When the sun rises she sees it through half-closed eyes, curled like a foetus in a polyester womb. The yolk of a freshly-cracked day spills over the sill of her window, bathing her body gold. She listens for sounds of awakening - echoing traffic, restless birds. The clock face moves through six but pauses at seven. Pipes scream as showers around the college wash away the sleep of the cast of today.
Soon she rises, throws back the covers and wanders over to the wardrobe. She flips through the hangers, pausing over a high school jersey with the word "Allie"1emblazoned on the back in large white football letters. Her twin also owns one; it's probably the only item of clothing they have in common now. She pulls out a pair of denim shorts and a sleeveless cotton shirt, dressing quickly. It's almost time for breakfast and the best servings don't last.
When she steps out into the hallway, locking her door, a naked Chinese girl streaks past, clutching a toiletry bag and leaving behind a trail of scattered droplets and wet footprints on the brown industrial carpet. Glancing back into her surprise, the girl yells out, "Sorry Allie - I forgot my towel!" - then quickly unlocks her room and slips inside.
As her door slams, her neighbour steps out - a blonde threading her ponytail through an elastic band, wearing jeans and a body-hugging T-shirt with the word "Belle"2 stitched across the hem of one sleeve. Allie, standing in the hallway, catches a glimpse of a well-made bed. The room's walls are smothered in glow-in-the-dark stars, photographs and postcards. On the window-sill is an African violet; on the bed, a hand-made bear. The bookcase is filled with expensive-looking Psychology textbooks, paperbacks, poetry collections and a leather-bound King James Bible.
"Morning," Belle greets her, smoothing the sides of her head and pulling out loose strands. "Coming for breakfast?"
Allie nods.
"Wait for me - I'm coming too!" The now-not-so-naked Chinese girl pokes her head out, struggling to button up her dress, withdraws and slams the door again. Her message board shakes with the impact, threatening to fall off its hook. Allie reaches out, straightens it, and reads some of the notes:
Ash: out tonight - call after 11. - Shezza
Roses are red / violets are blue / chrysanthemums are late / and so are you. Please call. - Paul
x3769 - Macro notes. - Roz
"Doesn't Ash3 have a mobile?" asks Belle.
"I don't think she turns it on now. She did for a while but kept forgetting to switch it off during lectures so now it stays off."
Belle rolls her eyes. Allie giggles.
"Morning everyone." A girl in white satin pyjamas shuffles out of the room across the hall and smiles a long sleepy smile from under a tousled mop of hair. Allie glances past her into a tangled mess of dirty clothes, extension cables, old coffee mugs and screwdrivers. Somewhere amongst all that is a fish tank made out of an old Macintosh Classic, complete with keyboard and mouse. It's the only "computer" the Signets could afford to buy their daughter.
"Morning, Elise,"4 says Belle. "Did you finish that assignment?"
Elise nods wearily and pretends to gag. "Is Ashley up?" she asks, gesturing towards the closed door.
"I'm up!" Ash reemerges, dressed and fumbling with her sandals and a wide-tooth comb. She looks at Elise and stares. "You look like hell. What time did you sleep?"
"Three-thirty." Elise sighs. "Ash, favour please. Could I borrow your hair dryer? I took mine apart last week."
Belle shakes her head, muttering, "Engineers!" Ash goes to rummage through her cupboards, returning with the appliance which she thrusts into Elise's hands.
"I want it back in one piece!" she warns.
"Yes mum," Elise mumbles, then shuffles off down the hall.
"Well, breakfast," says Belle, locking her door. She and Allie move towards the stairs; Ash's keys rattle behind them in her haste to catch up.
"Poor Elise," says Ash as she joins them. "Four hours of sleep and classes until six."
"She's a perpetual motion machine," says Belle in an undertone as they descend. "I don't know how she does it. One day she's going to get bisected by a real perpendicular crisis and she'll crash like a steep hyperbolic projectile."
Ash giggles but Allie does not smile. She is thinking of Rose and she shivers.
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