3 Conjuring by Amanda M. Lee Page A

the inclination to act on it. Worry about Laura was permeating the room.
    I slipped into a pair of track pants and pulled a T-sh irt over my head – watching as Aric climbed back into his clothes from the night before – and then went out into the common room. Kelsey walked out of her bedroom at the same time, and she looked as alarmed as I felt.
    “Matilda didn’t come home last night.”
    “You’re sure?”
    “I’m sure. Our room is really small. I would have heard her.”
    She still wasn’t over me stealing the big room. At least she wasn’t being overtly hostile about it anymore.
    “Do you think they’re together?” Aric asked, running a hand through his disheveled black hair.
    “That would be my guess,” Kelsey answered. “It woul d be too much of a coincidence for them both to decide to study all night. On a Friday.”
    “Are you sure they were really studying?” Aric as ked the question that had been nagging me since Matilda and Laura announced they were going out the previous night.
    “I’m not sure,” Kelsey hedged. “I’ve never known Matilda to do a lot of studying on the weekends. Actually, she’s not much for studying during the week either.”
    “And how did you two hook up?”
    “Luck of the lottery,” Kelsey shrugged.
    Just then, the door to the common room opened and Matilda and Laura tumbled in, giggling hysterically. They both straightened when they saw the three of us watching them suspiciously.
    “What are you guys doing up?” Laura asked, st ruggling to pretend she wasn’t completely hammered. Even if she had been a better actress, I still would have been able to smell it on her from ten feet away.
    “It’s morning,” Kelsey said, glaring at Matilda. “In case you two haven’t noticed – which you obviously haven’t.”
    “We noticed,” Matilda scoffed. “That’s what th at big ball of fire in the sky symbolizes.”
    Laura started giggling again. I looked her over. S he was wearing the same outfit from the night before, although her makeup was smudged around her eyes and there was something weird floating around her. It was like a dark cloud that emanated from her body and followed her like an angry shadow. On closer inspection, Matilda was displaying the same weird affliction. Did anyone else see that?
    “So, how was studying?” Kelsey asked pointedly.
    “Oh, well, we ended up getting sidetracked,” Matilda replied, brushing past Kelsey and moving toward the bathroom. “We ended up going to a party.”
    “With who?” Kelsey asked.
    “Um, oh, Laura’s friend Jessica invited us to her sorority and we ended up going over there.”
    Aric jerked his head in surprise. “Delta Omicron? You went to the house?”
    “Yeah,” Laura said, struggling to remain standing upright. “They’re really cool and the house is really big. So much bigger than this place.”
    “The house is really cool, right?” Matilda giggled.
    I was having trouble focusing on what the two of them were saying because those weird shadows were still hovering around the two of them. It was really distracting.
    “Zoe,” Aric said suddenly, moving his ga ze to me. “You want to walk me downstairs?”
    “Um, sure,” I replied, confusion etched on my face.
    “I’m just going to go to bed,” Laura said wearily. “I need some sleep.”
    “Me, too,” Matilda said, closing the door of the bathroom behind her.
    I exchanged a concerned look with Kelsey, but followed Aric into the hall. Once the door was safely shut behind us, I waited for him to unload, which took only a few seconds.
    “You need to warn them about staying away from Delta Omicron.”
    “Why? I mean, other than the fact that it’s a sorority and that’s all kinds of icky all on its own?”
    “Just ... those aren’t the type of girls they should be h anging around with,” Aric said forcefully.
    “But you could sleep with one of them?” I shot back tartly.
    “I am not going to fight with you,” Aric