Sanctuary

"I'll be back Sunday morning," Hallie said with a pout, wrapping her arms around Taryn's shoulders. "Have a good time, okay?"

"I will," she replied with a smile as Hallie grabbed her duffel bag. "I think I'm going into town with some friends from my Ethics class."

"Awesome! I can't wait to meet them. They seem really cool," Hallie said cheerfully, reaching for the doorknob. "See you Sunday!"

Not five minutes after Hallie had left, Taryn's phone chimed with a new call.

"Hello?" she answered tentatively, knowing very well just who was on the other end.

"Hi, sweetie!" her mother answered excitedly. "How are you?!"

"Good," she said quietly.

"Well, I haven't heard from you since you moved in! How are things going?!"

"Pretty well," she replied curtly. She felt pretty guilty giving her mom the cold shoulder, but just talking to her over the phone brought back a wave of old emotions. She didn't like that feeling.

"Is everything okay?" Mrs. DeMarco said slowly, concerned.

"Yeah, it's fine. I'm just...really tired. I just got done for the day, so I'm thinking about taking a nap," she said, throwing a yawn in for effect.

"Okay. Well, call me later? I honestly do want to hear about everything."

"Thanks, Mom. I will. Love you."

"Love you, too, darling." And with a click, the line went dead. Taryn's eyes pinched, on the verge of tears. She fought them back, biting her tongue and hating how stubborn she was being. Although she knew it was necessary to move on, she still felt terrible shutting her mother out. Then again, it wasn't like her mother totally supported her being at Brighton. Half of the year before was spent arguing with her over whether Taryn could do this. Eventually Taryn had won that battle, but she had a feeling that her mother wouldn't ever be completely content with her so far away.

"Yo," Alex said, pausing at their door as he walked by. "What's up?"

"Not much," she said, forcing a smile and pushing back the tears. "Just talking to my parents." She held up her cell phone as if he wouldn't have believed her.

"Oh. I thought it was your boyfriend or something," he said, leaning against the doorframe. His deep red polo topped a pair of khaki shorts and black Nike sneakers.

"No," she scoffed, crossing her legs on her bed. "I don't have one."

"No?" he said, surprised. "That's weird."

"What?" she asked, confused. He smirked at her.

"Nothing. You just strike me as the type of girl that would have one. You're really confident and all that."

"Really?" she said dubiously. "That's such bullshit."

He laughed. "Hey, that was supposed to be a compliment."

"Oh, okay. Well, now I feel like a bitch," she joked. "Thank you, though."

"Of course. What are you doing?"

"Just hanging out. Probably going to dinner soon. What about you?" she said. No matter how close they had started to become, she couldn't help but always return his pleasant niceties. She felt obliged to always reciprocate his politeness.

"Well, I have to go chase down this kid for emergency information," he said, standing up straight and glancing down the hallway. "Annnnd there he is. I'll talk to you later."

He walked away, leaving Taryn dumbfounded. Alex was really cool and all, and she'd even call them "friends" - they'd hung out with other people and slowly gotten to know each other - but she was totally lost as to why he sometimes said things like that. Granted, he did that to a lot of people.

She brushed it off. He was just a flirty guy. Not like she hadn't encountered those before.

***

"My feet are killing me," Danielle groaned, dropping her bags on her bed. She and Taryn had returned to Danielle's room after their shopping trip in town. After three hours of strolling the streets and exploring various new shops, both girls were feeling pretty wiped out. Danielle's room was beautiful, Taryn thought. Everything was a different shade of blue, occasionally accented by dark brown. Pictures lined the wall, ones of Danielle with friends and family at various occasions, formal and informal.

"Same," Taryn agreed, leaning against Danielle's bed. There was an awkward pause as Danielle checked her phone for messages.

"So what are you doing tonight?" Taryn asked, genuinely curious.

"Ugh, I don't know. Honestly, the only thing I know of that's going on is at Shane's house."

Oh. Taryn looked at her feet, trying not to feel left out at the idea. Clearly she wasn't as close to her Ethics group as she thought.

As if it could read her mind, her phone suddenly chimed. It was a text from Shane, reading "hey new girl. if your glamorous plans for tonite fall thru, my house is throwing something. 568 W Fields st."
Her stomach flipped, surprised that Shane even remembered who she was. Even though she could barely move her feet, she was suddenly thrilled at the prospect of having something to do that night. She slid her phone back into her pocket, glancing over at Danielle. She was hanging up her new shirts, smoothing out the wrinkles and looking lovingly at them. Suddenly she hated herself for so quickly believing that her new friends had left her out. That was something the old, insecure Taryn would do.

"Shae and I are heading over there at 10:00. You're welcome to come, if you want," Danielle said, rifling through her purse for some chapstick.

"Thanks," Taryn said. "I'll probably take you up on that." After another pause, she continued. "So are you and Shae...like, together?"

"Shae? Oh, God no," Danielle laughed, tightening her ponytail. "We're just really close. We went to the same high school and we've been really good friends since freshman year."

"Oh," Taryn said, her face burning. God, Danielle probably thought she was so naïve.

"He's really cool, though. His parents are actually from London. He was born there, but they moved here before he was, like, three. He's a good kid," she said. "Really smart, too. Not just in class, but with other people."

Taryn nodded. Shae didn't talk much, so it was interesting to watch Danielle speak of him. It was clear she loved him in a best-friend kind of way.

"So...yeah. Shae's meeting me here at about 10:00 and we'll walk over. You can totally get ready with me if you want!" Danielle said. Taryn grinned at her, her chest swelling with excitement. She felt as if Danielle genuinely wanted to hang out with her. Not as if she were inviting her out of pity. "My friend Megan was supposed to come too, but she might flake."

"Okay! I'll come by at like 9:00," Taryn said, making a mental note to text Jocelyn about all of this. Although she was excited, she wanted one of her other friends to know where she was going. Just in case she needed to be walked home or something like that. Wouldn't be the first time something like that had happened. She shuddered, pushing the thought from her mind and focusing on what Danielle was saying. That was all that mattered.