Packing and Puzzles

Beth smiled at the man standing in the doorway. He was older - too old to be a student. Either he was an over-enthusiastic dad, or an administrator of some sort. But if he was from the college, he sure didn't fit the description: sports team t-shirt, jeans, and a baseball cap that looked like it was well-loved.1

"How's it rollin'?" she smiled into the camera, giving a wink. The man laughed.2

"Thanks girls. See you tomorrow," he waved, moving on to accost the girls across the hall.3

Beth looked at Kira's side of the room, perfectly organized except for her hanging clothes, draped over her bed. "Oh, my bad," she smiled, scooting out of the way and climbing onto her bed. "You'll be wanting the closet, won't you?"4

Kira smiled and slipped past with her arms full of dresses and slacks. Beth caught the simper behind the smile, but only grinned. So her roommate had an attitude? That was just fine. Elizabeth had a 'tude of her own.5

"I don't have any hanging clothes," Beth explained, piling her t-shirts by color. "So my half of the closet will be shelves, if you don't mind. If we clutter the floor up too much, we'll kill ourselves tripping over everything." Kira made no comment but continued to hang up several dresses and pressed slacks.6

Bored, Beth turned to the book shelves that her introspective roommate had just constructed. The collection was impressive and very old. Beth cocked an eyebrow at some of them. This girl was very wealthy, or knew someone that was. And she was very trusting. To a trained eye, half of those books were worth a pretty penny. Yawning, Beth turned to appraise the other girl once again.7

They were somewhat alike. Both had brown hair, although Elizabeth's was several shades darker than Kira's was. Beth wasn't sure of Kira's eye color. She still thought they might be contacts. They were too bright, too clear. Her own eyes were hazel, shifting from green to gray with her clothes and her mood. They were roughly the same height, roughly the same weight. So close, and yet so far, Beth thought, smirking.8

Kira moved away from the closet, apparently finally finished with her clothes. Beth grabbed two stacks of t-shirts and rolled off the bed, landing on her feet and walking over to shove the clothes into one of the boxes, now placed upright in the closet like a tower. "This won't take me two minutes," she said to Kira over her shoulder. "After that, do you want to go look around? Maybe check out the girls on our floor? We might as well have company on our little torture session tomorrow."