Rainbow Central Complete Series

Chapter 4

Jo

JoThe first week of college flew by quicker than I could have ever predicted. Just starting all my new subjects and courses was overwhelming, and that was without all the new people I was meeting. Teachers, other students, my new dorm mates. I’d never met this many new people in my life, I could barely keep them apart.

At least there was Reggie. We’d quickly bonded over our similar sense of humour and mutual admiration over each other’s art. It was nice to have someone to chat with during class and sit with over lunch.

Except she didn’t look so great today.

“You alright?” I asked as we finished returning our lunch trays.

She nodded as she threw away most of her food. “Just a little hungover. It was club night yesterday.”

“Club night? As in, student club? I didn’t think our faculty had one.”

She chuckled. “No, it’s a rainbow student club. Platypus. You ever heard of it?”

“Sounds familiar,” I lied, not wanting to admit I had no clue. I didn’t want to seem uncool or narrow-minded either.

With lunch over, we still had plenty of time before our next class started but not enough to go back to either of our dorms. Like most students, we just hung around on campus or the park opposite of the school.

Because of the nice weather, Reggie and I chose the park. We stepped through the gates and almost like magic, the city fell away. The rows of trees blocked out a lot of the noise and all the greenery really made it feel like an oasis from the grey buildings.

We chose a nice spot in the sun and threw our bags down so we could lean on them.

Settled on the grass, I couldn’t hold my curiosity back. “Tell me more about Platypus?”

“It was introduction night yesterday for all the newbies. Lots of drinking, singing, and just a good time really. They come together every week in Rainbow Central. It’s really fun.”

I plucked some grass and let it fly in the wind. “That’s really cool.”

A couple of students passed us and one of the girls checked out Reggie in a very obvious manner. My classmate shot her a flirty smile and the two maintained intense eye contact until the girl had passed.

“Someone you know?” I asked.

Reggie shook her head as she leaned back down on her backpack, a large grin stretched from ear to ear. “Nope. Anyway, there’s another rainbow party in a couple of days. Interested?”

“When you say rainbow, you mean… l***q and stuff, right?”

“Yup.”

“Hmm… It’s not really my scene. I mean, I’m not gay. I don’t think.”

That captured Reggie’s interest. Her eyebrows raised questioningly and a faint smile played around her lips. “You’re not sure?”

My cheeks got hot and I could feel it spreading to my ears. “I don’t know. I always assumed I was into guys… but recently I’ve been wondering if maybe I’m interested in girls.”

She nodded. “Then you should definitely come. If there’s one way of figuring it out, it’s being around a whole lot of lesbians. You’ll know if you’re into it once they start flirting with you.”

I blushed. “What if nobody flirts with me?”

Reggie elbowed me in the side. “Pff, come on. You’re good-looking. Besides, you don’t have to wait to be flirted with. If you see someone you fancy, take a shot.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“Life is easy, we just make it hard for ourselves.” She leaned back against her bag while she rolled a cigarette.

I gestured to her tobacco pouch. “You’re not… It’s not w**d, is it?”

She licked the cigarette paper before she sealed it and chuckled. “No, just a regular cigarette. We’ve got Art History in half an hour, I’m not that stupid.”

“If you’re not adding w**d, why don’t you just buy a packet of smokes?”

She fished a lighter from her pocket and lit up her cigarette. “Cheaper,” she breathed with a puff of smoke.

“Ah.”

“You want one too?” she asked, holding out her cigarette kit.

I shook my head. “I don’t smoke.”

“Good for you.”

“Even if I did, I don’t know how to roll.”

“It’s super easy. Want me to teach you?”

“Sure.”

Reggie spent the rest of the break trying to teach me how to make the perfect cigarette and despite wasting plenty of her rolling paper, none of mine came out looking anything like a real cigarette.

“Guess I just don’t have it in me,” I admitted after rolling another dud. I rubbed my finger tips together, trying to imitate the motion. “It’s hard.”

“You’ll get it,” she reassured me as she took all the failed cigarettes back and put them in her pouch. “No offense, but I’m rerolling those.”

“No offense taken,” I chuckled. “I’m sorry for wasting so much paper, I’ll buy you a new pack.”

“Don’t worry, they’re cheap.” Reggie released another puff of smoke and watched it dissipate as the wind got ahold of it.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Buy me a drink instead. A friend drink, just to be clear,” she said, capturing me in an intense gaze. Her eyes twinkled and a grin played around her lips. “Unless you want me to help you figure out if you’re into girls. Then it could be a different kind of drink.”

I gulped. “Friend drink.”

“Friend drink it is,” she replied without missing a beat, not seeming in the slightest offended or rejected.

Girls were weird.

On our way back to our next class, my phone vibrated in my pocket and with a glance at the screen, I saw Ellie’s name.

A flutter passed through my stomach knowing I’d be able to hear her voice and I held up my phone. “Sorry, I have to take this. I’ll see you in class.”

With a cigarette dangling from her mouth, Reggie gave me a thumbs up as she strolled back from the park to the school, her casual vibe never faltering. She was really cool, that was for sure, but I wasn’t interested in anything more than being her friend.

I swiped the green button to the side and put the phone to my ear. “Hey!”

“What are you doing this weekend?” Ellie asked, not bothering with small talk or context.

I laughed. “I don’t know, I have a feeling you’re about to tell me what we’re doing this weekend.”

“There’s a party at the Plaza.”

“What’s the Plaza?”

“You haven’t heard of it? It’s only the biggest club in the city! They’re having a massive, massive party and guess what, we’re going!”

“Alright, I’m up for a party.”

“It’s going to be am-a-zing. We’ll start with drinks at my dorm and then take a taxi to the place. Some of my classmates are going too so we can join them there.”

I nodded as I fiddled with the button of my breast pocket. “Sure.”

“It’s going to be fire! Hey, want to meet up for drinks later tonight?”

“Sounds good. Hey, I have to go, I’ve got Art History.”

The speaker crackled. “Eww, that sounds boring. Oh, I know, why don’t you skip it and come to my place. I have a surprise for you.”

“But it’s Art History. What surprise?”

“I’m not telling. And Art History is the most boring subject in history,” Ellie said, chuckling at her own pun. “Ah, come on. What’s the point of being in college if you don’t skip every now and then. I’ll make your favourite pancakes and we can binge a series or something. Just like the good old days.”

I laughed. “We did that literally last week.”

“Yeah, but soon we’ll be too busy partying and making new friends and falling in love! Ah, come on, it’ll be fun.”

I wanted to resist but it was Ellie. She always managed to entice me, no matter what it was that she wanted to do. With a smile, I nodded. “Fiiiiine. I’ll just text Reggie to let her know I’m skipping and then I’m on my way.”

“Yay! See you in a bit.”

With a sigh, I hung up and stared at my phone. Typical Ellie. And typical me, never able to resist the mischief she pulled me into. At least Art History didn’t take attendance.

I messaged Reggie a quick apology for not showing up and got on a bus to the other side of town where Ellie’s dorm was. A couple of cyclists whizzed by, narrowly avoiding me. A car honked at their reckless behaviour and almost swerved into a couple of orange cones marking road works.

Such a difference with the calm village I came from.

I made my way to Ellie’s building and hesitated for a moment before I rang the bell with her name on it.

Why was I so nervous? I’d gone over to her house a million times before, but somehow, it felt different now we had our own places. More… mature, grown up. These weren’t our parental homes, they were our homes.

I heard some stumbling and rattling before the door opened and Ellie greeted me with one of her signature smiles. My stomach did a weird flip flop as she pulled me into a hug and I quickly pulled back.

Luckily, she didn’t notice my weirdness. She waved me into the house with her usual enthusiasm, her mood contagious. I followed her through the short hallway that ended in the mutual kitchen, and from there to her room. The whole place had cosy vibes like a big house and instead of sharing with maybe a hundred people like I did, she only had five housemates.

It was strange thinking about other people seeing my best friend more than me. A little intimidating thinking someone could get to know her better too.

I stepped into her room and some of my worry dissipated. While this was a new place, the room was so Ellie. The yellow pillows on the bed, the large antique mirror, all the little souvenirs she collected over the years. I would’ve been able to tell who lived here from all the trinkets.

Feeling a bit more reassured, I sat down on the bed. “So, what’s up?”

Ellie paused in front of me, a smile playing around her lips. “You remember Grayston?”

“Of course. It’s only the best restaurant in the province and we’ve always wanted to go.”

“Well… We’re going!” Ellie held a folded piece of paper out to me, her hands shaking in excitement. “Eeeep.”

“What? No way.” I scanned the contents, not sure if I could believe my eyes. “Is this real? How? There’s a super long waitlist.”

“I signed us up last year when I decided to go to cooking school. Remember how I spent all semester trying to figure out what I wanted to do?”

I chuckled at the memory. “Oh, yes. You had all these brochures and pamphlets. I think you even contemplated becoming an underwater welder at one point.”

“Yeah and it was you that told me to turn my passion for food and cooking into a career. My parents weren’t very thrilled with my choice but once I started thinking about becoming a chef, it just made so much sense.”

I nodded. “It was quite obvious, thinking back.”

She laughed. “Yes. Anyway, I put us on the waitlist and I forgot about it until I got the confirmation email earlier. Isn’t that exciting! And before you say anything, it’s my treat.”

“Ellie, I can’t—”

“But I want to go to Grayston and it’ll be so much more fun when we go together.” She pushed out her bottom lip, pouting like she always did when she tried to convince me. “Please. It’s my way of saying thank you for supporting my dream.”

I released a sigh. At this point, any reluctance was mostly for show. I already knew I was going to say yes. “When is it again?”

“The end of January. Does that mean you’re coming with me?”

I bounced on her bed, hugging a pillow. “Okay.”

“Yaaay.” Ellie jumped on the other side of the bed and reached for the remote. She pointed it at the small tv in the corner and flicked to her favourite streaming app. “Now that that’s settled, what shall we watch?”

“I’m up for anything. Oh, there’s a new nature show about crocodiles.”

“Nahhh, I want something exciting. Oh, what about this horror movie about a cursed graveyard and church?”

“Sure, I like a good scare.”

Ellie selected the movie and dimmed the lights to set the atmosphere while I made myself comfortable on her bed. Once she’d closed the curtains, she immediately snuggled into me for comfort, just like always. And yet, it felt different than usual. Maybe because we usually watched shows on a couch but her room only had space for her double bed. Maybe because our parents weren’t around. Or maybe… because I felt different.

The intro of the movie rolled in but I could only look at Ellie. The way her eyes were glued to the screen, even though the start was cheesy and cliché. The slight quiver in her breath as the first notes of ominous music filled the room. She was so easily scared and she loved it.

“Ahh!” she shrieked, even though nothing happened. She clamped her hands around my arm and buried her face into me. “Why is it always lightning and scary tombstones that get me?”

I chuckled, happy to be her comfort teddy bear. “Wait until you see the ghosts.”

She gasped. “There are ghosts? How do you know?”

“Just a lucky guess,” I teased. “Hey, what’s that party you were talking about?”

“Only the party of the semester. Bram says basically every student is going.”

theI frowned. “Bram? Who’s Bram?”

“Did I not tell you about him? He’s a guy in my class. Really handsome too.”

“Oh.” I remained silent for a bit, not sure what to reply. Ellie knew how to make friends anywhere she went, a quality I slightly envied. I always got a little jealous when she connected so effortlessly with people but that jealousy was always easily silenced when she made it clear I was her number one. It meant I never worried too much about her making new friends. Besides, I didn’t want to be the kind of person that restricted her in any way.

And yet… That same twinge of jealousy shot through me when she mentioned this new guy. This new handsome guy.

handsomeIf I ever had any competition for Ellie’s attention, it would be a potential boyfriend. As great of a friend she was, as soon as a hot guy was involved, she couldn’t help herself.

Another lightning bolt flashed across the tv and Ellie dove under one of her yellow pillows. “It’s so scary!”

“So scary,” I mumbled half-heartedly, not quite getting what was so scary about a bunch of old houses, creaking floorboards, and bad weather.

I watched Ellie for a little bit, amused every time she shrieked dramatically with every jump scare. The movie didn’t do anything for me, the entertainment value was definitely in Ellie.

As the movie came to natural lull before the big reveal, I couldn’t stop asking what was on my mind. “Hey, I have a question. Have you heard of Platypus?”

My best friend hummed from under her pillow. “Yeah, aren’t they that rainbow student club? I heard it’s all sex.”

“Really?”

“Hmm-hmm, apparently it’s just a bunch of lesbians and gays hooking up with each other. Why?”

I shook my head. “No reason. Hey, do you have any ice cream?”

Ellie screamed as lightning struck in the movie and pressed herself into me. She glanced between her fingers at the scene, relieved that it was over. “That was so scary. I definitely want ice cream now. I’ll get some.”

While she was gone, I let my eyes travel around the room, making myself familiar with the space. My reflection in the large mirror, the picture frames on the wall that were mostly of us, everything that made Ellie’s room Ellie’s.

A couple of voices drew my attention as I realised the door was still cracked open. Even though I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I recognised Ellie’s voice together with a guy’s voice.

“Ahh, so the cherry ice cream is yours. Good choice,” the guy said.

I heard the rattle of a cutlery drawer being pulled open as Ellie replied. “It’s my favourite. You live here?”

“Yeah, I’m Frederick. I’m down that door.”

“Ellie. I’m the new girl.”

“Ah, I see. You must be the culprit for the yoghurts in the fridge.”

My best friend giggled. “Sorry, did they take up too much space?”

“No, no, Gaston and I were just wondering about the owner. It’s a little game we play whenever someone new arrives. Are the yellow towels yours as well?”

“Guilty as charged.”

The guy laughed. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Ellie. I guess we’ll see a whole lot more of each other.”

“You bet.”

I knew what to expect before Ellie came back into the room. With a beaming smile on her face, she dropped a spoon in my lap and held out the ice cream.

“Oh. My. God. I just met one of my roommates and he’s so hooooooot.” She fanned herself as she fell on the bed, giggling and squealing. “I love college.”

I tried to mask the wry smile tugging on my lips. “Yeah, me too.”

“I can’t believe I’m living with such a hot guy. I hope he’s single. I should’ve asked. No, that’s insane, we just met. I’ll ask him another time. It’s not like he’s going anywhere,” she rambled on. She turned the movie back on but her attention never made it back to the horror scenes. Instead, she hopped back off the bed and peered through the c***k of the door. “Maybe I should ask if he has plans tonight. We could all go out for drinks. Maybe he’ll bring some hot guy friends along. What do you think?”

“I thought we were going to watch a series and eat pancakes,” I attempted weakly. I’d skipped Art History to spend time with my best friend, not watch her make out with some random dude.

Ellie shot me a pouting look. “Yeah, but we can do that any time. It’s not like we can have drinks with hot guys whenever.”

I shot her a reluctant smile, not wanting to ruin her fun. “Alright, sure. Why not?”

“Yay!” She bounced over to me and pressed a big kiss on my cheek. “You’re the best. I’m going to go ask him now.”

“Cool,” I muttered, waiting until she was out of the room to touch my cheek where she kissed me. Why was I being like this? Why couldn’t I just be normal and be excited about going for drinks with hot guys like Frederick.

FrederickA sense of jealousy and panic flooded through me but I pushed it away. It was perfectly normal that I didn’t want to lose my best friend.