"Should I wear the blue or the green one?" Jess held up one skirt and then the other against her hips for Becky to see.
"Depends."
"On?"
"Whether you're hoping to snag a guy tonight or not." Becky grinned. "If the answer is 'yes', then the blue, definitely the blue. Shows more of those shapely long legs of yours."
"I think I've had more than enough attention from guys around here to last me a lifetime." With a sigh, she pitched the blue skirt onto the bed.
"Oh come on, don't be such a party pooper! You never know when Mr. Right might show up. You want to be prepared."
Jess grinned in spite of herself. "Right…"
"My little brother will be there," Becky added. "He's starting in the summer quarter. Got his dorm assignment last week. I'm sure he'll be happy to protect your virtue for you." Becky crossed to the bed, picked up the skirt and waved it at her. "Come on. You know you want to."
She did like the cut of the blue better. And though she'd been very skittish for the first couple of days after the incident, she'd not seen hide or hair of Roger or his cronies outside of class. Maybe it was finally over. She took the blue skirt, dumping the green one instead. "Okay, I guess maybe I do."
"That a girl!" Becky gave her an impish smile and grabbed up the discarded skirt. "So you won't mind if I borrow this one, right?"
They both laughed.
"Say, Jess, you still spending all your free time at the library?"
"Yeah." With a small pang, she realized it might no longer be necessary for her to do that.
"Met someone there I should know about? Hm?" Becky sidled up close.
"What makes you say that?"
"Oh, I dunno." She gave Jess a coy glance. "Maybe the fact I saw you come to the end of the block with some tall fellow last night?"
Jess turned away, the question giving her butterflies for some reason. Though she recently told her roommates where she'd been spending her evenings so they wouldn't worry, she'd never once made mention of Sam. "Just a classmate. Paranoid about women walking home alone at night."
"Is that right?"
Jess turned back around and caught Becky's intrigued and knowing expression. "It's totally platonic. Study buddies, okay."
"If you say so." Becky's Cheshire cat expression said the total opposite. Oh, boy.
The door to the room opened. It was Shirl.
Becky waved her on in. "Hey, girl! Get the mail?"
Shirl put down a basket full of folded clothes by the door then scooped out several envelopes and a small package from inside it. "Sure did." She handed several of the letters to Becky. She tossed the package onto Jess's bed rather than give it to her directly. "That one's yours."
Jess tried really hard not to sigh. Damn that girl could hold a grudge. "Thanks."
Aside from her name and address, the paper wrapper of the package was unmarked. That seemed odd. Half frowning, she carefully peeled the paper away. Under it was a nondescript box that was tapped shut.
"Who's it from, Jess?" Becky threw two of her letters straight to the trash.
"Doesn't say." She stepped over to her desk to get the scissors. As she slid the blade across the top and sides, she suddenly wondered if she really wanted to open this. The only unsolicited mail she ever received had been either junk or things from Roger. One she could do little about. The other…
She set the scissors on the bed and just stared at the box, not moving to open it. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but not knowing would have had it killing itself anyway. She pulled the flaps of the box apart.
The first thing that hit her was the odd smell – acrid and repugnant mixed with something pleasant. Inside the box was a dead black bird, like the ones one saw hunting for food by the cafeteria's outside trash bins. It was lying in a bed of red rose petals, a bud pinned to the bird's neck.
Jess blinked, but what she saw didn't change.
"Oh my God!"
Suddenly both Shirl and Becky were there, both gaping in shock at the box. Jess grabbed it up and closed it.
Becky's face was twisted with disgust. "Who would send you such a thing? That's totally gross!"
Jess had a horrible feeling she knew exactly who sent it. Her mouth felt terribly dry. "I need to get rid of it." She turned away from her friend to head for the door. She had both arms around it, pressing the box hard against her chest, as if to shield others from being able to see the contents.
"What did you do?"
Shirl's unexpected shrill scream snapped Jess around.
Before she realized what was happening, the redhead was in her face, shoving her back against the wall. Though she hit it hard, she was more startled than hurt. She kept a tight grip on the box.
"What did you do?" Shirl's freckles grew dark as her face turned red with emotion.
"Girl, are you nuts? What are you doing?" Becky stared at their roommate as if never having seen her before.
Shirl grabbed Jess by the arms and shook her. "What did you do!"
Jess could only stare at her and do nothing. Someone sent her a dead bird and Shirl was going postal on her?
Becky tried to wedge herself between them. "Shirl, let go of Jess, dammit! You're acting crazy!"
Shirl turned on her, releasing Jess. "Crazy? I'm not the one that's crazy! She's the one!" She glared at Jess as if the truth should have been clearly evident.
Jess was having problems breathing, her chest unusually tight. This was all just too surreal.
"Ask her what she did to Roger to make him send that! Then we'll see who's crazy!"
The name was like a slap to the face. Jess stiffened, her vision growing sharp, the fog of the last few moments totally dissipating. "What did you say?"
Before Shirl could answer, Jess smacked her on the shoulder hard. As Shirl stumbled back a step, Jess used the box to shove her further back. "The bastard is stalking me, harassing me, sending me dead things, and all you can think about is what I might have done to him?
"Hey, you guys, what's…" The door into the room cracked open. Becky lunged at it, slamming it closed.
"Just an argument, guys. No big deal! Need privacy!" Though she sounded perfectly calm, the white around Becky's eyes was showing prominently.
Jess didn't care about any of it. Not Becky's confusion, not the outsider's curiosity, or even how Shirl's face was growing pale, tinges of fear appearing in her eyes. A cold fury twisted inside her, expanding as certain realizations came forward. "It was you, wasn't it?" She pushed Shirl with the box again, the dead bird rattling inside.
"Stop it…" Shirl hugged herself, her previous indignation drained away.
"You're the one who told him my schedule. You're the one who told him I'd been going to the library at night." Jess pushed her with the box again -- hard.
Shirl stumbled backward and landed with a thump on the floor. There was pain in her expression, but even better, rising dread.
She should have put this together sooner. How could she have been so stupid? After Becky's constant badgering, she'd finally admitted to them where she'd been going all this time. And like a good little groupie, Shirl had betrayed her and told Roger!
Her hands dented the sides of the box. She wanted nothing more than to shove it and the dead bird down the girl's throat. She shook where she stood, trying to hold back from giving in to the impulse. And she oh so wanted to give in to it.
"Jess?" Becky inched forward.
"I want you out of here. You hear me? I don't ever want to see you anywhere near me again." She dropped the box on Shirl's lap, a few red petals escaping from the sides. With a small screech, the redhead pushed the box away. "I hope the two of you do get together. You were made for each other. Now get the hell out!"
Jess reared back as if to kick her. For a long drawn out moment, she almost did. Shirl scrambled around the floor to get away from her. Throwing a frightened glance in Jess's direction, Becky grabbed the other girl and helped her to her feet, propelling her toward the door.
Jess turned away, not caring, and as calmly as she could manage, walked into the bathroom, then closed and locked the door.
She dragged herself over to the sink and turned it on. She stared at the water, not really seeing it, then dipped her hands in it and brought them up to her face. She gasped, the coolness of it against her burning skin making it tingle.
She'd been betrayed. Betrayed by someone she'd considered a friend. She'd been accused. She'd been sold out.
Jess suddenly bent over, dropping to the floor, the words feeling like punches to her gut.
An unintelligible noise escaped her throat. Then she curled up where she lay and cried.