"Sorry, my mom and I decided to spend the whole day together," I said, hanging my sweater on the coat rack. "How was your Thanksgiving?"
"Hectic, busy, loud and too crowded. Would you like me to continue?" she said, smiling at me.
"Ha, so typical. Did you finish your project?" I asked, laughing.
"Yes, but only because I came back yesterday," she admitted.
"What? Did your family have a conniption fit?"
"Oh, they tried to guilt me, but I totally turned the tables on them by turning on the waterworks, claiming I'd fail out if I didn't get it done," she said, mischievously. "Now we can go out for coffee with Dan and Brad," she added, pulling out her phone to send a text.
"But it's almost ten," I objected.
"And you're worried your dress will turn to rags and your coach will return to a pumpkin?" she teased.
"Well no, but how do you even know they're back or even awake?"
"Oh they are, we've just been waiting for you to get home," she said, jumping off the couch and throwing my sweater to me.
"Why the sudden interest in them?" I asked, pulling my sweater back on.
"They're cool," she said, blushing slightly.
"Car," I said with a warning tone. She had been so busy with a guy she had met at the Halloween party that I hadn't had a chance to introduce her to Brad and Dan until the week before Thanksgiving break.
"What, you're the only one who can be friends with them?"
"No. I just don't want them hurt," I said, defending my new friends.
"Kim, I'm not going to hurt them," she said, looking hurt herself.
"Car, I know you won't intend to, but you're so full of life, and when you love something, you put your all in to it, but when you're done, you move on quickly. Brad was put through the wringer by his ex."
"What makes you think it's Brad I'm interested in," she said saucily, stomping down the stairs ahead of me.
Shocked, I followed behind her meekly.
The brothers were waiting for us at the bottom of the steps of our dorm, cutting off our conversation. I had to swallow my disbelief when Carol bent down to give Dan a kiss on the lips.
"What the hell?" I looked at Brad confused, who shrugged his shoulders, clearly as confused as me.
"Um, what did we miss?" I asked.
"Dan and I've been dating," Car confessed.
"Since when? You just met a week and a half ago," Brad said incredulously.
"Well, not all of us enter relationships at a snail's pace like you, Gary," Dan teased. "I told you two before break I was seeing someone."
"Really? You throw out a SpongeBob reference. What are we, twelve?"
"Well, you act like one when it comes to girls," Dan teased, wheeling his chair out of the way.
Car and I watched their antics, smiling. "Seriously?" I asked, nodding toward him.
"Yeah," she said, defensively.
"I think it's great," I said, meaning it. There was no denying their happiness.