Dallas (Time for Tammy Book 1)

Chapter 2: Don't You AIM?

"No. No, I'm not with you at all." Glossy Hair turned sideways to glare at the hisser and I could see it was definitely a boy. I silently agreed with him as I took stock of the half-erased mosaic on the whiteboard.

After that gem of a class let out, I walked toward the campus's only cafeteria. I had been living on the cereal and milk my parents had bought before they skipped town, and hadn't actually been to the cafeteria yet. I was afraid I wouldn't have anyone to sit with. Simple statistics—the fact that I had two roommates—would conclude I should always have someone to eat with, but Linda and LaVerne, my supposed-to-be-automatic-lunch-companions had been absent for every meal. And the necessities of being out of milk and a growling stomach were forcing me to go it alone.

My initial impression was it wasn't the Troll Cave I had feared. The rectangular building was made of glass on two sides, which caused light to filter throughout the room. It was slightly crowded, but food and table-wise there were a lot of different options. I filled my tray with a veggie burger, fries, and a diet pop and then contemplated where to sit. I cast my eyes quickly around the cafeteria, conscious of the way I held my tray. I couldn't wait too long or people would figure out I didn't have anyone to eat with.

I spotted the red-haired girl from the complex party, the one who wanted to pull out the stereo cord. She sat at a four-top table with a mousy-looking girl who seemed familiar. The Mouse didn't look my way while the other girl gave me the evil eye as I approached.

"Is anyone sitting here?" I asked. The problem with a four-top was that it was exclusive. If they were expecting more than one more person, perhaps someone whose roommate actually deigned to accompany them, my presence would be unwanted.

But the red-haired girl slid her tray over and gestured toward one of the empty seats.

I arranged my tray and prepared to introduce myself, but neither girl made eye contact with me. The mousy girl stared at her food without eating it, and the other girl shoveled food into her mouth while furtively scanning the tables around us. I started inhaling my food. I didn't want them to finish their lunch and then get up and leave me at the table alone.

A new tray landed loudly on our table as a guy sat down in the chair across from me without asking if it was occupied. All three of us gaped at the newcomer. He didn't look like a typical college freshman. He had a shaved head, a full grown beard, and looked, well, manly. He didn't introduce himself either. I was starting to get the feeling social norms didn't apply to the students of Eckhart College. I continued to hurriedly spoon food by the forkful into my mouth, spurred on by the scowl that never left the newcomer's face.

In the middle of my last bite of veggie burger, the man threw down his fork, causing the other girls and I to jump. "It's too loud in here for me to eat." He glared at each of us in turn, as if, despite the fact we had been sitting in silence for the past ten minutes, that was somehow our fault. He picked up his tray, threw it onto the conveyor belt behind him and headed out of the cafeteria.

"What was that all about?" I asked the other girls, stunned enough to end my silence.

"I don't know," the red-haired girl replied, staring out toward the cafeteria exit. "But I think I just fell in love."

"I'm Tammy," I told her, sensing a change from her earlier mood.

"Jane. What country do you think that guy was from?"

"I heard he was from Trinidad. He's on the basketball team and he's like 25," the other girl said.

I learned two things from the remainder of that first lunch. One, stated matter-of-factly from Jane, was that she and the mousy girl—Pam—were roommates. The other was implied: that in the tiny, 1500-student college we now attended, gossip flowed freely, and Jane's new roommate was a rumor spreading center.

I placed my tray on the rack in tandem with Pam's full tray and Jane's empty one.

"Well, I'll see you guys later, I guess," I told them as we headed out of the cafeteria.

"Aren't you going back to the dorm?" Pam asked.

I nodded.

"We are too." Instead of turning left toward every other dorm on campus, they were following me, meaning they were also heading back to my complex.

"Are you guys from Alpha?"

"Duh," Jane said. "We live in your dorm."

"Oh."

"But we're upstairs, so that's why you don't recognize us."

I shrugged. "I don't really recognize anyone."

"Don't you AIM?" Pam the Mouse asked.

"Aim for what?"

"No. AIM stands for AOL Instant Messenger. I met all kinds of people online before I came here."

"No. I don't AIM," I told her as we reached Gandhi.

"Oh," she said, heading up the outside stairs. "I guess that means you will have to meet people the old-fashioned way."

Jane rolled her eyes as her roommate entered the dorm. "Don't mind her. She's from Wisconsin."

"I'm from the Midwest too. Michigan."

"Oh. Never been to either," Jane sat down on the same picnic table from last night, only this time she sat on the top of it. "I'm from Rhode Island." She emphasized the I, as in 'Eye-land.' "What's your major?"

"Marine biology."

"You're one of them?" She looked me up and down. "I didn't think you were."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you know half of our incoming class is a marine bio major?"

I shook my head as she continued. "Yeah, the dropout rate is something like 80%. I heard they give you guys really bad classes to make you change your major right away."

I thought back to my Bunsen-from-the-Muppets-like marine invertebrate professor. "Not me. I've wanted to be a marine biologist forever...what are you majoring in?"

"Pre-med."

Now it was my turn to eye her up and down. She was a few inches taller than me and much more slender. Her red hair was pulled back off her face, revealing a high forehead and liquid brown eyes framed by pale lashes. She looked too elegant to be pre-med, but of course I didn't say that to her. "I didn't even know they had pre-med here."

"Yeah, well, they have to have other majors. What are all the people who drop out of marine bio going to change to?"

"Probably not pre-med."

"Right." She hopped down off the picnic table. "I gotta get ready for my afternoon class."

"Have fun!" I replied in a too-bright voice.

"Yeah. And good luck with the marine bio thing."

The disappointment mounted as she started walking toward the stairs. I was really hoping Jane might have become a friend.

"Hey, Tammy." I looked above me. Jane leaned over the balcony leading to the second floor of Gandhi. "What time do you usually eat dinner?"

"Whenever," I told her, forgoing to mention I hadn't officially eaten dinner in the cafeteria.

"Do you want to meet at 5:15 and we'll go together?"

I forced my facial muscles to remain flat. "Sure."

She went into the dorm as my smile broke free. I finally had a dining companion!