Sarah heard the front door click shut. She hopped off her bed and rushed into the living room. "Where have you been?"
Tiffany dropped her keys on the counter and smiled at her roommate. "Out. I met a really cute guy. Well, sort of."
"Jesus, Tiffany, you've been out till three in the morning every night this week and now you're coming in the next morning."
"Sarah, I know you're worried about me, but I'm fine, really! Oh, you haven't touched the brownies I made." She looked mournfully at the platter of brownies sitting on the kitchen table.
"What? Oh, no, I haven't touched your apology brownies, you know I'm on a diet." Self consciously, Sarah pulled at her ill fitted top and hunched herself forward to hide her figure. "And that's not the point. You haven't been to class in days and look at the way you're dressed. Oh my god is that a tattoo?!"
"Oh, yeah, I'm in such better shape, I thought I'd reward myself." Tiffany was dressed in tight leggings with knee-high striped socks. She had a low cut, bright pink top on which barely covered her mid-drift. Just above the waist band was a very blurry tattoo of her name, Tiff. "I think I'm going to take a quick shower. Look, I'm sorry I've been neglecting you. How about we stay in tonight? A real girl's night, sad movies, ice cream, we can do each other's nails!" She gave Sarah a quick hug and then slipped off to her bedroom.
The whole thing was surreal to Sarah. Since her roommate had returned from her debate trip, things had been wildly different. First of all was the alarming physical change that occurred over the week. Tiffany claimed it was her new diet finally kicking in, clearing out water weight, and her new exercise regime. Sarah had been on a diet with Tiffany for years, always fighting off those pesky extra pounds, and neither of them had enjoyed much success. The frightening thing was the other changes. At first Sarah suspected her friend of sneaking off to some fly by night plastic surgeon. Lipo and a boob job, at least. But she'd seen her naked since then. No scars and not even any stretch marks. Sarah had found herself inspecting her friend a little more closely than proper, and she hadn't seen anything other than a skinnier, perkier version of Tiffany.
For that matter, Sarah had seen strange things happening around town all week. The temperature kept rising, and a dreary haze had settled over everything. The morning after Tiffany returned home had been the worst. Half the town had acted like they'd just gotten off a four hour spin on the tilt-a-whirl. The feeling passed though and everyone, including Sarah, wrote it off to the heat wave.
Sarah heard Tiffany singing to herself in the shower. The words were drowned out by the roaring water. Glancing at the clock, she saw the time, half past ten. She headed over to the kitchen table to gather her books. The smell of the brownies wafted through the air, intoxicating her. Her mouth watered and her stomach longed for the gooey treat. She imagined sinking her teeth into the soft chocolate and letting the flavor spread over her taste buds. Before she realized it, she had a brownie halfway to her mouth. She snapped out of it and dropped the brownie back onto the platter. Tiffany had stopped singing for a moment, but as Sarah gathered her books, the song started up again.
She stuck her head into Tiffany's bathroom. "Hey, I'm heading out to class, so I'll see you later. That night in actually did sound kind of fun though." In the mirror, she saw the outline of her friend behind the shower curtain. She giggled, "Wow, the steam made it look like you were holding a dildo there for a second."
"Hah! Ok sweetie, I'll see you tonight!"
"Don't forget you have a 1:15 history class." Sarah took one last look in the mirror, something nagged at her to clean the steam off the window for a better look, but the chime of the quarter hour made her hurry out the door.
The heat had a few redeeming qualities. For one, parking on campus didn't seem so bad lately. Sarah easily found a spot only one building down from her class. A hot wind blasted her as she got out of her car. She rummaged in her purse, somewhat saddened by the lack of secreted away brownies, and pulled out some lip balm. As she applied the slightly sparkling gloss in the mirror, she thought she saw a huge dog walk past the rear of her car. It startled her enough to turn and look, but it was only a pair of skinny guys making their way to class. She smacked her lips together with a loud SMMOOCK and climbed out of her car.
As she walked over to her classroom, her mind dwelt on the changes in her friend. She wanted to believe she wasn't jealous, but the idea kept creeping into her mind. The only logical explanation for all the changes she had seen was clear: Tiffany had a new boyfriend. She was out late every night, clearly sleeping over somewhere, and she was just plain happier all the time. Tiffany had made brownies! The girl had never cooked a day in her life, and yet she had twirled around the kitchen humming and baking.
Her class seemed rowdier than usual. The heat probably had everyone stir crazy. She took her normal seat on the third row, smiling at the boy two chairs down from her. He looked even better than usual today. "Hey Kevin," she said with a blush.
"How's it going, Sarah? Hey, um...did I see your roommate last night?"
"Um, I dunno, where were you? I know she was out late, but I didn't catch just where she was."
"Just at a bar on the Plaza. I ran into this chick who was, well, let's just say she was the life of the party. I know you live with a Tiffany and this girl said she knew Sarah. I dunno, the bar was pretty intense. The Tiff girl was buying everyone shots. Terrible shots, but still, shots."
"Oh, yeah?" Sarah blushed. Jealousy reared its head. She'd spent hours with Tiffany daydreaming about the cute boy in her history class. She'd never forgive her friend if she'd been his one night stand.
"Yeah, some god awful thing that tasted like it was made with heavy cream. Anyway, I thought she might be your Tiffany. Does she go by Tiff?"
