Megan Christch grunted as the water that had been so warm moments earlier suddenly turned cold. Twisting around in panic, she spun the valves to off and stood there panting, dripping wet and now freezing. She had wanted to relax, take a warm shower, maybe even just lounge about in her underwear and a robe for the day. Now, her plans were marred. Flinging the shower curtain aside, she grabbed a faded green towel from the rack only inches away and started toweling her short cut auburn hair. Stepping out of the tub/shower combo, she turned to look at Aleisha Moreno, who was smirking. "What the hell are you grinning at?" snapped Alexis, finishing off the remainder of her slim body and snatching her bra from her friends outstretched hands. Snapping the enclosures on the front of the small support, she took her matching white-and-Sponge Bob panties from Aleisha and shoved them on, turning and storming from the bathroom, Aleisha barely able to hold in the laughter bubbling in her chest.
Megan had been at Aleisha's throat ever since Alex had set them up to watch each other's backs. The match had certainly not been one made in heaven, but with the unbalance in the group and the prudish nature of most of the girls, Aleisha included, she and Megan ended up sleeping, eating, bathing, even going to the store together. It was like a lesbian relationship without the perks, and Megan was certainly butch enough. The two girls were at odds about almost everything: Punk and R&B, Goth and Hilfiger, shaved and designed, spiked and long flowing. Almost everything that they did together wound up as some argument, and it was slowly getting to be a workable schedule. It was the ideal hate-hate relationship, and they pulled it off almost perfectly. However, today was going to be a tough compromise. Aleisha had planned on going out with the others to see a recent release movie, but Megan had planned on vegging out at the motel, watching MTV and noshing on Cheez Curlz. Sighing, Aleisha walked out of the bathroom and found her roommate indeed cuddled up on the bed, head hanging upside down over the edge, flipping through channels and chomping..oh, my apologies..Cheesy Popcorn.
"Dammit, Megan, is this what your going to do all day?" Aleisha asked, the exasperation in her voice tinged with anger.
Megan didn't even look at her, much less acknowledge she had heard what she had said, and stopped on a documentary on Aerosmith. Walking over to the foot of the bed, Aleisha stood directly in the line of the television and coughed deep in her throat, drawing Megan to raise her head enough to glare at her.
"What?" she mumbled through a yellowed mouthful of popcorn.
"Megan, I was wanting to go see that new horror flic with Mark and Alexis. Now, I know we're supposed to stay together, but seeing as your not planning to go anywhere short of unconscious today, I'm going to leave my cell phone number on the bedstand and just head out. I'm sure you'll be fine passed out drooling on the floor, right?"
Megan just continued to glare at her, then returned her head to upside down, shrugging. Instead of waiting for Aleisha to move, Megan pushed her hands between her roommates legs and pressed them apart as best she could until she was watching Steven Tyler screaming into his mouth-dwarfed microphone. Yelping in surprise, Aleisha struggled to stay standing and with a huff and a prissy little yell stomped off, jabbing a pen to paper and shoving the number onto the bedstand, on which rested the phone, a lamp, and a Bible with several coaster stains.
"If anything bad happens, we're only five minutes away. If anything good happens, keep it to yourself. And if you die and come back to haunt me, I swear to God I'm gonna exorcise your ass myself."
With this last tyrade, Aleisha grabbed a Gap fleece jacket and her Gucci purse and keys, slamming the door on her way out, shaking the walls and causing a rather ugly painting to collapse to the floor. Megan looked up as the image of some Southern Nevada moonscape flipped over and tore on a coat hook, and smiled. Damned painting was an eyesore anyway. Looking back to the television, she had just enough time to whine in fear and cover her face as the television, only two feet away, came scooting out of it's cubby against the wall, landing with a crash.
All was darkness and pounding bass. Wait...that bass....that wasn't a drum...her heartbeat. The darkness...it seemed to pulsate, was broken by bits of light and wrinkles of something pink...her hands. She was alive! Shaking with fear, Megan pulled her hands slowly away from her eyes and saw that the set had strangled itself by the cable connection, hanging an inch off of the floor and swinging lightly. Still breathing hard, Megan tried to call out to Aleisha, but her words came out as just a strangled whisper. On shaky legs she slid off the bed and made her way to the closet, pulling a pair of wide legged black pants and a tank top from off the floor, where she kept her clothes. Pulling them on, she grabbed a pair of sneakers and pulled them on, tying them clumsily, not bothering with socks. Jumping up, she grabbed her own keys and bolted out the door, closing it hard and locking the deadbolt. She was still shaking as she staggered down the hallway and out of the building, but the cool late-summer breeze steeled her enough so she knew where she was going. That had been the second time in three months that she had almost been killed by an appliance, the first one her oven at her parents house.
The stove had been relatively new, only a year and a half old, and the connection to the unit newer than that. She had opened the wide front door to replace the burnt out lightbulb, unscrewing the old one and attaching the new one swiftly, as the gas unit was hot even when not in use. She had started to lean out when a sudden *click* caught her attention. Easing out of the oven, she had almost closed the door entirely when a massive plume of bluish-red fire erupted from a burner on top, almost right in her face. Screaming, she had scampered back as flames seemed to engulf the unit, undulating and flowing as if alive. She had run from her home that day, only to return five hours later to a burnt shell. She had lost her mom, little brother and cat all in that small span, and Alex Browning had come to her rescue like the little boy scout she had always seen him as.Today had been twice now, and she wasn't going to stay alone anymore. The cinema was only five blocks away, and she made a light jog towards it, swiftly catching up with the others and wrapping her arms around Aleisha in a tight, sisterly hug. The blonde gasped in surprise and almost screamed, but soon realized it was Megan and turned around. The first thing she noticed was that her roommate was NOT in a good mood.
"Megan, hon, what happened? Did something bad happen?"
Megan nodded, muttering "Television....fell...almost...my head...oh, God...don't leave me again!"
She almost sobbed the last part, burying her face into Aleisha's hair and hugging her tightly. Aleisha just stood there, cooing softly and rubbing her friends back, trying to calm her down. After a few moments, she finally pulled Megan away from her soaked shoulder and asked "Would you like to come with us and see the movie hon?"
Megan started to nod, but then remembered what type it was. "No...no, not horror! Please! There has to be something else." Aleisha looked back at Mark and Alexis. Mark shrugged his narrow but strong shoulders, his grey eyes, lightly brushed with locks of brown hair, showing the pain he felt for Megan. Alexis nodded slowly, a look of deep concern and fear on her own dark-complected face. She was polynesian, and looked it, with dark, butt length hair, a natural tan, and large, oval shaped eyes.
Aleisha looked back to Megan and said softly "All right, hon. We'll see what else there is. I'm sure that there is some teeny bopper film out. There's a new one every week."
Megan looked at her roommate in mock horror, mouthing the word "NO". Aleisha laughed and threw her arm around Megan's shoulders, guiding her along with the rest to the lonely, three-screened theater that practically screamed "I was around during Prohibition!".They laughed as they walked into the large double doors to the ticket clerk, the opening closing slowly with a swooosh of air. Little did they notice the dark, smoky shadow that slipped in behind them just before the door clicked shut, the lock rotating slowly, silently before deadbolting into place.
Megan had been at Aleisha's throat ever since Alex had set them up to watch each other's backs. The match had certainly not been one made in heaven, but with the unbalance in the group and the prudish nature of most of the girls, Aleisha included, she and Megan ended up sleeping, eating, bathing, even going to the store together. It was like a lesbian relationship without the perks, and Megan was certainly butch enough. The two girls were at odds about almost everything: Punk and R&B, Goth and Hilfiger, shaved and designed, spiked and long flowing. Almost everything that they did together wound up as some argument, and it was slowly getting to be a workable schedule. It was the ideal hate-hate relationship, and they pulled it off almost perfectly. However, today was going to be a tough compromise. Aleisha had planned on going out with the others to see a recent release movie, but Megan had planned on vegging out at the motel, watching MTV and noshing on Cheez Curlz. Sighing, Aleisha walked out of the bathroom and found her roommate indeed cuddled up on the bed, head hanging upside down over the edge, flipping through channels and chomping..oh, my apologies..Cheesy Popcorn.
"Dammit, Megan, is this what your going to do all day?" Aleisha asked, the exasperation in her voice tinged with anger.
Megan didn't even look at her, much less acknowledge she had heard what she had said, and stopped on a documentary on Aerosmith. Walking over to the foot of the bed, Aleisha stood directly in the line of the television and coughed deep in her throat, drawing Megan to raise her head enough to glare at her.
"What?" she mumbled through a yellowed mouthful of popcorn.
"Megan, I was wanting to go see that new horror flic with Mark and Alexis. Now, I know we're supposed to stay together, but seeing as your not planning to go anywhere short of unconscious today, I'm going to leave my cell phone number on the bedstand and just head out. I'm sure you'll be fine passed out drooling on the floor, right?"
Megan just continued to glare at her, then returned her head to upside down, shrugging. Instead of waiting for Aleisha to move, Megan pushed her hands between her roommates legs and pressed them apart as best she could until she was watching Steven Tyler screaming into his mouth-dwarfed microphone. Yelping in surprise, Aleisha struggled to stay standing and with a huff and a prissy little yell stomped off, jabbing a pen to paper and shoving the number onto the bedstand, on which rested the phone, a lamp, and a Bible with several coaster stains.
"If anything bad happens, we're only five minutes away. If anything good happens, keep it to yourself. And if you die and come back to haunt me, I swear to God I'm gonna exorcise your ass myself."
With this last tyrade, Aleisha grabbed a Gap fleece jacket and her Gucci purse and keys, slamming the door on her way out, shaking the walls and causing a rather ugly painting to collapse to the floor. Megan looked up as the image of some Southern Nevada moonscape flipped over and tore on a coat hook, and smiled. Damned painting was an eyesore anyway. Looking back to the television, she had just enough time to whine in fear and cover her face as the television, only two feet away, came scooting out of it's cubby against the wall, landing with a crash.
All was darkness and pounding bass. Wait...that bass....that wasn't a drum...her heartbeat. The darkness...it seemed to pulsate, was broken by bits of light and wrinkles of something pink...her hands. She was alive! Shaking with fear, Megan pulled her hands slowly away from her eyes and saw that the set had strangled itself by the cable connection, hanging an inch off of the floor and swinging lightly. Still breathing hard, Megan tried to call out to Aleisha, but her words came out as just a strangled whisper. On shaky legs she slid off the bed and made her way to the closet, pulling a pair of wide legged black pants and a tank top from off the floor, where she kept her clothes. Pulling them on, she grabbed a pair of sneakers and pulled them on, tying them clumsily, not bothering with socks. Jumping up, she grabbed her own keys and bolted out the door, closing it hard and locking the deadbolt. She was still shaking as she staggered down the hallway and out of the building, but the cool late-summer breeze steeled her enough so she knew where she was going. That had been the second time in three months that she had almost been killed by an appliance, the first one her oven at her parents house.
The stove had been relatively new, only a year and a half old, and the connection to the unit newer than that. She had opened the wide front door to replace the burnt out lightbulb, unscrewing the old one and attaching the new one swiftly, as the gas unit was hot even when not in use. She had started to lean out when a sudden *click* caught her attention. Easing out of the oven, she had almost closed the door entirely when a massive plume of bluish-red fire erupted from a burner on top, almost right in her face. Screaming, she had scampered back as flames seemed to engulf the unit, undulating and flowing as if alive. She had run from her home that day, only to return five hours later to a burnt shell. She had lost her mom, little brother and cat all in that small span, and Alex Browning had come to her rescue like the little boy scout she had always seen him as.Today had been twice now, and she wasn't going to stay alone anymore. The cinema was only five blocks away, and she made a light jog towards it, swiftly catching up with the others and wrapping her arms around Aleisha in a tight, sisterly hug. The blonde gasped in surprise and almost screamed, but soon realized it was Megan and turned around. The first thing she noticed was that her roommate was NOT in a good mood.
"Megan, hon, what happened? Did something bad happen?"
Megan nodded, muttering "Television....fell...almost...my head...oh, God...don't leave me again!"
She almost sobbed the last part, burying her face into Aleisha's hair and hugging her tightly. Aleisha just stood there, cooing softly and rubbing her friends back, trying to calm her down. After a few moments, she finally pulled Megan away from her soaked shoulder and asked "Would you like to come with us and see the movie hon?"
Megan started to nod, but then remembered what type it was. "No...no, not horror! Please! There has to be something else." Aleisha looked back at Mark and Alexis. Mark shrugged his narrow but strong shoulders, his grey eyes, lightly brushed with locks of brown hair, showing the pain he felt for Megan. Alexis nodded slowly, a look of deep concern and fear on her own dark-complected face. She was polynesian, and looked it, with dark, butt length hair, a natural tan, and large, oval shaped eyes.
Aleisha looked back to Megan and said softly "All right, hon. We'll see what else there is. I'm sure that there is some teeny bopper film out. There's a new one every week."
Megan looked at her roommate in mock horror, mouthing the word "NO". Aleisha laughed and threw her arm around Megan's shoulders, guiding her along with the rest to the lonely, three-screened theater that practically screamed "I was around during Prohibition!".They laughed as they walked into the large double doors to the ticket clerk, the opening closing slowly with a swooosh of air. Little did they notice the dark, smoky shadow that slipped in behind them just before the door clicked shut, the lock rotating slowly, silently before deadbolting into place.