I'll always remember the image. The gate in the privacy fence swinging open and there she was. A shapely blonde silhouetted in the low sun. In the glare I saw her slip a beach towel off her shoulders, bend over, and aim her bikini bottom at me. She laid her designer purse on the cement, arranged her towel on one of the deck chairs as if feathering a nest, and sank down below the sun with reflections off the pool dancing across her body.
I saw her clearly then. I watched her velvety thighs as she laid the chair back and stretched out. Those legs looked young, like they'd never been out in the sun. But they flowed nicely into a fluorescent green triangle that matched the two covering her breasts. I could tell it was one of those pricey suits from the mall, well tailored, like her. I didn't get a good look at her face. Those funky white sunglasses turned to glance at me once – and only once.
I took a breath and went back to the laptop on my own scarcely covered lap. The semester hadn't started yet. I was looking at my courses on-line but I wasn't able to concentrate, not with that long, silky thing across the pool. You just knew she had all the accessories of a rich girl who'd never had to experience real life. I mean, what kind of girl brings a designer purse to sunbathe?
I 'd had enough and closed the laptop, gathered my stuff and shuffled back to the apartment, wondering when my new roommate would show. It all felt a little odd. I'd been out of the loop for two years, trying to "find myself," as my dad used to say and, among other things, I'd discovered I wanted to be in the arts, you know, drama and all. I couldn't get into the big schools, so I ended up at a small college outside of LA. I was a late start. I was a couple years older than other freshmen like my new roommate, but that wasn't going to stop me.
When I moved in there was already stuff in the apartment, so my roomie had already moved in, she just hadn't shown. I thought maybe she wouldn't. I'd have a single! But I couldn't swing the rent all by myself. So as I stood there in my bikini swishing my card through the lock, I hoped she was inside. She wasn't, but I noticed some things had been moved around.
At least the new girl had finally arrived. And now in an ornate gold frame prominently displayed on top of the TV was a smiling young couple – how nice. She looked young to me. Her hair was long and fixed up like she'd been to the prom. Her eyes were bright blue and her cheeks flushed. The guy she was clinging to wasn't bad looking despite his overdone hairdo. But as far as I was concerned he probably didn't deserve her. Or maybe he did. I'd have to wait and see.
My wait ended minutes later when the lock ticked and the door opened. What a shocker: it was
her
, the blonde girl from the pool, my new roommate. I hadn't recognized her from the picture, but it was her. We stood there strangely speechless in our bikinis, meeting for the first time.
"Oh, hi," she said, "roommate?"
"Marissa," I said, extending my arm.
"I'm Loralie, Loralie Hollingsworth," she said, pulling off her sunglasses.
"Nice to meet you," I said, extending a limp hand as she set aside that gaudy purse. "Guess we both like to hang out by the pool."
"Oh, was that you?" she said, taking my hand for an obligatory second.
"Yeah, that was me."
"So, when did you get here?"
"Last week."
"Uh huh," she said, glancing briefly at my exposed torso, then at my laptop on the counter. "You're not studying already, are you?"
"Just surfing," I answered.
"What?" she called, retreating into the bedroom.
Loralie pushed the door halfway closed and I heard the shower come on. I guess I was sort of disappointed then. She wasn't exactly my type, and she didn't seem at all interested in me. I pulled a barstool up to the laptop and went back to surfing my courses. What if I
was
studying already?
I knew I wouldn't be able to do much of anything tomorrow – I'd be busy. The director had told me some members were coming in for the shoot, and that could always turn out to be sort of a creepy thing. I mean, sure, they were creepy enough just to look at, most of them, but when you had to stand there in all your glory and sign stuff for them and act like you loved doing it, well that wasn't something I looked forward to. And if any of them tried to hug me – or worse – it would just make me cringe. We all complained about having to "stroke members," but the couple of times I had to do it I think it affected me more than the others. But I had to play along, or start flipping burgers.
Otherwise it wasn't a bad gig, and I arrived that day ready to give a flawless performance so I could get my check and get out.
"Got your form?" said one of the hands.
Instantly I realized I had, of course, forgotten the form that would clear me to work. That was bad 'cause I'd never forgotten before and I didn't know if they'd let me work without it. And even worse, the form was still where I'd left it days ago, on the dresser in the bedroom I was now sharing with Loralie. I offered to call the lab but was told they wouldn't release the information over the phone. I was really busted but because I'd been working for awhile, or maybe because the director liked me, I was able to persuade them by promising to bring the form in the next day. It wasn't going to be easy, juggling work and school, especially doing this kind of work and rooming with a prom queen.
I walked into the dressing room, not knowing who I'd have to face. It didn't really matter, but I had my favorites. The makeup lights were already blazing but no one was there in front of the mirrors except me. I don't know why, but the glare reminded me again of Loralie with the sun behind her that day at the pool.
As I unbuttoned my denim blouse, she walked in, my "opponent" that is. It was "Cyberia," one of the Russians. I didn't really know her, but I'd heard she was beat pretty regularly. So at least I knew she wasn't going to take things too seriously, like that Mongolian, or whatever she was, the one I'd heard was getting off on kicking the girls around. One girl got a broken leg, snapped like a pencil when the Mongol jumped on her. Maybe our producer thought the members liked that kind of action, but a bitch like that was going to run out of opponents fast.
"Heard about your form," Cyberia mumbled, pulling off her tube top, uncovering a thick push-up bra. Dark hair bracketed Cyberia's face. She had an upturned nose, thin eyebrows and cool eyes. She was a little underweight though. The shoot would be easy, I told myself, hanging my blouse in the locker behind me. I just wished we got paid for winning.
"Don't worry, I've been cleared," I said. I unzipped my faded shorts and let them fall. Then I kicked them up into my hand.
"I'm not worried," she said, whipping her bra off of breasts that perched instead of hung on her.