“You’re going where?”

Quinn was digging through her dresser drawers looking for something to wear. She wasn’t about to go fancy, but she also didn’t want to appear overly casual.

“Zeta’s party,” she mumbled into the previously folded now massacred clothes.

“You’re going to a party. With a boy.” Harmony was sitting on her bed staring at Quinn in disbelief. Her boyfriend Lars was sitting on her bed leaning back against the wall not paying an ounce of attention because he was stoned out of his gourd.

Harmony was a liberal arts major who had a penchant for crystals, mandalas, and massive amounts of pot. At least they had negotiated to edibles while Quinn was in the room. She was all for a good party but she didn’t need to be high while she was trying to study.

“Technically, yes I am.” Quinn moved from the dresser to the closet. Flipping through her hangers, she didn’t like anything she saw.

“A date, you’re going on a date!”

“I am not! You know I don’t date. I’m going with him because his younger brother is going and he said he’d come to the rally on Friday and bring friends. We need all the support we can get.”

“Sure, not a date. Then why don’t you just wear what you have on? Or is it not “datey” enough?”

“Harmony, you aren’t helping. Why don’t you make sure Lars is still breathing over there.”

“He’s cool. So who is this guy? I’ve never known you to be interested in anybody. Well, except your English Lit professor, but we all had a crush on him.”

Quinn did not want to think about Mr. Mason. He was young, hung, and every college girl’s naughty fantasy. He mysteriously disappeared after freshman year. She was sure there was a story there.

Grabbing a few items, she went to her bed and pulled off her shirt, not caring that Lars would see her in her bra. He was so high he probably was seeing pink bunnies hopping around the room right now.

“I just don’t want to be wearing the smelly, burger residue clothes from before. He’ll think I don’t regularly shower or something. I need to be comfortable, warm, but still…cute.”

“Hah, cute! You do like him. I’m going to mark this day in my calendar. Quinnlynn Sutter is going on a date.”

“Not a date! Just a…thing. Argh, why don’t I have anything to wear?”

“Because all your clothes are black, brown, or gray. And any t-shirt you own has an obnoxious saying on it or a band nobody has heard of.”

That was actually pretty accurate. Dark colors were an unofficial uniform in college. It made laundry easier when you couldn’t immediately see stains. She hated laundry; it was the one thing she wished her mom was still around to do.

Stripping off her jeans, she pulled on a pair of dark brown tights that would be thick enough to keep her warm but not suffocating. She pulled on a gray ribbed skirt that stopped at her knees and was tight and clingy. Digging through the pile on her bed of discarded clothes, she found a black tank top with spaghetti straps that she tugged over her head. Looking around she saw her brown v-neck cardigan that she’d found at a secondhand store and added that. It looked like something Mr. Rogers would wear, but was still cool.

Finishing off her outfit with a pair of light brown booties, she threw her hands out at Harmony. “Well?”

“Monochromatic, but still cute. You may need to invest in some colors for your wardrobe. Your hair can’t be your only expression of non-earth tone colors.

That reminded Quinn, turning to the mirror on the wall; she pulled a flower studded headband off a line of tacks from the wall. Finding her pomade, she dabbed a bit into her hands and rubbed it into hair, letting her pink tips point whichever way they wanted. It was the easiest hairstyle considering you always looked like you had just woken up from a too long nap.

“Better?” she asked, turning to her roommate.

“Now you look like you are going on a date. Who cares? Have fun, be smart. You seem to like this guy a lot.”

Grabbing her eyeliner and lip gloss, she touched up her minimal makeup from before. “I’m not sure what to think. He makes me… giddy. I hate even saying it! It’s physical, like my skin tingles when I’m near him. Isn’t that strange? I’ve heard it before, butterflies in the stomach... I think I even giggled a few times. I’d be kicked out of the radical women’s group if they saw me letting him carry my books! It was like a joke, or like I was being tested. He bought my lunch. I think he wanted to hold my hand. Like tiptoeing through the tulips, holding my hand.”

“He sounds sweet. What’s wrong with any of those things?”

“I’m a strong capable woman that can carry my own bags, pay for my own meals, and walk without someone holding me up.”

“Dude… when a guy likes you he wants to protect you, take care of you. Let him.”

Both women turned to look at Lars who had just decided to join the conversation.

“Isn’t that just a little archaic? Quinn asked.

“No man. This dude doesn’t want to bonk you over the head and drag you around by your hair. He wants to, you know, like hunt a sabertooth and bring it home for some good eats. He’ll chop down a tree so you stay warm and make sure you get the best furs. He likes you and trusts you. I bet he just wants to, you know, keep you safe in his cave.”

Harmony let out a snort. “Fuck me, he said cave. How do you manage to form thoughts when you’re this high?”

“It brings clarity, man. I can see the future if I want to,” he said slowly.

“Okay Gandalf, what do you see as my future?” Quinn asked, propping her hands on her hips.

Lars held his hands up to his forehead. He started making a humming noise. “I see you, cave dude, babies, and trees for some reason.” He opened his eyes and shook his head. “That was kind of trippy.”

Quinn stared at him while she tried to control her emotions. Did he say trees and babies? What the hell was that about? She hadn’t said his name, so they couldn’t know what his family did. Either Lars was just lucky, or THC had made him clairvoyant.

“I think I need to leave, like now,” Quinn said, grabbing her small purse and slinging it over her sideways.

“Should we not wait up?” Harmony asked wiggling her eyebrows.

“I think that I will be back at a reasonable hour and that if you want we can watch the evening news together.”

“You can’t even say that with any kind of conviction. Have fun, enjoy yourself, don’t put your drink down unattended. Live a little, you know. Have fun, act your age?” Harmony was nice, if a little flaky, but she was right. If it wasn’t for her, Quinn would be spending her last year in college with her nose in a book and a cup-of-noodles in her hand.

“Okay, but just so you know, his name is Rainier Rochon, he’s got brown hair, brown eyes, and is a little over six feet. We are going to Zeta house and if I go missing, have them start searching for my body there.”

“Dude, that’s not cool,” Lars interjected.

“No, it’s not cool, but it seems to keep happening. I’m smart, but I imagine those girls that have gone missing were smart too. Best to take every precaution.”

“I think you’ll be okay and have a great evening. Go, Cinderella, before your coach turns into a pumpkin and you end up coming home with nothing but an uncomfortable shoe and a couple of rats.”

Quinn gave herself another glance in the mirror and left the room. She made it down to the lobby and walked out to the square. She told Rain that she would meet him there, and she wasn’t surprised to see him walking towards her building.

“And just where do you think you’re heading?” she asked as she got closer.

“I was coming to pick you up. I might have casually asked around and found out where you lived. I was going to still wait outside for you. I just didn’t want you walking in the dark by yourself.”

She looked at him carefully while he spoke. He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans that looked expensive. A pair of casual boots that were covered by the cuffs of his pants. Those looked expensive too. He had on a collared shirt that had a very small check pattern to it. Over that he had a more formal looking pea coat. All in all, he looked like he had stepped out of the pages of a men’s magazine. He was handsome enough to be a model.

The best looking thing about him was his smile. His eyes were glistening as he stared at her. She could even go as far as to say they were sparkling.

“Don’t you look fancy,” she commented, gesturing towards his outfit.

“I don’t know about fancy. You, on the other hand, look stunning.”

Glancing down at herself she looked back at him. “I can at least say everything I’m wearing is clean. I’m not much for party clothes, never really had a need for them.”

“That’s a shame. You should have a closet full of party clothes. Of course with my family, party clothes is whatever you’re wearing when someone announces that they’re having a party.”

Rain reached for her hand and without thinking, she took it. Her first reaction when their skin touched was to pull back. The next reaction was that she never wanted to let go. His hand was large and warm. It engulfed hers and made her feel protected. Quinn didn’t know if she liked that feeling at all. There was nothing that she needed to be protected from, but the feelings were still there. She chose to keep holding his hand as they walked, letting the comforting sensation wash over her.

“Do you have a lot of spur of the moment partying habits?”

“At home yes. There’s always someone’s birthday, anniversary, or minor accomplishment to celebrate. So, I think we should drive, I brought my brother and he somehow found a date. I left them in the car fighting over the stereo. And I’ll say this, whatever my brother does or says, I’m going to apologize for it right now.”

Quinn laughed, she had always wished she had a sibling. Someone to hang out with, another person to share her happiness and her sorrows with, someone to back you up when things got rough. She had kept a lot of her feelings from her mom so that she wouldn’t add to her burden. What would it be like to have that person in her life to talk to, tell all her secrets too?