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The three of them were sisters from different misters, and even though they drove Holly crazy, she wouldn’t replace her friends with any other roommates. She shooed them out the door and then turned back to the closet to prepare for the wintery air.
Her morning routine included caking herself in sunscreen—a necessity not only for her fair skin, but also to keep her damaged skin from darkening—and grabbed her jacket, gloves, and scarf, then bundled up. Logan, Utah was one of the most beautiful places Holly had ever lived. Her dad was military and had dragged their family across the US, but none of the places had felt like home the way Logan did. Utah was one of the few states her family had never been transferred to, and Holly had decided to call it her home.
After slipping on the boots she’d left outside the door, since they’d been caked with snow, she headed down the stairs and to the right where the office was. Holly stopped short when she saw the “be back in thirty minutes” sign. She sighed and headed to Aimee’s car. Even though Diane had a car, she rarely drove it. Instead, she biked everywhere because she wanted to—or because she was crazy. Logan Canyon was always windy and cold. But Holly had never owned a pair of wheels in her life, including a bicycle, and she preferred walking. Only after arriving at college and seeing more of the world did she realize how much she’d missed during her childhood.
A familiar face came walking toward her, but as always, Holly ducked her head and steadied her gaze on the icy walkway in front of her. It wasn’t that she didn’t like people, she just worried about what they thought of her. If it wasn’t pitiful or concerned looks they gave, it was disgust. Rarely did she find someone who wouldn’t stare at the scarred side of her face and neck.
Wintertime was actually more convenient, and thankfully, Holly was coldblooded and preferred to be wrapped up in jackets and scarves anyway. But there were times when she’d run to class to get there on time and strip her extra layers off. And then the stares came. And the pity and concern. And from some, undoubtedly, the disgust.
“Was no one in there?” Diane asked when she joined them in the car.
“Nope, guess I’ll have to call them.”
“I’m sure the office is okay with you continuing to stay for the next semester,” Aimee said. “You worry too much.”
Diane pointed across the lot to where a group of guys were. “There’s Eric and Justin. And is that Cameron too? I haven’t seen him since he started his internship.” She clapped her hands together. “Maybe he’ll—they’ll want to go with us.” Diane’s cheeks turned as rosy as Aimee’s.
Holly hid a smile behind her glove. It was obvious who her friend liked.
Their neighbors across the parking lot were the only three guys in the entire state of Utah she could honestly say she knew. Aimee and Diane had invited them over for a movie night soon after school started freshman year, and as they kept coming by more and more, it made it impossible for Holly to avoid them.
And then a terrible blizzard had hit. All weekend long, her roommates and the guys had watched movies, drunk hot drinks, and played card games. Holly had avoided the front room at first, but when the guys hadn’t gone away, she’d finally emerged for food, and Aimee had forced her into a game.
The elephant in the room was addressed during the first ten minutes of the game, just as it had been addressed early on with her besties, and after she’d given the guys a shortened version of her house fire, they nodded and moved on. It had been fascinating and heart-lifting, all at the same time. Since then, even though she was still self-conscious, they didn’t seem to notice. Or maybe, that’s just what she told herself.
“Where are you heading?” Eric called when he was close enough to be heard. He was the cutest of the three boys—not that Holly cared. She’d done plenty of dating before her accident and was no longer interested.
“Food shopping,” Aimee called.
“Want to go with us?” Diane asked. “We’re shopping for our six-week supply—to get us through the rest of the year.” Always inviting and charming.
“You just want Holly to cook for you,” Aimee said to Diane as she stuck her finger out the window and jabbed Eric’s side.
He grabbed her finger and pointed it toward her. “Stop poking yourself,” he said, mocking her.
“Eric, you’re such a child.”
Holly smiled as the two played around. She didn’t mind that they used her for her cooking skills. If she only cooked what she could afford, she’d be eating noodles every night.
“As long as you pay, I’ll cook,” Holly said, distracting them from their fight.
“Yay!” Diane said. “I’ve wanted those spicy noodles ever since you made them a week ago. Let’s get stuff for stir fry too.”
Sounded good to Holly. She scooted to the back with Diane, who was smiling ear to ear as Cameron joined them.
Aimee’s truck was a six seater—three seats in the front and three in the back. Whoever could give their new adult daughter a forty-thousand-dollar truck was beyond Holly.
As Aimee pulled out of the lot, Holly looked out her window at the passing town. Logan wasn’t very big compared to most cities she’d lived in, but it was the quaintest. With only fifty-thousand people, a little more than a third being college students, it still felt like a small town.
They zipped down the long roads lined with trees—a feature most of Utah missed out on. It was a beautiful, eventful drive as everyone debated the best place on campus to study.
“It’s definitely the library,” Aimee said, speaking up first. “They hush me all the time.”
The group laughed, and Holly knew exactly why they would hush the sweet chatterbox.
“What?” Aimee asked innocently. “I’m not loud.”
Eric, who sat next to her, patted her arm, deepening the red in her cheeks. “Okay, if you say so, sweetie.”
