Chatoyant College Book 7: Upon What Soil

Chapter 8: Not That Long

Edie sat down in French class with a sigh. She was still thinking about those strawberries from yesterday. They'd just been so delicious—not to mention the fact that she and Leila had eventually resorted to feeding each other the strawberries with their mouths. Memories of Leila's tongue were very distracting.

Thankfully, she managed to drag her mind back to the present when Zip sat down beside her. "How's it going?" she asked, forcing herself to smile.

"Oh, pretty good," said Zip, shrugging and shaking her curls. "Hillel's thinking about having a dance or something at the end of the semester. We have to start planning now so the budget can work. You should bring your girlfriend if we do get that planned."

Edie grinned more naturally at that. "I definitely will." Dancing with Leila would be fun. Everything was fun with Leila—which was just about the only reason she thought dancing with her would be fun. High school dances hadn't gone very well, ever, but maybe this would be her chance to make up for that.

"How are things going with her, anyway?"

"Great," Edie said, grinning even more widely. "We had a picnic this weekend. It's just... everything's wonderful."

Zip leaned close and squinted at her suspiciously. Then she laughed out loud. "You got laid!"

"What?" Edie cried, startled and confused. She hunched down in her seat and leaned closer to Zip. "That's not... no, I didn't!" she whispered, trying to keep from getting the attention of the people around them any more than Zip already had. Glancing around the room, she didn't see anyone looking in their direction, but she'd be studiously turning away from anyone who was shouting about getting laid, too. "Not that it's any of your business," she added, uncomfortably trying to deflect the topic of conversation away from herself.

Zip smacked her on the arm. "You're my friend. It's totally my business. Come on, it's nothing to be ashamed of!"

Edie shook her head, trying to figure out how she could convince Zip she was telling the truth. It would also be nice to get her friend to keep her voice down. "We... haven't gotten that far yet," she whispered, unable to think of another way to phrase it that wouldn't make her blush. Or at least blush any harder than she already was.

"Come on, you've been dating for what, a month?"

"Exactly. It hasn't been that long. Come on, Zip, what about you? Have you gotten laid yet?"

Zip laughed again and leaned back in her seat. "Don't try to change the subject. You know I don't have a boyfriend yet. There are just not enough Jewish guys on this campus."

Edie tried not to roll her eyes. "You don't have to date Jewish guys." Despite Zip's protest, it seemed she had been successful in changing the subject.

"Okay, there aren't enough guys on this campus, period. At least not straight, nice ones."

"I know some nice guys. I'm pretty sure they're all straight."

"Yeah?" Zip leaned on her elbow, raising her eyebrows. "Have you been holding out on me, Edie?"

Edie laughed. "Sorry. I'm not used to thinking about guys that way."

"So what are the names of these straight, nice guys? Come on, hook me up here. I'm relying on you."

"Well, let me see. Rico is really sweet, but he's my friend Dawn's boyfriend. His roommate Duncan is pretty cool but he's really Christian, so you probably wouldn't get along. There's Charlie, my RA." And a werewolf, but that wasn't something to mention when you were trying to set people up.

"What is he, a senior?"

"A junior, I think."

Zip wrinkled her nose. "Too old."

"Hey!" Edie protested. "Leila is a senior!" And she was far older than Charlie—how old exactly, Edie wasn't sure. Maybe she should ask sometime.

"Well, that's your choice. I want a guy I can stick with. Come on, any other names?"

Most of Edie's friends were girls. She tried to run through them in her mind. Then the lightbulb went on and she couldn't help grinning. "I've got it. Troy. He's a freshman like us. He's kind of shy, but really sweet. His family is kind of weird, but I think they're rich." And he was a mermaid prince at Chatoyant College to look for a wife, but again, not something she wanted to mention at this point. It would be Troy's choice whether to tell Zip about it or not after they met.

"Ooh." Zip grinned wickedly. "Rich is good. Is he cute?"

"I guess?" Edie pictured Troy. He certainly wasn't ugly, but she wasn't sure how to describe him. "I don't think I'm qualified to judge."

"Fair enough. So when can I meet him?"

Edie shook her head. "I don't know. I mostly see him in class. Maybe we can all do something this weekend."

"There's that craft fair on Saturday," Zip suggested. "Did you see the flyers?"

"Yeah. That would be perfect, actually. I want to go and I know my friends will too. We can probably get Troy to come with us."

"We can make plans on Friday," Zip said hastily as the teacher stood up at the front of the class. Edie nodded hastily and opened her notebook.