[(This chapter title is so British...)ARE YOU READY!? ARE YOU REEEEEAAALY READY!? Don't worry this'll be so awesome. YOU MAY THINK THIS IS AN AU... BUT IT ISN'T... *Shifty Eyes*TWO MINDS ARE BETTER THAN ONE AND STUFF AND OMG JUST READ THE DAMN THING. *I am waaaaaaaaaaaay too excited for this.*]
The soft hum of an outdated computer tower buzzed through the small apartment. The entire flat was hidden in darkness, except for the soft yellow light of a single flexible-necked desk lamp, clamped tightly to a pawn shop desk. The cold glow of the computer monitor sitting on the desk illuminated the face of a petite girl, her hands viciously rapping against her keyboard, only to have them pause: her hand diverted to the mouse as she clicked away from what she had been working on to a web browser window. The girl rubbed her index finger back and forth on the left side of her mouse as her eyes shifted back and forth on the screen. There was a moment of hesitation, but she bit her lip and hovered the cursor over the button that read, 'Post your ad'.
Click. The ad was posted. Bonnie sat at her computer, looking at the ad she had just sent to everybody and nobody. The Kijiji page read, "Roommate wanted. Apartment is two-bedroom, right off-campus of the university. No pets allowed, no smoking, no parties." She tried to convince herself that she was only doing it for the extra monetary support. That she wasn't just lonely. She closed the tab and continued to quadruple-check her essay. Her eyelids drooped as she skimmed over the words. Theoretical. Gene-splicing. Genetic structure. The ability to combine cells with any material. She looked at the time on her computer. 2:30 am. Hopefully this essay would do, considering she had to get up in four and a half hours to hand it in to her professor.
The printer beside her roared to life and spewed out the many pages of her essay. Her computer made the familiar shutting down noises. She hole-punched the pages and gently placed them into the clear duotang that she had bought specifically for the project. She slid it into the middle of the table, and grabbed the glass of water that was waiting, half-finished. Bonnie made her way across her flat's living area, stubbing her toe only twice as she shuffled through the dark and made her way to her bedroom, glass of water in hand. She set the glass down on her night stand and flopped into bed. Her hair landed randomly all around her pillow as she struggled on top of her messy bed, kicking a text book or two from the sheets before she found a comfortable position. Of course, as soon as her body stopped moving, she felt her brain whir back to life, every worry becoming more apparent in her mind. But sleep was important, she told herself. Without it, her alarm wouldn't wake her up tomorrow and she'd be late for class, and if she was late—Her thoughts trailed down a spiraling path of negativity, until she was pulled away by flashing lights in the apartment across the street, followed by a heavy thump of bass. Probably a party. Bonnie sighed. She could've been at that party… Met some friends, maybe a nice boy… No. That's not why you're here. You're here to give yourself a better future. She turned away from the window and hugged one of the loose pillows on her bed. She watched the lights dance across the wall of her room until her eyelids regained their weight.
A knocking on the door woke Bonnie up. Who could it possibly be at this hour? Probably some drunk- Sun illuminated the small, plain bedroom, dust particles dancing in the light. The digital alarm clock read 9:17. Bonnie picked it up and grimaced at the glowing red numbers. She had forgotten to set her alarm last night, like she did most Sunday nights. Her chest clenched and she felt like everything was crumbling around her until the knock came again. Didn't they know she was in the middle of a crisis? Taking a few calming breaths to assure herself there was no making it to her class, she threw her pink housecoat over her pajamas and rushed to answer the door. "One second!" She ran through the living room, only to stub her toe once again on the raised level enclosing the living room, cursing harshly under her breath. "I'm coming!" She let out a strained yell to the other side of the door as she stretched for the little chain lock. Her still groggy eyes strained to work the lock; she had forgotten to grab her glasses off the desk and felt disoriented by her blurry surroundings. She swung open the door and saw a person standing there. The only features Bonnie could make out were long, raven-black hair and olive skin. The person seemed to be holding something at chest-height… a sheet of paper?
"Hey, yeah. Is this 20351 Lewis street?" A confident female voice asked.
"Ahhh…" Bonnie yawned. "Yeah? Uh, why?" Her eyes were still heavy with sleep.
"I got your ad." The girl waved the piece of paper around, hand on her hip.
"Oh." Bonnie rubbed her eyes and shifted her weight awkwardly. The worry about missing her class had settled. "Well, I already missed my class, so why not? Come in." She stepped to the side and allowed her guest to pass her.
"Wow… nice digs." There was a clunk sound as a suitcase rolled over the doorway. The person was also wearing a backpack with something big, auburn. and long-necked sticking out from beneath it. She looked around happily. "Yeah, I think this will do. At first I thought you were at that dump across the street, but the ad said no parties. And man, was that a party." The girl said as she plopped herself and her stuff down on the couch. "Speaking of which, I don't think I've ever seen you at any of these fratboy parties."
"That's because I have better things to do." Bonnie retorted, paused, then held out two stop-sign palms toward the guest and shook her head. "Hold up. You haven't even looked at the place and you've already decided? I don't even know your name!" Her voice strained and it was apparent she felt overwhelmed. Firstly, she didn't get to hand in that essay, and then some random chick barges right into her house and acts like she owns the place.
"Well then…" The girl stretch out on the couch and said casually, "I'm Marceline Abadeer." Marceline threw her hand up into the air, offering it to Bonnie.
Bonnie, still standing flabbergasted by the door, limply pushed it closed and shuffled over to the couch in her slippers. She stood by the couch, hesitantly took Marceline's raised hand, and shook it. "I'm Bonnibel Nye. Bonnie for short."
"Bonnibel? Really? Oh, man! That's priceless!" Marceline began to laugh, taking back her hand in her fit of mocking. "Bonnibel Nye the science guy!"
Bonnie blushed, feeling herself grow flustered, "Hah. Hah. Hah. Haven't heard that one before…Look, can I at least show you around before you feel like you own the place?" She rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.
"I guess so…But this is the only place I've really bothered to look at." The raven haired girl looked around the flat for a moment and then shrugged, "I'll probably just stay, as long as you aren't an axe murder." She paused again, "You aren't, are ya?" There was no reply from Bonnie except for a stifled sigh as she took three steps towards the small kitchen, narrowly missing stubbing her toe on the raised level again. Marceline let out a sly chuckle as she hopped off the couch and joined Bonnie in the small space. The two of them stood in the tiny quarters of the kitchen, only about two inches separating them as they faced each other. Marceline was about an inch smaller than Bonnie and looked up at her with a goofy grin, "You treat all your house guests like this?" The taller of the two rolled her eyes and pushed past Marceline to show her how the kitchen was organized. "I keep the cups up here…This is where I keep the cutlery…" Bonnie pulled out a drawer a tiny bit to reveal the contents inside only to look back to see Marceline digging through her fridge. Bonnie slowly let out, "Umm…" But Marceline obviously didn't hear Bonnie or chose to ignore her because she pulled out a carton of strawberries. "Score!" She cracked the box open and bit into one of the red berries and looked at Bonnie, "What's next, Bonnibel Nye?"
Bonnie felt like this girl rubbed her all the wrong ways, but she simply gestured for Marceline to follow her down the narrow hallway where both bedrooms and the bathroom were located. "So the good news is that I have an empty room." Bonnie stopped and turned around to face the strawberry thief standing in the hallway.
"Okay… Are you going somewhere with this?" Marceline inhaled another strawberry, making loud smacking sounds as she licked her lips.
"The bad news is that you're obnoxious! And I can't have you interrupting my studies." Bonnie crossed her arms and finally announced her dismay, "And I was saving those!" Bonnie motioned to the now-empty carton of strawberries.
"Yeaaaah…" Marceline turned around and began to saunter back to the living area. "I'll start decorating."
Bonnie puckered her face and stormed to grab her glasses. She had work in other classes that still needed to be done and she couldn't have some punk-ass girl distracting her. She stomped back into the living room where her computer was stationed. She held up her pointer finger and opened her mouth to sternly ask Marceline to leave… But now with her clear vision she actually saw Marceline for the first time. Her heart skipped a beat.
[Don't forget that half of the credit goes to my friend, LyssieBee, who gave me most of the ideas for this story, helped me write it via FaceBook message, and who got me hooked on Adventure Time in the first place.
Also for this first little bit we don't really have anything planned, so we're painfully grinding along until we get to the really good parts. Ideas would be appreciated.]