The sequins on Americus's dress caught the lamplight like they were mocking me.
Silver eased the heavy wooden door of their Gothic tower room shut behind her, wincing as the ancient hinges gave their telltale creak that echoed off the stone walls. She'd been praying Americus would be asleep, lost in whatever dreams filled the mind of someone whose biggest worry was choosing between glitter eyeshadow colors. No such luck.
Her roommate sat cross-legged in the center of her narrow bed like some kind of sequined oracle, still wearing the emerald green dress she'd donned for whatever campus social event had occupied her evening. The fabric caught the warm light from their shared desk lamp, sending tiny rainbows dancing across the whitewashed walls of their room. Her glitter eyeliner was smudged artfully around her dark eyes, but those eyes were very much awake and far too alert for Silver's comfort.
