Her roommate was already moved in. She had taken the bed closest to the windows. Daphne ignored her small level of disappointment, she had really wanted that bed. She just hoped her room mate wouldn't mind leaving the windows open at night.

Daphne tossed her bags on her bed frowning at the dust that flew up into the air. She looked at her roommates stuff, already put into what she assumed would be their more permanent places. She should have gotten there earlier as well. A container of shae butter, in lavender, her favorite scent, sat on her roommates desk below a poster of the latest overly buff movie star, who she supposed she wouldn't mind looking at too much.

She sighed when she spotted a stain of very questionable origins on the carpet. When she turned her head to the side and squinted slightly it looked vaguely like a marshmallow with limbs. She tried not to think to much on the stain. She had more important things to worry on, like whether or not she should by ear plugs in case her roommate snores too loud and where to put her own poster of an overly buff movie star.

Her mother talked about her roommate Becky the whole drive to the dorms. Becky was southern and proud. A short, round woman, but she made up for that with her passion for making loud misinformed statements at inappropriate times.

“Oh Becky was quite a hit with the boys. Went out with most of them, too, as long as they weren't...well you know,” Her mom grinned and mouthed a word even Daphne knew not to say.

They drove on for hours passing by trees with leaves that showed signs they were about to turn. The whole time her mother pressed on with story after story and how she was so sure Daphne and her roommate would be like sisters by Christmas.

Daphne sat on her bed trying to ignore the musty smell that rose up. The rooms were probably nicer back in Becky's day. She drummed on her knees with her fingers wondering when she would finally meet her roommate.
The door finally opened and Daphne's stomach twisted with nerves.

When she finally laid eyes on her room mate everything stopped and her mind went numb.

“I'm Brittney,” a big, genuine smile was on her face. Daphne didn't know what to do. Brittney was pretty but her skin was so dark it could never be passed off as a deep tan. Brittney reached a hand out but Daphne's mind was years away, listening to her grandfathers story's.

“The first time I saw one, I thought it was a gorilla in a dress.” Daphne didn't understand what he meant at the time, but she loved her grandfather's deep and warm voice and listened to his story’s enraptured.

Then there was her father.  Daphne had always wanted to play with Sydney Davis in 5th grade. Sydney knew all the best games. Her father always talked like something terrible would happen if she played with Sydney. So she was on the play ground pretending she could fly by stretching her arms and jumping from the rusted monkey bars and telling another little girl that she couldn't play with her because, “Daddy won't let me play with black girls.” She didn't understand that, even now, so many years later.

Her father threw a fit when he heard Daphne’s freshman year English teacher was black. He claimed that she would be too uneducated to teach.  By the time he had taken her out of that class, she was completely invested in it. She tried to explain to her father that it was the best class she had ever had but he refused to listen, filling her head with his venom again.

Brittney’s smile had fallen slightly, but Daphne made a decision. She looked at the room, at all they had in common. She would not make the same mistakes as her family.  She  reached out and grasped Brittney hand, smiled and dove into a conversation about buff movie stars and what exactly that stain looked like.