Six
Kallie
I wake up to the blissful blaring sound of my alarm clock. Groaning, I reach my arm out and hit the damn thing so it’ll shut up. Rubbing the crusties out of my eyes, I stretch my legs out before hauling myself out of bed. Taking a step forward, I hesitate before taking another when I feel a strange slickness between my thighs.
What the fuck? Panicked, I whip around and rip the duvet off the bed to examine the sheets. To my surprise, they’re clean. I blink a few times, willing it to show me something different, but of course it doesn’t. Still utterly confused, I turn back around to head out to the bathrooms. My eyes widen in surprise as a wave of pleasure crashes through me with my next step.
Holy shit.
Of course I would remember every agonizingly terrifying moment of my nightmares, but heaven forbid I recall anything about a sex dream.
Stealing a peek at the clock, there is absolutely no time for me to take care of this. I’ll be lucky to make it to class on time as it is.
I contemplate skipping class but ultimately decide against it, knowing I’d have to explain the situation to Kate, and I can already see her laughing at me now.
Letting out an aggravated sigh, I dress myself as quickly as I can in dark-wash jeans, a black turtleneck, and my olive-green puffer vest. My gold necklace is still secured around my neck, and I throw small gold hoops in my ears. Securing my hair in a low ponytail, I finish off the look with a touch of mascara and head out the door.
After my classes are over, I realize that, in my rush this morning, I didn’t grab my gym bag. Now, I’m hiking all the way back to the dorm to grab it. Part of me wants to just skip it today and binge-watch Netflix in bed, but my body has been humming all day. My skin feels like it’s vibrating, and I need a release. Maybe it’s pent-up frustration from last night, but I need it to stop. It’s like an itch I can’t scratch. It’s been happening more often. Maybe I should start slipping a run in before class.
I’m changing the audiobook on my phone when I run into something hard and solid. I stumble back and can’t help the shriek that escapes when I’m caught by my arm. Memories of my nightmares come rushing back in full force, and my first instinct is to swing.
My fist collides with a fucking boulder, and I cry out in pain. Was this all just a nightmare? The panic sets in, and I squeeze my eyes shut. My breathing goes from normal to erratic, and my body starts to shake.
No. No. Someone is shaking me. My eyes fly open, and when they meet the mystery guy from the gym, I’m struck silent. Both of his hands are clasped around my upper arms with punishing force. His expression is a mix of agitation and…something else.
I wonder if he finds himself in these situations often.
Looking closely, I notice there isn’t even a red mark where I struck him. My eyebrows pinch together in confusion, and the question is on the tip of my tongue when his voice brings me back to the present.
“Are you done causing a scene? Because if you want everyone to stare at us, we should at least give them something worth looking at,” he seethes through gritted teeth right before aggressively shoving me away—like I’m the one that forced him to put his grimy hands on me— and stuffing them in his pockets.
Rubbing where he grabbed me, my eyes bounce everywhere, except at him, while I take in my surroundings and try to calm my breathing.
Still shaken, I reply, “I don’t know what the hell your problem is, but clearly it was an accident.” Scoffing, I try to push past him, but his hand strikes out and latches onto my arm again.
Vigorously attempting to push him off me, his grip only intensifies.
“Get off of m—”
“You shouldn’t be so oblivious to your surroundings. You’re lucky it was me and not some fucking psycho.” His words drip with venom as he continues. “Get your head out of the clouds, Princess, because there are scary things in the world and you just met one,” he hisses at me with a stone-cold stare. My body sings, and I can feel my face heat with embarrassment and rage. Seconds pass before he releases me. A few more and he finally turns and walks away.
Once the aftershock has worn off a bit, I notice there wasn’t a single soul who intervened. There is a courtyard full of people, and nobody even gave the scene a second glance.
The walk back to my dorm is a blur, full of nameless faces that I couldn’t give a rat’s ass about and thoughts of who that guy is.
I can’t recall ever meeting him prior to Pennbrooke. But every time our paths cross, there’s this nagging sense of familiarity I can’t shake.
He still consumes my thoughts when I walk into the dorm and nearly have a heart attack when Kate starts squealing.
“Kallie! What are you doing home? I don’t normally see you for a couple more hours. OMG, can we have a girls’ day? I have been wanting to do one with you, but you’re always so busy doing God knows what.” She is so excited her words are practically running into each other as they spill from her mouth. Guilt settles in my stomach, but I’m not good company right now. The only thing I want to do right now is get all the rage and irritation out of my system.
“I’m really sorry, Kate. I just forgot my bag,” I say apologetically, gesturing to my duffel on the ground. I can visibly see the disappointment appear on her face, and the guilt seeps even further. Quickly, I follow up with, “I really have to go today, but let’s plan something for this weekend. We can go shopping, grab some lunch, then hit the clubs until we can’t feel our feet.” Her face lights up, and I can’t help but mimic her excitement with my own smile.
“That sounds like a great idea! No backing out. I’m gonna to hold you to it.” My smile morphs into a smirk, because I have no doubt that she will. I grab my bag and yell goodbye over my shoulder as I head out the door. Keeping my eyes up and alert during my trek to the gym, the feeling of being watched is like a scratch I can’t itch. I humor myself and turn around. To no one’s surprise, there’s nothing there.
It’s Friday night, which means Operation Girls’ Night is a go. I convinced Kate that we could go out tonight then do all our fun stuff tomorrow. I’m hoping she’ll be too hungover tomorrow and only want to lounge around and have a GRIMM marathon.
Does that make me a shitty friend? Probably. But I hate shopping, which is why I do all of mine online. Inevitably, we’ll run into people from school, conversate, and I’ll have to stand there for who knows how long nodding like a bobble head.
Kate, on the other hand, is the outgoing one. She seriously interrupted someone’s conversation one time because she was certain they were in the same coffee shop earlier that day.
I would rather die.
Being the introverted best friend, if it were up to me, we would be binge-watching our favorite movie series, maybe read a good book with a nice glass of wine and a face mask.
But alas, here I am, being the best friend and letting her doll me up for the night. Whatever. It’s one night.
Heading to the showers to wash off the school week, I’m thankful they are relatively empty, only a few lingering pairs of unwanted eyes—I really need to invest in some bigger towels.
After we get back into the dorm, Kate turns toward me with a huge grin. “I know that you don’t have anything club chic, so I hope you don’t mind, but after you left on Tuesday, I found the cutest boutique, and when I saw this dress, it just screamed KALLIE .” She starts clapping her hands in front of her and bouncing up and down. Shaking my head, I let out a soft giggle because…it’s Kate and what’s not to love.
With all the weirdness going on lately, I’m grateful to have her by my side. She’s always been there for me, and I’ll make sure I return the favor.
“You really didn’t need to do that,” I tell her honestly. But her smile begins to fall, so I quickly add, “I’m sure whatever you picked out is great.”
“Stop, you are not going to make me cry, and we don’t want my eyes all puffy before we go out,” she says, wiping away her fake tears. “Let me go grab it.’’ She practically runs to her room, and I have to admit, I’m a bit excited to see what she came up with.
“Okay, close your eyes!” she exclaims through the crack of her door. Following instructions, I do as I’m told. “They’re closed,” I confirm.
Her feet pad against the floor until they come to a halt a couple feet in front of me. “Open,” she squeals with a hint of apprehension in her tone.
Peeking through one of my eyes, I’m stunned speechless by the dress in her hands—one I would have never picked out for myself.
But I love it. Oh Goddess, do I love it.
Mouth hung open, air trapped in my lungs, I hesitantly take it from her offering hands. The silky material feels like butter on my palms, and the deep emerald green complements my skin tone perfectly.
“Kate. This is—”
“I know it’s not your typical…emo chic,” she interjects, “but I thought it would be a good change of pace!” She eyes me warily.
“This is perfect. Thank you. Really, thank you,” I tell her, unable to take my eyes off the mesmerizing material. “You’re right; I probably wouldn’t have grabbed it myself. But I’m really glad you did.” Finally looking up from the dress, tears start to form in my eyes. I don’t deserve to have her as a best friend, but I thank the goddess that I do.
Long sleeves adhere to my arms, and the dress stops about mid-thigh and molds to my body. A perfect fit, like it was made specifically for me. The entirety of my back is on full display. A piece of fabric hangs low, the tip dipping down to meet the top of my ass.
Kate pops into the full-length mirror next to me, and I admire the show-stopping, hot-pink mini-dress she picked out for herself. It really makes her blue eyes pop and the ringlets in her ponytail ‘stand out’ as she put it.
Reluctantly, she agreed to me straightening my hair and just keeping it simple. I told her the dress should be the focal point, and that made all the sense in the world to her.
“There we go!” she chimes with one last swipe of blush to my cheeks. It might not have been the best judgment call, but I let her have full rein on my makeup. After voicing my concerns when I saw the glob of foundation she was about to paint my face with, she insisted that it’s going to be dark in the club, so less is not more in this situation.
The first thing we packed for college was our fake IDs. We’ve had them since junior year and never had a problem. I haven’t made any friends since we started college, and that’s probably my fault. Kate—in the nicest way possible—says I’m unapproachable .
“You just have to get yourself out there,” she says as we freeze our asses off while walking to the club.
“But what if I don’t want to?” I argue. She lets out an annoyed sigh but doesn’t argue any further. Kate is on Operation Get Laid, and while that normally sounds like a good time, I’ve never been able to go all the way since that night.
So, I have been labeled an ‘unapproachable prude.’ Kate knows everything—obviously— and never pushes. She thinks when I meet the right person, I’ll be able to trust them, and it’ll be all sunshine and rainbows and blah blah blah.
For the first time, I think she might be right, though. For some odd reason, the way the guy from the gym has been making me feel let’s me know I might not be completely broken.
As predicted, we don’t get questioned by the bouncer. The club is packed, and the music is so loud I can’t hear myself think.
This is just what I needed.
Shuffling through the crowd of people, Kate grabs us each a couple of shots and a cocktail. My throat burns as the liquid makes its way down, but after the second one, I don’t feel anything except…free.
Making our way to the dance floor, all the stress and worry I’ve been harboring melts away. With every swish of my arms, I feel lighter, like all the pent-up energy and rage is just pouring off me in buckets. We’ve danced our way to the middle of the floor, the strobe lights growing brighter over us, and I shut my eyes, allowing the music to just take over. As “Copycat” by Billie Eilish fades into “Twisted” by The People’s Theives I open my eyes, and a look of complete contentment passes between us before we throw our hands up. In this moment, surrounded by complete strangers and my best friend, the stares don’t bother me.
And I’ve never felt more alive.