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“Yo, we should go get tacos,” I said as I tugged Kara to her feet.

“Can we please? Fuck yes, I need a taco, or carnitas, or oh! Tamales!” Kara slipped into a Spanish accent that had Maya chuckling.

“You speak Spanish?” I asked as we left the basement.

“Si, mi madre es de México.”My mother is from Mexico.

“And your dad?” I couldn’t help but ask, as I looked over Kara’s blond hair and blue eyes.

Kara shrugged. “I never met him.”

“I’m sorry.” I sighed. We quickly walked toward the front door of the frat house. I glanced to the corner where Terri had been with the chem boy, only to find them no longer making out, but gone completely. There was a new couple in their spot.

Pulling out my cell phone, I noticed the time—going on 2 a.m.—and a text from Terri, saying she had taken off with the chem boy two hours ago. I frowned and slid my cell into my back pocket. “Alright, Taqueria El Valle is open until 4 a.m. It’s a short walk from here, if you guys are down?” I turned to look at Stephanie and Kara.

The two women were having a silent conversation, but they both nodded. “Yeah, okay,” Stephanie said softly.

“Tired?” I asked.

Stephanie shrugged. “All of this is not really my scene. I’m kinda pushing my boundaries tonight. I’m a ‘in bed at nine’ type of girl.”

I grinned. “College is all about exploring and pushing those boundaries. Good for you for getting out. First frat party live up to the hype?”

She laughed and shrugged. “It wasn’t horrible.”

I smiled broadly. “Well, you never end a night of drinking without getting tacos, and Valle’s is the best Mexican food around.”

“Alright, let’s go.” Kara grinned.

Maya

“YoMaya!”Iturnedto see who had called out my name as I walked through the Quad—the center area between four of the buildings of the university.

Kara hurried after, adjusting her backpack strap on her shoulder.

“Hey girl!” I greeted my new friend with a smile. “How you settling in?”

Kara grinned. “Good, good! Look, I hate to ask, with us just meeting and all, but any chance I could catch a ride with you next time you head back to Mourningside or Creekton?”

I laughed and nodded, knowing it was the way of freshman year. “Yeah, for sure! No problem. I don’t head back all that often,though, to be honest. Me and the folks don’t get along that great, but I’m always down for a road trip.”

“Thanks girl. I appreciate that. Where you headed?”

“Library, you?”

“Same.”

“Tis the life.” I chuckled.

Music blared, and Kara and I sung along. The sun was shining, and both of us acted like we didn’t have a care in the world. I knew that was far from the truth, though. We may have been going home because the campus shut down for the entire week of Halloween, but we were still laden down with homework from professors that thought we had nothing else to do.

The heavy metal song ended and switched to something lighter, a pop-punk band that had been popular when I was in middle school. It had us both laughing and singing along. “I fucking loved this song!” Kara said, before she launched into an off-key rendition, hitting every word.

“Yeah, get it girl!” I cheered.

Kara finished the song with a laugh. She took a sip of water from a bottle she brought with her before she asked, “What are your plans this week?”

I shrugged. “My sister is moving to Chicago this week. She took a job up there. So I’m gonna help her move and hang out in her new place.”