Expect the Unexpected

Chapter Two

Let the Fun Begin

Duncan and Heather had been living together for a full week. At first things were tense. They had been bickering to no end. It would range from topics to what to put on TV, the water pressure, and even one conversation that ended up with the pair screaming at one another over which side of the Twix bar was better. Then don't even get her started on the bathroom situation. Duncan was a total pig! He would never pick up whatever filthy clothing he wore for the day, and instead would just leave it sitting on the bathroom floor instead of placing it in the hamper. The two also constantly yelled about the hot water. Heather was sure that it was Duncan who used it all up, while Duncan was insistent that it was Heather. They both figured out that living together was going to be exhausting.

In between her feuding with Duncan, Heather had been going to auditions every day since she moved in, which required her to keep in shape. Winter was coming close, which meant that The Nutcracker, aka the most popular winter ballet, would be holding auditions soon. Ever since she was a little girl, Heather was in a version of the ballet. When she was a child she got to play the main female character Clara; a role most young girls fought tooth and nail to get. Clara was the main protagonist in the play. The young girl gets gifted with a shiny wooden nutcracker for Christmas, but when night time falls she gets transported to the world that the nutcracker comes from and must save him from the mouse king. Many versions of this ballet let a young ballerina play this role, and Heather was gifted with that chance when she was only ten. It was her first major role. Performing as Clara gave her great confidence in her dancing abilities when she was young. It also would eventually be the play that made Heather decide that she wanted to be a professional ballerina when she was young.

However, now that Heather was older, she wanted to go for the more difficult roles. This year, she was after the role of The Sugar Plum Fairy, and what Heather wanted- Heather typically got. This role was designated for the more talented of individuals. It would be great exposure for Heather as the play always gained a ton of press. To be known as The Sugar Plum Fairy in such a grand production, it would be just the big break that Heather needed. This could be the role that put her on the map in the dance scene.

Although she had enough space in her bedroom, she didn't really have a TV set up yet for her to follow the routine workout tapes that she preferred. She was currently practicing her spins with The Nutcracker music blasting. She needed to focus on the basics if she was going to secure such a big role.

She was quite focused on her training, thus tuning out the entire world besides the one mark on the wall she used to count her spins, a trick that she had been using since she was young- keep spinning but keep your eye on one spot on the wall to keep yourself from becoming dizzy. She was so focused on her training that she did not notice Duncan walk in. "Hey!" he shouted loudly over the music.

Her training was suddenly halted when the music cut off. She snapped her head towards the stereo to reveal Duncan with his arms full of groceries. "Jesus Heather, turn this shit off!" He gave a shake of his head and began to place the bags on the kitchen counter.

The professional ballerina let out a groan before settling down from her turns. She rolled her eyes before sitting down on the couch, immediately taking her ballet shoes off. God that always felt freeing. "For your information jailbird," Heather finally goes to retort, "this shit is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, okay? It's a classic that will go down in infamy, which I can't say for the stupid crap you listen to, you neanderthal."

Heather waltzed into the kitchen, leaning against the counter with a smirk to watch Duncan pack the groceries away. "Whatever. I don't know who that loser pyo-whatever is. But he's got nothing on my guy," Duncan proudly beamed at her before reaching for his phone. He waved his phone in front of her for a second, as if he was taunting her. With a few press of the buttons, his phone was now putting out the smooth sounds of none other than Elvis Presley's hit Jailhouse Rock.

She couldn't help but scoff at him as Duncan begins to mock the dead rockstar's dance moves. "You're such a dork." She gave a small shake of her head at him. She couldn't believe the amount of nerd-like things Duncan actually was capable of. Back on the show, she saw him as one of the few people. Now that she lived with him.. he was just as big of a secret geek as the rest. Duncan had many nerd-like habits that he tried to hide. Besides his lame love for Elvis, Heather was quite surprised to see how dedicated to gaming Duncan one. He would stay up until the late hours to yell at whoever was in his "party", a term Heather recently learned due to Duncan, about how much they sucked. It was almost as pathetic as that Sam guy she met on All-Stars- almost.

However, Heather shouldn't be one to talk. As highly as she thought of herself, she too was a giant dork behind closed doors. From her hidden glitter glue, pen collection to the fact that she actually was captain of them mathletes in high school- Heather was a nerd. It's why she secretly got along well with Cody and Harold. Not that any of this mattered, as Heather would never even admit it to herself let alone others.

Duncan bobs his head before turning the music off, "Whatever, says the girl listening to classical music. I always pegged you as a bubblegum pop kind of girl." He could see a bit of annoyance flash on Heather's face before she expertly masked it by letting her expression go cold.

The raven haired beauty reached forward to go and grab at some chips she bought earlier that evening. Since she moved to the city, Heather was living on take-out and snacks. Neither she nor Duncan enjoyed cooking. In fact, their decision to snack and constantly eat either Chinese or pizza was their first real agreement as roommates. "I only listen to it when I'm dancing or training. Otherwise, I'm listening to other things."

Duncan was immediately intrigued at the way she phrased it. He leaned towards her to make sure he could hear exactly what she was saying. "Other things? What kind of other things would Miss. Queenie listen to?" He crossed his arms, eyeing her cell phone that laid down next to her before returning to look back at Heather. "Let me guess, Al put you on to Latin music?"

Heather hopped up on the counter to sit as she met his gaze. Was this a conversation normal roommates had; music taste? "Actually, no. I like the rhythm but if I can't sing it, I don't play it."

"Ah, so you're a karaoke girl? Interesting." He stated, now placing the groceries in their designated section of the pantry or fridge.

"Is it really that surprising?" she questioned, taking the groceries out of the plastic bags and placing them back on the counter for Duncan to put away.

Duncan put the new carton of milk in the fridge, looking over his shoulder at her. "Slightly," he replied, "I don't remember you being the singing type."

"Well, I am full of surprises," she stated, taking her hair out of her tight bun. "I'm not as one dimensional as you are."

At that, Duncan moved closer to her. His eyes didn't leave her own before he suddenly swiped his hand forward and grabbed her phone. He heard Heather exclaim something at him before hopping down the counter, making Duncan run through the living room as Heather chased him. He swiped his finger across the screen and was surprised to see that she didn't even have a lock set. "Oh wow! You're such an amature," he said with a boisterous laugh. She tried to reach forward for her phone as she went after Duncan. This guy was so on her hit list! "Give it back you asshole!" Then to her own horror, she watched Duncan hit the music app.

When he opened it up, Duncan once again laughed. "Coolio?! You listen to Coolio?!" He suddenly stopped short, letting Heather finally grab her phone. Duncan let out a loud belly laugh as he tried to figure out since when did Heather listen to hip hop? "Does our sweet little Queenie have anything else she's hiding? Do you also listen to Megan Thee Stallion?" he continued to tease her, poking her arm with her finger.

Her face went red as she stuffed the phone in her pocket. Heather hated that her pale skin always showed off her blush more. She sent an easy hit to his arm, just to shut the neanderthal up. "No asshole!" she denied before suddenly huffing, "okay- fine, yes I have some Megan in there. I enjoy some female empowerment anthems as I work out."

Duncan let out another chuckle at that. "Alright, alright. I'll let you listen to your weird classic shit as long as you play one song off your phone in between the boring shit," Duncan offered her. He gave her a playful shove back. Even though Heather was still a pain, he enjoyed messing with people just as much as she did.

It seemed Heather was fine with his offer. All she did in response was brush past him and head to the kitchen to grab a chinese menu off the fridge . She knew having a roommate would mean some of her privacy would be interrupted. Though sometimes she really wished it was someone else she had to share that privacy with. "Tell anyone, and I'll cut your balls off while you sleep," she finally replied as she looked through the menu pamphlet.

Duncan once again smiled smugly at her threat. Even when he thought he got the upper hand, she had something both witty and threatening to give him. "Try that and I'll let Bitsy out while you sleep," he threatened back.

Heather finally looked up from the menu with a puzzled expression on her face. "Who's Bitsy?" She was still new to the building and didn't even know all the tenets yet.

The former criminal stared at her for a minute, preparing himself to catch her reaction. He knew that he would want to remember this moment for a long time. It would be comforting whenever Heather managed to weasel her way underneath his skin. "Bitsy is the tarantula I have in my room."

The color drained from her face as she practically jumped up on the counter. With her eyes as big as saucers, her jaw dropped at the terrible idea. "What! I thought there was a no pets rule?!" she practically screeched. Her eyes looked all over the room, as if she could suddenly see where the spider once roamed.

With another laugh, Duncan walked over to scan the menu Heather once held. His eyes didn't even leave the page as he answered her. "Bobby the landlord has a thing for bugs. So, I keep my spider and your poor stupid cat stays with your parents." he messed with her, "how does chow mein sound to you?"

At his sudden topic change, Heather couldn't help but scowl at his teasing. Ever since her first day at that apartment, Heather had expressed her hatred of the no pets rule. She especially loathed her parting away from her beloved pet Bruiser. Bruiser was a white American shorthair cat that she was gifted at the ripe age of five. She and Bruiser had been together for sixteen years. Through every high and every low that grumpy old cat was by her side. But with their recent separation, she missed him loads.

"That's so unfair," she ridiculed before sinking forward on her elbows. "I swear, cats get such a bad reputation, and for no reason!" She bit at her lower lip in deep thought. It was clear to Duncan that this was a subject she thought long and hard about.

"Well suck it up buttercup," Duncan offered with a gentle pat on her shoulder. He didn't enjoy all pets, but insects and dogs were his specialty. However, cats were not part of this equation. He found them to be… rude. Which he figured would explain Heather's liking for the furry little beast. "No dogs, no cats, and nothing else exotic. Not everything is meant to work in your favor. Now answer the question, do you or do you not want to eat chow mein?"

Heather reached back to tie her hair up in a low pony. She really hated Duncan sometimes. He was more comfortable with her than most people were. But this wasn't anything new. In fact, even when they were young teenagers there was an underlying layer of respect between them. As much as they would pick and pick and pick at one another, they never did dare cross the other. However as he stared at her with that self-approving smile, Heather wished she would have knocked him down a peg when they were younger.

"Ever bring that spider around me and I'll shave that disgusting unibrow for you," she threatened before grabbing her phone again, "and I'm getting whatever kind of egg rolls I want."

Duncan raised his hands in mock surrender as he turned around. Although he could have easily given up this petty and pretty pointless debate, he always found messing with Heather so fun. So, while she was on the phone with the Emerald Dragon restaurant, Duncan went into his room and headed straight to his spider enclosure. He saw the hairy little creature resting on a leaf. He didn't always try to pick the little fella up, but Bitsy always did enjoy going out sometimes.

He made his way back to the kitchen, seeing Heather with her back to him; totally unaware of his plan. She had her hand on the menu, strumming her nails against the counter, when he finally decided to let Bitsy down.

"Yep, apartment 4D. Uh-huh. alright , thanks," she, surprisingly, politely hung up. Which was the exact moment that Bitsy finally crawled onto her hand. "Ew, Duncan," Heather complained, looking down at her phone, "don't try to hold my hand. You know you disgust me."

Duncan chuckled as he shook his head, "I'm not touching you, queenie." His words sent a chill down Heather's spine as she finally turned her head to see what it was. The second her eyes landed on the creature, she let out an ear piercing scream before jerking her hand away. At once, Duncan grabbed Bitsy and made a beeline to his room. All while Heather once again chased after him!

"You asshole!" Heather screamed at him, throwing the rolled up menu at Duncan's head, "I swear to God Duncan I will get you for this!" She threw out the threat right before Duncan could shut his door, now in the protection of his own room.

The former delinquent couldn't help but cackle at her reaction. He stood against his door for a moment before placing Bitsy back in his enclosure. "Great job buddy," he praised while shutting the habitat shut, "you've earned yourself an extra fly this evening for your feeding."

Maybe rooming with Heather wouldn't be so bad after all. Sure, she was dramatic. But damn, she made for some great entertainment!

Authors Note: Thank you all for reading! I really appreciate every single read, follow, favorite, and comment. You're the best!

I hope you enjoyed watching these two bicker, because there may be more of it coming. What? You didn't expect them to just get along, did you?