"It's about time you showed up!"
I looked down the hall of her dorm and saw my cousin Tara. She was smiling despite her angry words.
"Hello, Tara," I grinned, remembering the past summer. At the time, I was getting ready for my second year of college and Tara was preparing for her first. We joked a lot about me teaching her the essentials for surviving the coed life.
We were never particularly close growing up, but spending the summer together changed that. A few of my friends rented a beach house and were looking for a couple of extra people to chip in. Tara jumped at the chance when I mentioned it at her high school graduation. My cousin and I got to really know each other for the first time.
"You look great! College agrees with you," I told her. Tara's strawberry blond hair had grown and she had it permed sometime during the fall. I couldn't resist adding, "Thank God you look like your mother."
"You too," she grinned. It was an old joke and really only funny to us. We loved our fathers very much, but they weren't particularly handsome man.
"I've missed you," I said with a laugh and hugged her.
"I've missed you too," Tara replied, squeezing me tight.
She eventually showed me to her room. It was nice, but like most dorm rooms, it was tight for two. I worried about my presence inconveniencing her roommate.
"Tara, are you sure your roommate won't mind me staying here?" I asked. Tara snorted.
"Sarah's hardly here anymore! She pretty much lives at her boyfriend Sam's place. I doubt we'll even see her this weekend," Tara replied, rolling of her eyes. I grinned.
"So, what do you have planned for us?" I asked as I sat at her desk.
"I figured we'd just go with the flow," she said. I gave her an odd look. Tara was miss planner. I didn't think she even knew what the words 'go with the flow' meant. My cousin saw my expression and sighed before adding, "I actually began to make some arrangements, but my sorority pledge master told us to be on call this weekend."
"Is she gearing up for hell week?" I asked. My cousin shrugged.
"It's still a month or so away," she replied. "By the way, I may have to disappear for a while because of sorority stuff." I nodded.
"So, how do you like sorority life?" I asked. I wasn't surprised that Tara joined a sorority. She talked about the possibility a lot during the summer.
"It's great!" she said with a smile, but then it turned into a frown as she added, "Well, everything but the pledge master. She's a real bitch!" I laughed. Tara wasn't one to curse. This pledge master must really be making her life difficult.
"Oh! That reminds me, I want you to meet my sorority big sister. I don't know what I'd do without Toni," she grinned. "Wait here. Her room is only down the hall."
I looked around my cousin's room while she was gone. Tara had some pictures of her family and one from the summer.
The latter was a picture of the whole gang. I sent everyone from the beach house a copy. The funny part was that I had no idea who took it. It was on a roll of film I found lying around during our end of season cleanup party. Everyone from the house was in the picture. We were all pretty wasted and obviously having a great time. I smiled and shrugged.
I glanced at Tara's roommate's desk. Sarah had some pictures as well. It was easy to tell who she was even without Tara's description. Sarah was in almost every single picture with friends. Sarah was not beautiful in the conventional way, but she was very attractive.
Tara told me that Sarah was originally from Israel. She had dark, almost black hair and striking blue eyes. Her nose was pronounced, but nothing terrible. If the pictures held any validity then she would be an interesting character. She carried herself confidently and had a slightly lopsided smile.
My thoughts were interrupted when my cousin reentered the room. I looked up and saw her friend behind her. My mouth literally fell open. Toni was charcoal black and beautiful.
"What's the matter? Didn't Tara mention I was black?" she asked in a sexy Jamaican accent. She was smiling.
"What?" I stuttered, then replayed her words and answered her question quickly, "Actually, no she didn't." I shook my head and added, "She didn't tell me you were beautiful either." Toni laughed.
"You were right Tara, I will have to watch myself around him. He's a smooth one," she said.
"Oh yeah, he looks real smooth with his mouth hanging open and his eyes bugging out," Tara replied with a snort. I threw Sarah's pillow at Tara head. She ducked and easily avoided my toss. Tara reached for her own pillow while I retrieved Sarah's.
"Now children, they'll be none of that," Toni teased. My cousin and I didn't hesitate. Toni got hit with both pillows. As you would expect, that started a free for all.
We were having such a great time that we didn't notice the room door open until it was too late. Someone walked in and was struck square in the face with a pillow I had aimed at my cousin. I saw Tara's roommate Sarah standing there when the pillow fell to the floor.
I tried to apologize, but before I could get a word out, Sarah turned bright red and started yelling full steam. She was ranting in what I guessed was Yiddish or Hebrew, and I was sort of glad I didn't understand her. Whatever she was saying had to be bad. What surprised me more was when Tara started yelling back in the same language.
"This isn't going to end soon. Let's give them some privacy to work it out," Toni said as she took my hand and led me from the room. Neither Tara nor Sarah noticed us leaving.
"When did my nice Catholic cousin learn Yiddish?" I asked as we made our way down the hall. Toni laughed.
"It actually Hebrew. Sarah's a nice girl and a good roommate in general, but she's a bit emotional and has the worst temper. Every time she looses it, she starts yelling in Hebrew. Tara asked Sarah teach her Hebrew as a survival instinct. I think it started out as a joke, but now it's all they speak when they're alone," Toni said as we arrived at her room.
"Nice room," I said as we walked in. Toni smiled.
"Yeah, I was lucky enough to get a single this year," she replied, and then added with a frown, "Of course, my luck wasn't all good. I got placed in a freshman hall." I shook my head. Between her looks and her accent, I was having a hard time concentrating on her words. We spoke for a few minutes before Toni looked at me and frowned.
"What's wrong?" she asked. I flushed a little.
