Free Accepted by Coleen Lahr

are like a family to me. Everything is perfect here." Again, I paused and looked her directly in the eyes. "Everything was not perfect in my life before here." I tried to smile but didn’t succeed, so I continued. "But that’s not my life anymore. This is , and I don’t see why I should dwell on that."
    Becca gazed at me, a sad look on her face.
    "But this isn’t a home, Ash. It’s a dorm. It’s just a bedroom with a desk. There’s no family here." She shrugged. "We can’t even stay here. They kick us out every four months."
    Like I wasn’t used to that.
    "It’s the only home I have, Becca."
    And I watched the sadness leave her face, and the pity replace it.
    "Don’t feel sorry for me, Becca. Don’t pity me." It came out harshly. "I told you. I’m happy here." And I smiled, as if to convince her I was.
    She looked back at me, a gentle look on her face, then she smiled back as if to convince me she believed me.
    I turned and began jogging again. "That’s why I don’t talk about myself."
    She just looked at me, confused.
    "The pity, Becca. You think differently of me now. You see me differently than you did an hour ago. I don’t want that."
    "Ashley, I don’t think less of you!" she exclaimed.
    "No, but you think differently." I picked up my pace.
    She dropped it and followed.
    ****
    As I was studying later that night, someone knocked on my door.
    I looked up and saw Becca standing in my doorway.
    "Hey," she said quietly.
    "Hey."
    "Can I come in?"
    Becca never asked to come into my room. She barely ever even knocked.
    "Sure." I closed my notebook. "You okay?"
    She looked serious as she stepped into the room. "Yeah. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t mad at me."
    "Of course I’m not mad at you. Why would I be mad at you?"
    Becca looked visibly relieved. She moved further into the room and leaned against Amber’s dresser.
    Then, she shrugged. "I shouldn’t have pried. I shouldn’t have pushed you…" She trailed off.
    I guess I wasn’t the only person worried about losing my friend.
    "Becca, it’s fine." I really didn’t want to talk about it anymore. "I’m not mad. I just want everything to be normal — like it was this afternoon. No different. Okay?"
    "Okay." She turned to walk out of the room but stopped. "Hey, Ash, can I ask you one more thing?"
    Oh no. What now? Waiting, I raised my eyebrows at her.
    "What’s going on with you and Colin?"
    It took a minute for Becca’s question to sink in.
    As soon as it did, I felt my entire body heat up. I mean, I must have blushed from head to toe. I knew the pink color my skin was turning would give me away, but that wasn’t going to stop me from denying any feelings.
    "What do you mean?" I was going for incredulous, but it’s possible I came across as rude. Judging from the grin creeping up the corners of Becca’s mouth, she didn’t mind.
    "I mean, what’s going on with you and Colin?" She repeated the question slowly, annunciating each syllable of each word.
    "Shh!" I jumped up and closed the door to my room. "What are you talking about?"
    She was beaming now. "Come on, Ash. It’s obvious that something’s happening between you two."
    Oh crap.
    "Obvious to who?"
    "Obvious to me."
    "And?" Please don’t say Randi. Please don’t say Randi.
    "Does anyone else matter?"
    Yes.
    "No."
    "Then, obvious to me."
    I just stared at her, my eyebrows lifted, waiting.
    She chuckled. "He’s always loitering somewhere near you anymore."
    "He is not!" I interrupted. Yeah…acting indifferent wasn’t my strong suit.
    She chuckled again. "Let me finish."
    I shut up like a good girl.
    "He’s always loitering somewhere around you. I know, I know—you have a class together, but the boy’s got four other classes, and I don’t see him following around people from those classes."
    She said it so matter-of-factly, that I had to stifle a laugh.
    "He sits next to you at every meal—well except for all the meals that the two of you have privately."
    I opened my mouth