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Instead of waiting for permission, Red darted around Paige and into her room, immediately making herself at home at the sink, dousing her palms with hand soap and scrubbing them clean. Once she finished, she turned back to Paige with a refreshed grin, and initiated another shake.

“There. Tess Simpson,” she said. “Pleased to meet you.”

They shook at last, and Paige found herself grinning again at the overly dramatic show of formality Tess put into the greeting.

“You have such a neat, clean room,” Tess said, dropping her hand as she glanced around. “My roommate is a total slob. We haven’t even been here twenty-four hours yet and she’s strewn clothes all over the floor. And, oh my God—” She paused when she spotted Mariah’s television on Paige’s desk. “You have, like, the biggest TV I have ever seen! Ours is microscopic compared to this. Bailey would just die if she saw—” Without finishing the sentiment, she flew back into the bathroom, calling, “Bailey! You have to see this thing.” She pushed open both doors wide only to return to Paige’s room.

“It’s got to have a fifty-inch screen, I swear to God. Ours is only twenty-two.”

The grumbling started before Bailey appeared in Paige’s room as well. “Tess, I can’t get my ring tone to—oh my God.” She froze in the middle of Paige’s room beside her roommate to ogle Mariah’s television, her cell phone forgotten in her hands. “It’s like the Mecca of dorm-room televisions.” She turned to Paige, looking dazed. “I so want your TV right now. Hell, I’ll trade you Tess for it.”

Paige shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. She hadn’t even thought of the television’s size past how much it hogged all her desk space. Sitcoms, game shows, reality TV, none of those had really reached her in the past couple of years. It felt strange to see someone ooh and awe over the mundane.

“Actually, it’s my roommate’s.” She shrugged. “She just put it on my desk so she could see it from her bed. But she doesn’t care if I watch it when she’s away.”

“Well, that’s sweet.” Bailey nodded with approval. “You get to watch the roomie’s boob tube without the annoying roomie around.”

“Hey.” Tess frowned at her, slapping her hands to her generous hips. “Is that some kind of dig at your roommate?”

Bailey blinked, appearing dumbfounded by the question. She hooked a thumb over her shoulder, motioning to Paige. “No. It was a dig at her roommate.”

“Oh.” Tess immediately brightened and sent Paige a commiserating look. “I do feel sorry for you. We met her yesterday before you arrived. And she seemed a little…”

They all three glanced at each other, and Paige knew exactly what the other two girls were thinking. She felt a sudden kinship with them as she snickered. “Yeah. I noticed.”

She clearly remembered the wrinkled-nose look of disdain on Mariah’s expression after Paige had declined Mariah’s invitation to go to the clubs together last night.

“Thanks, but I think I’ll get a good night’s sleep before the first day of school,” Paige had politely answered.

And Mariah had snorted, making a prude face. “Aww, you’re a good girl, aren’t you? That’s so…sickening.” Then she’d dragged her boyfriend across the room to the door, calling, “Don’t wait up, grandma,” before disappearing until the wee hours.

“When she found out we were both freshman, she gagged aloud and asked if the entire building was infested with us.” Tess’s eyes grew big as she nodded, drawing Paige from her memories. “And, yeah, she actually used the word infested like we’re some kind of bug.”

“I told her not to breathe too deeply because we might be contagious,” Bailey added with a grin.

Bailey and Tess laughed, nudging each other with self-congratulations.

Noticing the easy companionship between them, Paige studied them a little more closely. “Did you two know each other before coming to Granton?”

“Oh, sure.” Bailey slung her arm around Tess’s shoulder. “We’ve gone to school together since Kindergarten.”

Tess tipped her cheek toward Bailey’s. “We’re actually best friends when she cares to claim me.”

Envy nipped at Paige as she watched them hug. “I wish I could’ve been able to do that.”

She missed Kayla already and wished she could’ve convinced her to come to Granton too. But not only was Kayla totally against the idea of Granton, she had no use for any college at all. She’d worked as a waitress ever since she’d graduated from high school and acted as if she was perfectly satisfied right where she was.

Bailey skimmed her gaze over Paige’s still-wet hair. “So you’re the one Tess just caught naked in the shower, huh?”

“Bailey!” Tess squawked, blushing. “Oh my God. How many times have we talked about your subtlety issues? Besides, I didn’t see anything. She had a big, fluffy towel on.”

Not sure whether to duck her head in embarrassment or slap her hands over her ears from the overwhelming inflow of conversation, Paige mumbled, “Yeah, that was me.”

Then her stomach growled, butting in on the conversation, and all three of them laughed. It wasn’t that humorous really, but with these two around, everything seemed suddenly entertaining. She couldn’t recall feeling so carefree in a long, long time.

“Hey, we were about to head down to Gibson Hall and scrounge up some supper,” Tess said. “Want to come with us?”

She murmured her acceptance, even as she swallowed down a rash of tears.