Марни Азарелли - Strange Girls - Women in Horror Anthology

Adam’s thoughts went back to D.C. over the next few days. The more he thought about her, the more he wanted to know her real name. It was a mystery, and Adam liked mysteries when he could solve them. A few days later, he asked Josh to look up her given name on the professor’s attendance sheet in the class they shared.

“Dude, I know what it is,” said Josh, his voice light, not looking at Adam as they played video games among the mess that was their dorm room. Josh’s side was worse than Adam’s. His had art supplies over every surface. Adam forgot to put his dirty clothes in the hamper. “It’s Prudence. We joked about it.”

Prudence! No wonder she wanted to keep it a secret. Adam thought the name belonged to old ladies who spent their days playing bingo. He said the name to himself a few times when he was alone. The word felt prettier the longer Adam played with it. He wondered if D.C. would let him call her Prudence. It sounded better than calling her “D.C.”

Adam dwelled on possible futures. No girlfriend since the junior year of high school, he hoped D.C. would become his next one. Not right away of course. They still didn’t know each other well. He already knew D.C. was quiet and thoughtful. Josh mentioned her art was a head above the rest of the class. The girls in Adam and Josh’s dorm were trashy and wore too much makeup. There was no way a girl like that would look good once she took it off. D.C. on the other hand, knew how to have self-expression without going over the top with her beautiful blue hair. Besides, they complemented each other physically. D.C. was short and busty, while Adam tall and athletic.

He friended D.C. on Facebook later that night. She was easy to find, there was only one girl named “D.C.” in Josh’s friend list. Adam kept checking to see if she accepted while he worked on a paper. After she accepted, he sent her a message and looked through her photos, enjoying them as he went.

As the next few weeks went by, it was easier for Adam to hang out with D.C. Josh had become friends with her, and Adam would sit at one of the less broken tables in the lounge with them after their class, drinking coffee and doing homework. Adam was grateful to Josh. His roommate was an excellent wing-man. Josh might’ve been a little strange with his ancient docs and purple painted nails, but he and Adam hadn’t any problems. He’d heard numerous stories of people stuck with shitty roommates freshman year.

“So your given name is Prudence, right?” Adam asked when Josh got up to get coffee at the campus grab-n-go, the name sounding elegant. Her parents must have been creative people.

“Oh, Josh told you that didn’t he?” D.C. rolled her eyes. “He’s such a goofball?”

“Yeah.” Josh was chubby and harmless. Adam had offered to help get him into shape, as he had played soccer in high school. “Could I call you Prudence?” Adam nudged his hand closer to hers, hoping she would take it.

“Only if you want to talk to my Grandma,” said D.C., tucking her hands into her lap. “She died a few weeks before I was born, so my parents changed their mind at the last minute. They were originally going to name me Amanda. They made it my middle name instead.”

“I think it’s pretty.”

“I know how much my dad loved his mom, but I really don’t like it.” D.C. started to chew on a barely existent fingernail. Adam frowned. What a disgusting habit, didn’t she know better? “And I got teased,” she continued. “That’s why I changed it to D.C. when I was in middle school.”

Josh returned with three coffees. Adam’s jaw twitched. In spite of seeing D.C. bite her nails, he was still going to ask if she wanted to go to a movie with him. He was going to do it while it was the two of them. Oh well, he could ask anyway. It was only Josh after all.

“Hey D.C., do you want to go see that new Marvel movie on Friday?” Adam knew it was smart he put on extra cologne that morning.

“Sure! I’ve been excited to see it!” D.C. waved at a distracted Josh, who was trying to text and drink coffee at the same time. “Hey Josh, wanna come with us?”

He looked up from his phone. “Hell yeah!”

Adam stopped himself from saying something rude. Did Josh know better? The anger washed away with Adam’s second thought, what girl would pick Josh over him.

The trip to the movies went well. All three of them laughed at the jokes and enjoyed the special effects in the battle scenes. D.C. sat between him and Josh. Adam was close, so close, to holding her hand, but D.C. was too busy eating popcorn to let him get a good grip. His fingers brushed against hers several times before the post-credits scene. He was a little wary of her bitten nails, the skin around them puffy with inflammation. Why hadn’t he noticed it before? D.C. was so pretty it was distracting. Adam would suggest ways of helping her stop after they got together.

When the movie was over, Adam suggested getting food at the pizza place down the street.

“Thanks for the offer, Adam.” D.C. yawned widely. The fall breeze ruffled her hair. “I think I’m ready to go sleep. I have a pile of boxes to draw tomorrow.”

“Oh.” Maybe she didn’t like pizza, thought Adam. “Josh and I can walk you back to your dorm.”

“Okay.”

D.C. and Josh animatedly talked about the film and how they were already worrying about what they were going to put in the freshmen art show this semester, while Adam walked behind them. He wished he had more in common to discuss. Adam could barely draw a passable stick figure. He tried to turn the conversation to topics that he could contribute to, but whenever he interjected, Josh or D.C. started talking again from where they left off. The walk ended before Adam could retake the conversation. D.C. lived in one of the nicer female dorms. The hall still had an air of newness the other campus buildings lacked.

“Goodnight guys.” D.C. said as she headed inside.

“Hey D.C., what’s your room number,” called Adam.

She didn’t reply. She must have missed it.

Adam didn’t see much of D.C. for the next two weeks. He didn’t ask Josh about her. He didn’t want to appear clingy. Clinginess was what he hated about girls. His buddy’s girlfriend in high school texted him every five minutes, needing to know where he was at all times. Talk about a pain in the ass.

While they were at dinner together, Josh casually mentioned that D.C. sprained her ankle. The words were jumbled over the chatter in the dining hall. Adam hid his anger. Why hadn’t Josh told him about that? He would’ve sent her flowers or some other thoughtful thing.

“It wasn’t that bad, relax,” sighed Josh, spooning mashed potatoes. He explained she had tripped coming out of the shower in her dorm.

Adam tried not to blush at the image that came to mind. “Are you guys planning on doing anything this weekend?” he said quickly. “I wanna hang out again with her soon.”

“Uh, not really,” said Josh. “I think D.C. wants some time to herself.”

Why would she want time to herself? She had friends who wanted to see her. Adam texted her over the weekend, but she never responded.

Sunday night he messaged her on Facebook.

Hey DC what’s up?

…

We really don’t talk anymore and I miss that.

…