A Perfect Life nd Other Stories Read Online Free PDF Page A

sex?”
    “You’re never in at night.”
    Sandy tilted her head and knit her brow as though just
comprehending what her roommate thought of her. “I’ve been working on a
photography project, and the only time I can get the darkroom is at night.”
    Lily stared at her then looked away. “Shit. I am such an ass.”
    “It’s okay. I could have told you, but you seemed, so, well . . .”
    Lily wanted to cry. “Stuck up. Go ahead. Say it.”
    “I was going to say busy. Stressed. Not stuck
up. That hadn’t occurred to me. Shy maybe, if anything.”
    An image flashed of Sandy catching her as she fainted. As Sandy,
instead of Snake, her features softened and Lily saw for the first time that
she didn’t have any piercings. Not even earrings. Her skin was smooth and
zit-free, except for a small comma-shaped scar on her left cheek. When she
smiled, as she was now, it creased into a dimple. How could she have lived with
this sweet thing for three months and not ever seen her?
    They sat quietly together, Lily munching potato chips, swinging
her feet, and Sandy watching her.
    When she finished the chips and crumpled the bag, Sandy reached
for it and their fingers brushed. A shiver swept through Lily as she watched
Sandy toss the bag into the trash can behind her. A simple gesture of manners
that crumpled Lily’s old notion of her roommate.
    “Why are you here? . . . Sandy.” That name would take practice to
get used to, but it suited her, Lily decided.
    In the few seconds it took Sandy to respond, Lily watched her
breathe, how her shoulders moved slightly, her color deepening.
    “You’re right,” Sandy began. She leaned forward, her elbows on her
knees. Lily couldn’t see her eyes. “We don’t know each other very well. So I
decided that maybe you might be kind of scared, because, you know, I would be,
if I were in your situation. So I hoped it might help to see a familiar
face—however strange.” She chuckled, but Lily could tell it wasn’t from
bravado.
    “Oh.” Lily leaned forward and ran her fingers through Sandy’s
short, stiff hair. Sandy shifted and for a moment Lily’s palm cupped her cheek.
    “How’re we doing here?” The nurse breezed in.
    Lily pulled her hand away but kept her gaze locked on Sandy. “Much
better, I think,” she said.
    The nurse gave her a quick once over—temperature, blood pressure,
pulse (did she just raise an eyebrow?), listened to her heart. “I think you’ll
live,” she said with a wink. “You’re free to go. Don’t come back without a full
belly.”
    Lily thanked her. Sandy scampered out of her chair, grabbed Lily’s
backpack, and held the door. She led the way through a short hallway, not
nearly as dark as Lily’s weird dream. But when Sandy pushed through another
door, bright light blinded Lily, like the lights in her dream. She panicked and
pulled back. “I can’t—”
    Sandy stopped. “What? You okay?”
    Lily blinked in the strong light. Sunlight. She could see the
president’s lawn, just like in her dream. They were in the parking lot, but
there were cars, not bleachers full of cheering, leering students. No bed, no
naked women. Just Sandy, her eyes the color of the sky. She took a deep breath
and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
    Sandy held out her hand and Lily took it. Together, they headed
down the hill to the dining center. Lily inhaled deeply the chill winter air.
“So, tell me about your photo project.”

 
    Tracy Arm
     
    THE SMALL CRUISE ship drifted across a steel-colored plane, and a
light fog blurred the line between horizon and sky. Mist draped the forested
shore, unmarked by humans. Kate sat at the end of her bunk and leaned against
the cabin window, watching three humpback whales float by, not fifty feet from
the deck railing. The deep whoosh of a fourth whale, exhaling as it surfaced,
sounded through the room, and a cloud of water vapor shot skyward. The massive
form then slipped beneath the still water.
    Kate’s breath fogged the