with me, causing it to slide off Craig and expose his bare chest. I nearly trip as I scurry across the room, knocking twice on the wall to thank Carrie. I turn toward Craig, all set to dive on the bed and wake him. Then I stop.
Carrie lives in the dorm right next to mine. Her room faces the east side of the building where all the windows have a perfect view of the parking lot and entryway. Carrie spends a lot of time in the window seat, doing homework, talking on the phone, reading books. She knows my father likes to pop in on me, because that’s how he is, and anytime she sees him, she runs to the wall and knocks twice to alert me. Thank God for her. Usually, I’d be clearing out evidence of anything that would cause trouble… like the half-naked guy in my bed or the empty bottle of alcohol on my nightstand. But you know, right now I don’t give a shit what he thinks.
“Craig,” I say as I walk over to my bed and tug at his heavy forearm, trying to wake him. “Just a heads up. My father is on his way to my room.”
I wish I could push my door open wide so the second my dad walks up he’ll get a full view of just how many fucks I give at the moment. The only thing stopping me is Craig. He’s a student too and would get into trouble for being caught in the girls’ dorm. So I’m stuck with the only alternative. Continuing to ignore my dad.
“He’s what?” Craig says, eyes flying open with panic. My father has a way of making an impression on the students here. It’s not a bad one, but they know how strict he can be. He makes it to his feet quickly, grabbing his clothes, shoes and jacket from my floor.
“You don’t have to leave.” I shrug, turning away. My blanket drags on the floor as I walk to my dresser in search of clothes.
“Like hell,” he whispers as if my father is already standing outside the door. I pull a red T-shirt from the drawer as Craig fumbles behind me, getting dressed I assume.
“Relax,” I say, turning to him. “We’ll just stay quiet. He’ll think I’m gone and he’ll leave.”
“But last night you said you were avoiding him. What if he has the guard open your door?”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
“Fuck that. You don’t know. If I'm caught in here, I'm fucked. I'm already on probation.” His pants are buttoned but not zipped, his T-shirt is on backward, and his shoes are untied, but he dashes to the door. Gently, he twists the knob, opening the door just a crack at first, then he peeks his head out in both directions. I roll my eyes and continue to get dressed, sliding into my red shirt, pulling it over my head.
By the time I look back, Craig is gone and the door is wide open. Heaviness fills my chest as I realize that any second my father will appear at my door, and if I leave it open I will be forced to see him. Am I ready for that? It would’ve been one thing if Craig was still here; it might have stopped me from bringing up the cafe. I wouldn’t do that in front of Craig. My family shit is none of his business and it would’ve stopped me, but my dad and I here alone is another thing. My anger starts to boil and the heaviness that filled my chest is replaced with disgust. With clenched fists, I storm over to my door and slam it shut. Tears spring to my eyes as the echo rings in my ears. I’m so pissed. So hurt I could throw something. Just as I’m wondering how much trouble I’d get into for throwing my alarm clock through the glass window, I hear a loud knock, followed by my father’s voice.
“Hey girls, it’s me, open up.”
I bite my lip as two tears fall from my lashes and roll down my cheeks. He needs to leave. I just can’t.
“Xia? Shana? I know at least one of you is in there. Why’d you slam the door?”
I squeeze my eyes shut, a sob pulling hard at my gut as I listen to the voice of the man I thought would never lie to me. A man who would never hurt my mother. I didn’t think it was