Chapter Two

Outside, in the bustling hallway, Karma stared up at the open door with the two faded sister sevens that sat near the top of the wooden surface as plain and unassuming as any marker ever could be. She looked down at the silver keys in her hand, the ones that would mean home from now on. For at least three months, until Christmas, this would be her home with Amy.

It was already a home much more pleasant than the one she had been used to. If Amy was there, home would mean much more to her now. They'd always wanted to lived together. Always hoped. Things had changed some time ago but there was still so much love. It was enough to make her weep with the pleasantness of it all. She was filled to the brim with the happiness of a new beginning. She wanted to kiss her but she'd have to hold back.

"Ready?" Karma asked, as Amy stepped out through the door.

"Ready," Amy said, noticing something in Karma's gaze.

Neither of them knew where Lauren had run off to. She was out of the door almost as soon as she had entered. Amy had watched her run off without so much as a nod.

Down the hall, Karma walked quickly and Amy followed. They took the stairwell down and Amy whined the whole way. Once they hit through the stairwell doors and the fresh air met them Karma felt herself breathe it in. It was college life at long last. It smelt like freedom and independence, they were alone now finally. Together but alone.

Amy looked over to where the fair was. It took up the center of the college walk. People were shouting and singing. As they got near, Amy could see a band playing off to the side with bass guitars and trumpets and a girl holding a microphone, singing as the drums pounded on. It was the first day, her very first day. She found herself wishing that all the tv shows and films hadn't been exactly right about what college did look like. Cheap plastic tables were set up every three feet and behind them all stood students of varying styles and fashions, races and sexualities, purposes and motivations. It was enough to make her scream. Amy didn't need a reminder that people were all different even though they were the same. She knew enough with just Karma. Karma was all she'd ever want, all she'd ever need.

They walked slowly towards the circus and Amy felt her stomach turn. This was everything she hated. On the other side of the coin, Karma was singing inside with the common intrigue of it all.

College courses, weird niche clubs, sororities, fraternities, diverse seminars, THIS WAS IT! The more Karma thought about it the more hungry she became. She was itching to start in the exploration that would change her for good. All through High School all she had heard from her parents was, "just wait 'til you get to college. That's where the fun begins!" It may have been cliché but she couldn't wait for it, she couldn't wait to begin.

Meanwhile, Amy trudged behind her, trying not to be seen by the weirdos behind the tables who wanted to enlist her into their little creep armies. She wasn't interested in joining anything. She was interested in being alone. While Karma had come to experience life, Amy had come to escape Bruce and Farrah. Going away to college was a gift. None of it was about learning. All of it was about the escape.

"Look at that," Karma nudged. "A club for Equestrians!" Amy hadn't been in love with horses since she was ten but Karma would never EVER let her forget it.

"Ha-ha," Amy fake-laughed. Her eyes fixed on an empty spot of grass off in the distance where it looked serene and dark and just perfect for her butt to sit down and be left alone. "I'm gonna go over there," she tried to escape.

"Ah-ah-ah. If you want ice cream you are doing this with me," Karma said, holding Amy by the crook of her arm and keeping her close.

"Hi there," a cheery voice said from off to the side. There was a girl there holding flyers. She had perfect black hair and the perfect body. She was wearing one of those shirts that was a little too tight and a little too low in the front for purely intentional reasons. Karma took one look at her and her heart skipped excitedly.

"Hi," Karma turned. Amy noticed right away that Karma also instantly dialed up her charm to catch this girl's interest. The girl looked so obvious to Amy, so lame. She was obviously part of a sorority, there was no doubt. Not only was she barbie-doll dressed, there were weird letters on her shirt, letters that could only mean one thing. It was a dead give-away and a warning sign. Amy rolled her eyes prematurely and tried to get Karma to let go of her arm but Karma was strong and she would not budge

"You seem nice." The peppy girl said.

"Yeah, I bet we do." Amy scoffed, hating every second.

"Ha! She's so funny!" Karma laughed, covering up for Amy's shit without a care. She was used to Amy trying to resist things and it didn't bother her at all to have a downer around. "I'm Karma and this is Amy."

"Karma, Amy," the girl nodded, checking them out. Amy wondered if she could tell her dimensions. That would be a creepy sorority girl thing. She looked at her skeptically as the girl pulled a pink flyer out of her stack and handed it to Karma. "Have you ever thought about joining a sorority?"

"Umm, not really," Karma confessed, looking down. Karma was actually a little scared of pledging allegiance to any one thing. Sororities always had in-fighting didn't they? She looked down at the flyer and tried to read it but Amy was fidgeting next to her. "Stop," she scolded absent-mindedly, tugging at Amy's arm. She was trying to read but it was hard with all the commotion.

"We're not joining your sorority," Amy said. She wanted the girl to walk away but the girl was in front of her table where she'd probably stay for the rest of the day. She was just standing there with her big boobs and staring at them like one of those Jehovah witness people who come to your door and never ever NEVER leave.

"I dunno Amy, this looks nice," Karma said. "They have a house and group outings and study groups and parties…" Karma obviously wasn't thinking about the things Amy would be looking for in a secret club: no members, no rules, no meetings, no problems.

"Well, if you're thinking of pledging come find me," the girl smiled. She was too pretty and Amy instantly loathed her. Pretty people were never really that nice. There had to be some catch. "Oh wait, here," the girl said, walking over to the plastic table that obviously belonged to her sorority, which was hilariously called, Delta Delta Delta, it was like they didn't even try. She took a pen from a red-solo cup and jotted down a phone number, writing her name at the top. "I'd be happy to rep for you, Karma" the girl smiled. "My name's Ray and you seem like the kind of girl we're looking for."

Amy had to stifle a laugh. Ray was looking down at Karma like Karma was fresh meat. I'd bet she'd love to reel you in, Amy thought.

"Thanks," Karma beamed. "It was great to meet you."

"Likewise," Ray said, turning back to look for others she could recruit, pretty girls who showed off their curves, wanted to get with dumb guys, and at least tried to have bubbly personalities. Also file under: girls unlike Amy Raudenfeld.

"God, that was disgusting," Amy groaned.

"She was sweet," Karma blushed, trying not to feel happy. She couldn't even pretend that she wasn't happy about all that. Amy knew.

"You seem like the kind of girl we're looking for," Amy mocked in a soft husky tone. "What the fuck does that even mean?!" Her voice snapped back to it's natural state.

"It means she liked me."

"It means she liked those," Amy laughed, pointing down at Karma's boobs.

"Stop." Karma said, pulling Amy close to her again by the elbow and straightening her out. "Can you at least be civil for like two more minutes?! These people aren't going to want me if you're rolling your eyes and insulting their organizations right to their faces."

"They'd be idiots not to want you," Amy crooned lovingly, staring over at her like she usually did. Karma watched as Amy did that thing with her eyes that made her want to kiss her and slap her all at once. She was too cute to be flirting. They had problems, this was true.

"You're the worst." Karma smiled.

"Hey, do I know you?" It was a different girl now.

Amy felt cold fingers on her arm. She looked down to see manicured nails and a very pale hand.

"I don't think so," Amy said, stopping to look. The girl had a piercing in her nose and another in her eyebrow and she had short bleached blonde hair and a very angular face. She was actually quite adorable. But Amy couldn't think about that because she was obviously being physically touched by this random stranger.

"Nah, I think I do," the girl seemed certain.

"Where would I know you from? Did you go to Hester High?"

"Nope, it's something else."

"Oh, I get it, this is how you do it. Alright, go ahead," Amy stepped back and crossed her arms. This cute girl was about to pitch something. Karma looked between them intrigued.

"No, I'm not going to give you some stupid speech. You're one of us," the girl said, moving in front of Amy and looking her right in the eyes with a sort of glee that verged on maniacal.

"Weiiiiiird," Amy said.

"Look," the girl said, taking Amy's wrist without asking and sliding her hand down over Amy's palm.

When Amy looked down she saw what looked like ink on her skin. It was a jagged black mark. It almost looked like a squiggle or a fucked-up lightning bolt that swam out of her veins if that makes any sense.

"What the fuck?!" Amy huffed. She stared for a second longer and shook her head. It didn't look as crazy now; she must've just been tired.

"See," the girl smiled, crossing her arms and wanting to laugh.

"So what," Amy was pissed. "Great job asshole, you can force temporary tattoos onto people like some fucking eight year old child?! Is that supposed to be impressive?"

"Amy, calm down," Karma said, taking her hand in her own and pulling her back to her side.

"Try to fight it, it's the truth. It's in you."

"Alright Mr. Miagi. I think that's enough out of you. Fuck off." Karma tugged at her hand and turned her around. Something about that whole encounter was odd. Amy looked back over her shoulder and noticed another girl walking over to the blonde. They whispered to one another with their eyes glued on Amy's even now. The weirdest thing was that they were the kind of girls who didn't even look like they would be friends. Amy felt herself growing paranoid. If she saw them again she might yell at them irrationally or make a scene.

"She was cute," Karma smirked.

"Shut the fuck up, Karma." Amy spat, turning back around. She hated that Karma got the peppy booby girl with the normal sorority and usual fake personality while she herself got the dark magic chick who looked like she probably ate bloody red hearts in her off hours just for kicks. It was so typical of them. They were so fucking different and they were just ALWAYS being reminded. "I can't do this anymore," Amy shrugged, wanting to cry. It was just like High School. It was all still shit. And from day one, no less.

"Okay, fine… You did better than I thought you would," Karma laughed. She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and checked the time. "Mark that down as three minutes and twenty-eight seconds."

"YOU WERE TIMING ME?!" Amy groaned.

"You get one scoop," Karma raised a single finger and wagged it before Amy's eyes. Before they left she had calculated it out. If Amy could last four minutes she was going to give her two scoops and maybe sprinkles. Four minutes would've been fine. And if Amy had any more ice cream she would feel sick almost instantly anyway. Karma knew Amy well, she knew Amy wouldn't make it to six minutes out there on the walk with the college wolves and the normals. Six minutes would've granted her the entire Ice Cream bar though. Karma would've bought her the whole world. Truth be told, she'd still rather be doing all of this with Amy. Maybe Karma had already known, even back in the dorm, that three minutes would be perfectly enough.

She smiled quite pleased with herself. She had Amy on her arm and a new number in her pocket, a potential connection, a bright life void of parents and all of her notorious Hester High mistakes.

"Fine, whatever." Amy sighed. "I hate this shit, Karma. I just got marked by a sexy blonde ninja."

"You've got a girlfriend already, it's so cute," Karma teased. "I can't wait to tell Lauren. Oh gosh, what'll she say," Karma sighed, hugging Amy's arm.

Speak of the devil, far off in the distance Amy could make out Lauren's form standing tall even though she was surprisingly short. Of course she was there too.

"You can stay if you want, I didn't mean to ruin it-"

"Shhhh," Karma smiled. "It's old hat. Everybody knows the real fun happens at the parties."

"Uggg," Amy groaned. Thinking about parties was the last thing she wanted to do.