Molly leaned against a pile of pillows, all a great paisley print that matched the comforter. She had a ruffle that went along the bottom of the mattress, something Gwen had never seen before. "He'll call. He's really cute."
"Do cute guys call more?"
"No, less. Way less. But he liked you. I could tell."
"You saw him for, like, a second before he left with his friends."
"Yeah, but he didn't want to go. I could tell because of the backwards walk."
Gwen worried that she should know what that was. She was definitely going to take a psychology class, biology too. What animal walked backwards, a crustacean?
Molly pointed to the door. "When they really want to get away…" She jerked her head that direction, "they whip around."
"Oh-kay…"
Molly got off the bed and crossed the room to stand in front of her. "But that guy kind of stepped back and then walked a little backwards towards his friends." Molly inched towards the door.
Molly was a good roommate. She knew just when to lie. Gwen shook her head anyway. "He did not moonwalk."
Molly laughed and slid her feet across the floor back to her bed. It was a fair attempt at Michael Jackson. "Plus. It's meant to be."
Gwen tried to laugh. She wasn't going to fall for any girl ridiculousness. These were years to be bold, maybe, but not romantic. Romance, or its poor imitation, the deadly mix of lust and wildness, had given her two step-fathers and more maternal boyfriends than could be counted.
"His bolt fit."
"I'll never know."
"Oh, you'd say no to," Molly shook her hair, "green-eyed hair guy?"
"I'm holding out for--"
Molly's eyes popped wide. "Marriage?"
"No. But, you know, the whole package, when I'm ready. I want a relationship that's good and sex. You know, it’s like icing on the cake."
"The relationship is the cake, and sex is the icing?"
"Yeah, exactly."
"When I make cake, I never have enough frosting 'cause I ate most of it before the cake's even out of the oven."
Gwen pointed across the room at the lively girl she was lucky to tag along with. "That’s why guys call you back. I will be call-less from green-eyed hair boy. He's looking for icing."
"They all are."
"Well, when I'm ready… not now, but later, I’ll find cake with just enough frosting."
Molly stared at her in confusion, and Gwen felt compelled to recover some semblance of college coolness. She could name the perfect example of what she was talking about. She baked a lot. "Like a pecan pie."
Molly’s confusion turned to pity. "Shit, Gwen, pie doesn’t even get any frosting."
Back to U…
Chapter Three
A pinch of cinnamon improves French toast.
"Is it going to do something?"
Gwen jumped, nearly knocking the French toast off her tray. "Oh." She tried to smile at Ty, but his face was very distracting.
"So, what’s up with the French toast?" He tipped his head to the nearest table, set his tray down and waited, too polite to laugh, she decided, even though she must look terribly uncomfortable.
She felt herself blush but sat down anyway. "It didn’t have any cinnamon." She held up her hand. "Long story. I’m just kind of a food person."
Ty motioned to the food on his tray. "I’m sorry."
She cataloged the scrambled eggs, more chopped up omelet than anything, and the sheen of oil on the previously frozen hash browns. "Well, it’s hard to cook for so many people and have it be complex."
"Or good."
Gwen laughed. "Or good. They call it institutional food for a reason."
"Do you know the arts building?"
"I don’t think so."
"You should check it out. It’s just north of the SUB." He stopped. "The Student Union Building."
"That, I remember."
"You’ve been here before."
Gwen nodded and began to eat her rapidly cooling breakfast. Heat lamps seemed to tan the outside but not contribute that much heat. She tried to focus on that but felt Ty watching her, waiting to see if she would say any more. Hearing him drinking his coffee with patience, she finally looked up.
He smiled. "You have a story to tell, Gwen Melissa."
She felt the quick pull of tears she stopped with a deep breath. "I’m almost forty, and I don’t have much of a story."
But he just waited and she sensed he could do that a long time. In addition to looking really pretty, he was also very good at waiting people out.
She shrugged. "My story is I’ve done everything I thought I was supposed to do." Checking her watch, she felt relieved that she’d have to run off to