rooms and one bathroom to share. The older we got, the better the dorm-room options.
I plastered a smile on my face. Even though I was an only child, I was determined to make this work. I’d heard my parents talking when they thought I couldn’t hear them the other day. They didn’t think I was capable of getting along with others. I’d show them – or at least I’d fake it until they left.
“I’m Zoe,” I said, maneuvering around my parents.
I got a good look at the two girls. One was short and blonde like me. I’m about five feet, five inches tall and thin, without being waif-like. The first girl I focused on looked to be about five feet, three inches tall with shoulder-length blonde hair. She was a little chubbier than me, but not fat, and she had bright blue eyes. She was completely average looking. She smiled in greeting.
“I’m Brittany Hartman.”
We were college students, so we didn’t shake hands. Instead, we just exchanged tepid smiles. I could tell everyone was sizing each other up.
“This is Paris,” Brittany said, nervously gesturing to the other girl.
This girl was a lot more interesting to look at. Paris was about five feet, seven inches tall with long, brown hair, and the highest cheekbones I had ever seen on a real person (versus the pages of Vogue). She was also ridiculously pale and exotic looking.
“Hi.”
“Hi,” she said, smiling back.
My parents pulled my luggage into the middle of the room and watched me expectantly.
“What?”
“Do you want me to help you unpack?” Mom looked hopeful.
“I’m fine.”
“No, you should get unpacked right away.”
“I’m fine.” I didn’t need my mommy to help me put my clothes away. Plus, I would die if my dad saw the lingerie in my bag. He still thought I was a virgin – even though he’d found my birth control pills a few months ago and asked my mom if they were drugs.
The subject hadn’t been brought up again. I had a feeling, if he saw what was in my bag, he’d blow.
“She’s fine,” Dad warned. “They can all unpack together.”
Mom looked uncertain. I could tell she didn’t want to leave me. Ah, the burden of being an only child.
“We should just get her settled … .” Mom bit her lower lip.
Dad was warily eyeing the shirtless boys in the hall who were showing an overt interest in Paris and me as they copped an occasional glance. “No, we’re going. I want to get home in time to get some yard work done.”
Mom must have decided it wasn’t worth a fight. She moved in to give me a hug, even though I’m often uncomfortable with the gesture. I figured it would get her out of here quicker though, if I reciprocated.
Dad and I don’t really hug. Instead, he handed me a fistful of cash. “If you need anything for the room, charge it on your credit card. I mean anything.”
I smiled, thanking him.
My parents were gone pretty quickly. I didn’t follow them out in the hall to watch them leave. I was close enough to home that I’d be seeing them regularly. Plus, I didn’t want to see if my dad punched any of the boys loitering in the hallway as he departed.
After they were gone, I turned to Paris and Brittany expectantly. “So we don’t know who else is in here with us?”
“No,” Paris said. “We were going to wait until everyone was here to choose beds, but I’m ready to start putting stuff together.”
“Me, too,” I agreed. “If she doesn’t like what bed she gets, tough. She should have gott
en here sooner.”
Paris couldn’t help but smile. I could tell she was thinking the same thing. For her part, Brittany still looked doubtful.
“Come on,” I prodded her. “It will be fine.”
We all left our stuff in the common room – which was sparsely furnished with four desks and nothing else. We all wandered into the bedroom and looked at each other expectantly.
“Anyone have any preference?” Paris asked.
I jumped right in. “I’d prefer a top bunk.” I’m not shy – and we were going to be stuck with these beds for nine months.
“I’d prefer a bottom bunk,” Paris said. “Why don’t we take the beds on the right?”
“Sounds good to me.”
We both turned and looked at Brittany. “You can pick whichever bed you want.”
Even though she was still nervous, Brittany ultimately took the top bunk on the left side of the room near the window.
Paris and I were both eyeing the room with the same idea. Paris voiced it first. “If we move the beds end to end against the far wall, we can fit all four desks in here, too. That would allow us to make the main room just for entertainment.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” I said enthusiastically.
“What if the other girl doesn’t like that idea?” Brittany was going to be a pain. I could tell right away. She needed to loosen up – and quick.
“She’ll live.”
Paris laughed and nodded.
We immediately got to work. With all three of us working, it didn’t take long to get things in shape. Paris and I already had our beds made, including alarm clocks and fans in place, while Brittany was still trying to find her sheets. It didn’t surprise me when she pulled out a boring set of floral bedding. I’d bought Star Wars sheets and Paris had a tie-dyed set.
Paris and I each hauled in our suitcases and started to unpack. There were two different closets, one on each side of the room. Paris and I took the one closet and quickly managed to stow all of our clothes without a problem. Ironically, we had a lot of the same shoes. Converse had obviously made a lot of money off the two of us.
When we were finished, Brittany was still working on making her bed. I wanted to laugh at her attempt to do hospital corners, but I let it go. I didn’t think this was the best way to create harmony in the room.
Paris and I walked out into the common room and looked around. Luckily, Paris had the foresight to bring a television – but other than that, we had no furniture.
“Want to go shopping?”
“Will your dad mind?”
“No. He expects it.”
“Maybe we should wait and see what our other roommate brings?” Brittany said.
That was probably a good idea, so Paris and I sat down on the floor in the main room to get to know one another. Brittany remained unpacking in the bedroom, but she answered whatever questions we tossed her way.
In short order, I found out that Brittany was an only child like me, but Paris was one of ten kids who ranged in age from thirty to five. I figured her parents must have been busy. They sounded like free-love hippies, though. I was cautiously optimistic that Paris and I would be good friends.
About two hours into the conversation, the door of our room opened and a redheaded girl stood uncertainly in the doorway.
“Hi,” I greeted her warmly, introducing myself to her. Paris followed suit. For her part, Brittany seemed to be hiding in the bedroom. I guess she was worried there might be some sort of fallout from the whole bed thing.
“I’m Tara,” the redhead said, pulling a suitcase behind her.
“We already picked beds,” I offered. I didn’t offer to change the situation if she didn’t like it. I wasn’t feeling that magnanimous.
“That’s fine,” she said. “I’m not picky.”
Brittany seemed to visibly relax in the doorway when she heard that and quickly showed Tara what we’d done with the bedroom.
“That’s a great idea,” Tara said looking around. “You guys have done a lot of work.”
“It really wasn’t that much work,” I answered. “It just seemed to make more sense to do it now rather than wait until we’d all made our beds and everything.”
Tara agreed. She started unpacking her stuff right away. She didn’t seem to have a problem fitting in with everyone else. Despite Brittany being uptight, I didn’t think this was a bad room configuration -- as far as personalities went anyway.
Everyone continued to gossip.
Brittany, it turns out, was from a high-class portion of Oakland County (a suburb of Detroit). Paris was from a small town about an hour north of the city and Tara was from a minuscule town about an hour east of Covenant College. We all had vastly different backgrounds, I noticed. I guess that’s what college is about, though.
Tara was still seeing her high school boyfriend and he lived back home – so she said she’d probably be spending a lot of her weekends back with her parents so she could see him. I couldn’t help but wonder how long that would last – but I wisely kept my mouth shut.
Paris also had a boyfriend. He was at Covenant, though, and he was two years older than us. I figured that was going to make getting beer so much easier.
I then told them about my boyfriend, Will. Will and I had been together since I was fourteen years old. He was from a small town about fifteen minutes from the town I had grown up in. It had two stoplights. He was going into his junior year at Covenant. If I’m being truthful, that’s probably another reason I opted for Covenant – I just didn’t want him to know that.
Despite the fact that we’d been together for four years, Will and I had taken a pragmatic approach to our relationship. We were together, but we weren’t fanatical about it when I was still in high school and he was in college. I had a feeling he’d had a few flings – but I really didn’t want to know about them. For my part, I’d taken a good friend to prom and there might have been a little messing around. Nothing major, though.
When I told Will that I would be going to Covenant, he was excited. We’d agreed that we were going to give monogamy a shot. I figured we’d start that tomorrow. I was kind of interested in meeting the guys out in the hallway.
I opened the door – figuring if anyone wanted to meet us, this was the way to go about the process -- and Paris pulled out a deck of cards.
“You know how to play euchre?”
I smiled. I knew I was going to like Paris.
Brittany and Tara had finished unpacking at this point. It may have been uneventful, but it was the perfect night of bonding.
If this is college, I thought, then this is going to be a great year.
I couldn’t know how truly wrong I would be.
Two
The next morning I didn’t wake up until almost 11 a.m. I felt Paris stir in the bottom bunk about the same time consciousness claimed me. Our late night gab session had gone until almost 3 a.m. – but it had been a great way for all of us to get to know one another.
I rolled over and saw that Brittany was not only up but had made her bed. I hoped she didn’t expect the same from me. I had no intention of making my bed again until I returned home in the spring. I couldn’t see into the bottom bunk, but I had a feeling Tara was up, too. It looked like Paris and I were going to be the late sleepers.
I climbed out of the bunk, muttering something unintelligible to Paris as I moved toward the door into the common room – which was shut. Paris responded with something equally as garbled. Somehow I was getting the impression that the right side of the room was going to be grumpy in the morning. That was fine by me. The less someone talked to me when I first got up, the better.
When I went into the empty common room, I noticed that neither Brittany nor Tara were there. I couldn’t muster up the energy to care as I climbed into the shower – where I let the never-ending stream of scalding water wake me up for the next twenty minutes. When I exited the bathroom, Paris went in behind me and closed the door. We still hadn’t exch
anged morning pleasantries.
I went back into the bedroom to dress and put my makeup on. I dried my hair and hastily tied a purple bandana over it as I donned a tank top and cutoffs.
Paris took less time to get ready than I did – and I couldn’t help but be a little jealous at how good she looked even though she hadn’t put on a stitch of makeup or done her hair.
“Want breakfast?” One of us had finally spoken.
“Sure,” I answered. “Although, it’s technically lunch now.”
We made our way down to the main floor. Our dorms were on the fifth floor and we both wordlessly took the stairs down. I had a feeling it would be a different situation when it came time to climb back up – but that was something I’d tackle later.
When we reached the dining area, we both handed our school IDs over to the girl at the door. She swiped them through the machine without even bothering to look up at us and make sure our faces matched our pictures. I guess lunchroom fraud wasn’t a big deal.
Once inside the cafeteria, Paris and I both plodded to the line to check out the food situation. You hear horror stories about college food – but it looked pretty good to me. I settled for chicken fingers and fries. I noticed Paris got the same thing. I was glad to see she wasn’t a health nut.
Once we both had our trays, we turned to decide where to sit.
“Paris, Zoe, over here.”
We both turned to see Brittany and Tara seated at a table a few feet away. We made our way to the table and sat down with them.
“We were wondering if you two were going to ever get up,” Brittany’s voice was like nails on a chalkboard. That was definitely a sound I wasn’t going to want to hear when I had a hangover.
Tara seemed to read my mind because she hid her smirk behind a cup of coffee. Rather than saying something snarky, I shoved the straw from my pop into my mouth instead. It was too early to be bitchy.
“Did you sleep well?” Brittany was not to be deterred.
Witchy Dreams Page 104