"What the hell?" I wake up hearing Danny turning on the light and walking to the window. I groan and put my yellow pillow over my head.
"Can you shut up?" I ask.
"What's going on?" Perry asks, walking in the room. I groan again.
"There's a cat outside the window. How Laura kept sleeping, I'll never know." Danny replies.
"I was fine until you started talking and turning on lights." I said sleepily.
"I'm sure it's harmless." Perry says, walking to the window.
"What kinda idiot would leave their cat outside when there's an eighty percent chance of rain?" Danny asks, crawling back into her bed.
That made my eyes open. I couldn't let a little animal like that be outside all night—especially when it's raining. There was a strict no pet policy in our building, though, so I don't know who's it is.
"Who's is it?" I ask.
"It's Carmilla's." Danny says. "She lives right across the hall."
Within minutes, I hear them both snoring loudly, so I get up quietly and walk outside. The cat seems to know I came out here to get him. I pick him up and I smile, he's nuzzling into me and he's really cute. I know it's late but I can't exactly take this cat into my apartment either.
I go back inside and knock on Carmilla's door. I'd never met her; I just moved in three weeks ago. Danny and Perry knew I had wanted to move out when I graduated college, so they let me move in with them.
"Need something, cutie?" I turn around and see a girl not much taller than me with long black hair and—wait, are those leather pants?
"Uh—yeah, your cat….he was outside and it's supposed to rain and I didn't want him to be out there alone but I couldn't let him inside my apartment either—"
"Cupcake, no offense, but shut up." she laughs—and gosh she has a nice laugh. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." I reply, trying to hand him over to her. But he doesn't move.
"He seems to like you." she says. "Can't say I blame him."
I blush.
"I hate to say it, but he probably won't let you put him down until he's asleep. Do you mind sticking around for a few minutes?"
A few minutes alone with the hot neighbor no one told me I had? No problem.
"Yeah, that's fine." I reply. She uses her key and walks in—the apartment doesn't look much different than ours, except there's only one bed. The walls are black, the comforters are red, and there's a few paintings on the wall. "I like your apartment." I reply.
"Thank you, cupcake." she says. "Do you want anything to dink?"
"I don't exactly have a choice. It's not like I can put him down." I reply.
"Oh, right." she says. "You can just sit down, he should be out in a few minutes."
I sit on her bed and pet him while she grabs a beer from the fridge and sits next to me. "So you know my secret huh?"
"What?" I ask.
"That I have a cat." she replies. "Well, I know I may look like the type that would break the rules easily, but I only broke that one because of the landlord."
"You don't like her?" I ask.
"You do?"
"I've never met her."
"Then you probably met Will, right?"
Will. Not very tall guy with short brown hair and brown eyes. Really nice. "Yeah."
"That's my brother. And the landlord is my mom."
"Oh." I say. "So…you and your mom don't get along?"
"Never have." she says. "She loves Will, though. Which is why she gave him the manager's position. Not that I wanted it, anyway. I had better things to do than sit around an office all day. But Will loves it. He used to beg to go to school on weekends. He just loves that environment."
"You're different then, huh?"
"Very." she says. "So which apartment do you live in?"
"I live right across the hall."
"I wish I had known such a cutie lived there." she smirks. I blush. "I only ever see two red-heads leave."
"I just moved in three weeks ago, and I have a pretty early job. I don't really get home until later."
"Not late enough, cutie. Do you know how late I stay out?"
"No." I reply.
"And do you know how late I sleep?"
I laugh. "That's probably why you've never seen me."
A short red-head walks in the room in boxers and a white t-shirt, stretching and yawning. Their eyes widen when they see Carmilla. "I didn't realize you'd be home so early. I'll leave—"
"LaF, it's fine." Carmilla says. "She's not here to sleep with me."
I blush. Again.
"That's my roommate, LaFontaine." Carmilla says. "And this is—wait, what's your name?"
"KInda sounds like the girls you sleep with—no offense." LaF says.
"Don't worry about it." I reply. "I'm Laura."
"Laura." Carmilla repeats, but not to finish her sentence—it sounds more like she's just enjoying saying the name. "She lives down the hall, with the other two redheads."
Their eyes light up. "The curly haired one?"
I nod. "That's Perry."
"LaFontaine has had the biggest crush on her for months now, but hasn't had the courage to talk to her."
I laugh. "Well, she's single."
"Who's the tall one?" Carmilla asks.
"That's Danny. She's about to move out, though. She's moving in with her fiancé."
"Not that I'm not enjoying hanging out with my cute neighbor's roommate, but why are you here at 2 in the morning?"
"Taylor was outside and Laura didn't want him to be out in the rain alone."
"She takes better care of your cat than you do." LaF says. "Well, anyway, I heard talking and I wasn't expecting you to be here, but I'm glad I didn't interrupt anything. It was nice meeting you, Laura. And….maybe, perhaps….if you can, mention me to Perry?"
I laugh. "Yeah, sure."
"Wait, you weren't expecting me to be here—so you walk in yawning and stretching?" Carmilla asks.
"I'm not very threatening. The only thing I can do is distract them with a science lesson. That was my first plan."
"And if that didn't work?"
"Offer SJ as a sacrifice."
Carmilla and Lafontaine both laugh, but I can feel myself falling asleep. Petting this cat has been making me sleepy. Lafontaine leaves and Carmilla looks at me, and she laughs. "You sleepy, cupcake?"
I nod. "Sorry, I'll leave—he's asleep—"
"No," she says, pulling a blanket over me. "You stay here. Xena and Mother Hen won't mind, right?"
I yawn, my eyelids drooping.
"Goodnight, cupcake." she says. I could've swore I felt her kiss my forehead.