Tiana rummaged through her bag for her keys. She had just gotten off of work less than an hour ago and desperately wanted a nap. Her hand wandered the bottom of bag until she could feel her plastic key chain. Pulling it out of the bag, she gripped the doorknob and fantasized about taking off her stuffy work clothes and burying herself under the covers. But as she opened the door, Tiana saw that this fantasy was now impossible.
"Hey, Tia" Charlotte greeted cheerfully, looking up from her magazine.
"Hey, Lottie" Tiana responded as she slung her bag from off her shoulder onto the floor.
"Hello, Tiana" greeted the impossibility from his spot next to Charlotte on her bed.
"Hi, Naveen" Tiana said flatly, kicking off her shoes onto her side of the room.
Tiana was not too fond of Naveen; he was ok, but his frequent visits to their dorm room were starting to get annoying. Tiana had not been able to nap comfortably for the past three weeks due to Naveen's presence. Try as she might, Tiana could not truly relax since having a boy in her dorm room was a bit unnerving.
"How was work, Tia?" Charlotte asked, looking over at Tiana.
"Fine" Tiana answered, sitting on her bed, taking her hair out of its tight ponytail.
Though Tiana usually discussed work with Charlotte, she felt uncomfortable talking about it in front of Naveen. And, of course, being tired, she was not in the mood for conversation.
"Well, g'night" Tiana said. Pulling her pillow over her head, Tiana sat quietly until an uneasy sleep overtook her.
Tiana and Charlotte first met Naveen before the start of the first semester. Charlotte had practically dragged Tiana to a student mixer in order to "mingle". Tiana just wanted to hang out in their new dorm room and relax, but Charlotte was not about to have any of it. Within about half an hour of pleading and puppy-dog eyes, Charlotte finally convinced Tiana to go with her the party. After an additional hour of getting ready, they finally made their way toward the recreation center.
Charlotte, who just loved to dress up for any occasion, wore a strapless, flaring pink dress while Tiana simply wore a simple powder-blue sun dress. Charlotte had nagged her about her outfit, but Tiana reminded her that she agreed to go to the party, not to get dressed up for it. Charlotte sighed and finally gave in to Tiana's stubbornness; but not before getting Tiana to agree to let her do her hair and make-up.
As they approached the student center that was decorated with streamers and balloons, Charlotte gripped Tiana's arm tightly, turned to her and said:
"Oh, Tia! Just think: this'll is our first college party!"
Tiana felt her stomach knotting up, she had never been that good at parties; she was not good with casual conversation or small talk. And she was especially afraid of dancing; she had two left feet and always ended up either tripping or stepping on other people's toes.
As the two entered, Charlotte looked around the room excitedly while Tiana seemed pensive.
I have a bad feeling about this…
