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to run. I’ll see you later.”
    After she
left, I stared into space for a few minutes. Maybe going out would be fun,
maybe not, but it would definitely help get me back into the swing of normal
college life. I still didn’t feel like going back to the dorm. It was too
quiet. Instead, I took out my notebook and continued working on my hammer
sketch, filling in more details than even the tattoo had.
    It was
beginning to look pretty good.

Chapter Four
    BEARDED SQUIRREL
     
    Classes on Thursday and
Friday were a breeze. Since it was the first week of school, there wasn’t much
homework or studying to do. Still, I found myself glad that Friday arrived. It
had been a difficult experience returning to school. I found myself questioning
people’s stares—and there were plenty of them. Did they know who I was? Did
they see the trial on TV? It made me uncomfortable to think that they were
silently judging me, pitying me, or thinking I must have a lot of issues after
what I’d gone through. I just wanted to feel normal again, and having people
stare at me didn’t help.
    “That’s
such a cute outfit,” Daniela said as I stepped out of my room into the suite.
She was seated on the couch waiting for me to finish getting ready for the
double-date she had set up for us. She had met a pair of guys—Cody and
Justin—in her Sociology 101 class earlier in the week. So Daniela set up a
double-date at a bar off campus called the Bearded Squirrel.
    We were
both underage by a few months but Daniela got us fake IDs. “And here I thought
you were reluctant about going. You look ready to break some hearts!”
    I smoothed
out the front of my blue dress, adjusting the fabric at my hips to ensure the
bottom wasn’t riding high in a way that could be misinterpreted by my date.
“Hey, if I’m going to go on a date, I’m going to do it right. Otherwise there’d
be no point, right?”
    “I like
that attitude! We’re gonna have so much fun tonight!”
    I still
wasn’t sure about doing this whole date thing. I wasn’t really looking for any
kind of romantic relationship at the moment given the craziness going on in my
life but it was a step toward normal. Regular people dated. They went out to
parties, laughed, got drunk, and took embarrassing pictures that they would
post on Facebook the next day. They didn’t sit in their rooms on Friday nights
sketching and moping.
    Daniela
hadn’t even given me many details about Justin, my date. She’d gone on about
how mouth-wateringly scrumptious Cody was and how she would stare at his crotch
all lecture long. “If he’s half as well-developed down there as the muscles in
his arms, he’d be one serious catch,” she had said.
    “So this
Justin guy—” I said, making last-minute adjustments to my hair in the
full-length mirror we had in the suite. “What’s he like?”
    “Oh! He’s
also a catch. Frankly, I would’ve been fine going out with either of them. I’ve
heard other girls say that he has celebrity looks. Like a musician, you know?”
    “What kind
of musician? Like a rockstar?”
    She tilted
her head toward the ceiling and put her finger on her chin. “Don’t think so.
Maybe more alternative? Not sure.”
    Hmm . . .
someone artsy. If he was down-to-earth and not an egotistical rockstar type,
maybe we could hit it off. Who knows? I decided to be optimistic about Justin.
    “Well as
long as he doesn’t have high expectations, I could see us getting along. I’m
not exactly the perky, blonde sorority-type, if that’s what he’s looking for.
You did tell him a bit about me right?”
    “Oh yeah.
Of course. I said Lorrie Burnham is my best friend. She’s wonderful, has a
wicked sense of humor, and is overall a great girl.”
    I frowned.
“So basically you told him as much about me as you’ve told me about him.”
    The edges
of her lips curved into a smile. “Sure, whatever. It’s more fun if it’s a
surprise anyway right?”
    “I guess.”
    I knew
where she was coming