Opening an eye, I let out a small groan and closed it again, trying to get back to sleep, when I suddenly realized my room looked different. Not only that, but the familiar scent of a guy's bedroom hit my nose.
My eyes shot open as I looked around and remembered I was in Mickey's room. After doing our paper and my run-in with my sister last night, Mickey suggested I come back to his dorm, and we watch some movies.
The night mainly consisted of horror movies and cuddling into Mickey, who had quickly realized over our short friendship that I'm a cuddler when I watch movies.
Especially if I was very comfortable with the person, I was watching the film with.
Cici learned that pretty quick, too, only she made me watch rom coms instead of horrors. I've watched Pretty Woman more times now than I ever had before.
Feeling a heavy weight tighten around my waist, I groggily glanced down, seeing an arm strung across my body. Slowly glancing behind me, I saw Mickey being the big spoon as our feet entwined.
"Oh god," I shouted as I jumped up and fell to the floor, waking Mickey as a loud thump echoed around the room.
His face twisted in confusion as he peered down at me on the floor. He held his hand out to try and help me up. "Kat? You okay?". His voice sounded so much huskier in the mornings.
It was sexy.
Oh no, bad, Kat. No thinking thoughts like that right now.
I jumped up with a fake smile and began to back out of the room, excuses flowing from my mouth. I accidentally walked into the door frame in my haste to run away.
Mickey looked more confused as I stuttered, "Kat, wait!" I heard him shout as I threw open the door and rushed down the hall, still hearing Mickey's voice calling my name.
Anxiety ran through my veins as I went over my friendship with Mickey and at what point I started thinking of him in a different light than just a friend who liked the same things I did.
I somehow ended up outside Omega Beta Zeta in my frenzied walking state. Shrugging, I continued up to the big brown doors and knocked, knowing Cici would be able to help me with my nerves and thoughts.
Dawnie opened the door with a wide smile. She was such a morning person it psychically pained me to watch her be so chirpy sometimes, "Morning Kat!".
The girl opened the door wider and let me through. "Cici!" she called over her shoulder as she shut the door behind me, knowing I only really come here for the blonde.
"Kat?" I saw Cici behind me, but her smile dropped seeing my expression. She took one of my hands. "You're shaking," Cici whispered, pulling my arm upstairs and into her room.
"Sit down," Cici told me as I sat at the end of her bed while she watched me worriedly for a moment. We'd talked briefly before about my up and down moments. She wanted to know what to do if I felt depressed or overwhelmed.
"I'm sorry for dropping in," I muttered as I picked at the skin around my fingernails as Cici moved around the room. She gently tapped my hand away and handed me a stuffed bear while I held it tightly.
Cici scoffed at my words as she handed me a water bottle from her mini-fridge. "Hey, we're friends. That's what I'm here for" smiling at the acknowledgment of our friendship, I sighed softly.
"What's up?" Cici asked, hugging a stuffed pig into her chest and looking at me seriously when I took a shaky breath.
"It's Mickey," I whispered, feeling more than stupid right now, but I needed someone to talk to, some 'girl' advice, and Cici was the only person I wanted to talk to about this kind of stuff.
"Altieri?" Cici frowned, tilting her head as I narrowed my eyes at her question.
"No, Mickey Rourke," I state sarcastically, rolling my eyes with a laugh when she blushed. "Yes, Altieri. How many Mickey's do we know?" I snigger, knowing he was the only Mickey that I knew.
The blonde giggled, throwing a pillow at me. "I just wanted to be sure. So what about Mickey?" she prodded gently.
"I had a run-in with my sister yesterday, and it sucked. Like yelling at each other in the library in front of everyone kind of sucky," I explained as Cici just silently nodded along with my words.
"Mickey noticed I wasn't okay, so we went back to his dorm to watch some movies, you know, like always" I reviewed another head nod. Cici knew that if I wasn't with her, I was usually with Mickey.
"Anyway, we had a great night. We laughed and cuddled. I forgot all about my sister, but I woke up in his room and totally freaked out," I added as Cici gasped.
"Did you?" She questioned quietly with a raised eyebrow, and it took me a minute to figure out what she was implying.
I felt fire erupt across my cheeks when I understood her insulation of Mickey and me hooking up. "Oh no, we didn't. We just fell asleep and woke up practically entangled".
The blonde's face softened as she let out a gushing aww noise. "So what's the problem? I think it's adorable" Cici smiled at my distressed face. She knows the only person I had been with was Stu.
"Major problem. The last time I had a boyfriend, he murdered my mom and helped my best friend kill other people. They also stabbed me and terrorized our whole town," I objected, losing my breath as I listed everything Stu and Billy had done.
Cici's grin suddenly dropped, and I felt terrible. "I'm sorry that was heavy," I apologized. I shouldn't dump all my shit on her and not expect her to feel upset for me.
"No, it's just-" She began as she reached forward and held my hand, "-I'm glad you're talking to me. I know you hate talking about it".
"We're friends, right? That's what we do," I repeated her words from earlier back as she laughed with a nod. I threw the small pillow back at her gently as she got a thoughtful look on her face.
"Okay, so don't think of it that way" At my confused face, the pretty blonde explained, "Not every guy is going to be a psycho killer. You and Mickey have so much in common. Don't let it be ruined by ghosts," she pleaded with me.
"You're saying go with the flow," I mused, thinking about it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to start fresh and not think every guy is out to kill my friends or me.
I mean, how likely was it that it could happen again.
"What happened with you and Sidney?" Cici suddenly questioned, looking interested. "I mean before, not now. Why are you two so rocky? No offense, but you would think a horrific thing like that would bring you together".
"It's always been like that since we were kids, but she blamed me for a lot of stuff from last year," I admitted with a frown remembering how my dad told me that Sidney was having a hard time understanding why Billy had 'chosen' me to live.
"But you're twin sisters," Cici blurted out, exasperated as I looked over at her. Cici is an only child, so I didn't expect her to understand what having a toxic sibling relationship was like.
She also came from a very loving family. Her mother and father were both rich people but not snobby like you would expect them to be. Cici wanted for nothing, but that didn't change her.
"By blood and genetics, we are, but we've never been that close," I explained as Cici nodded slowly, trying to understand our dynamic. How could I tell her that my estranged older brother was the only thing that really kept me going in my childhood?
That having a sibling like Sidney was like being related to your worst enemy. That your mother so clearly preferred one child over her others and showed it daily.
Glancing over to Cici's heart-shaped clock in her overly pink room, I realized we had been talking for hours. "Wow, it's nearly time for lunch" tapping my empty stomach, I stood from her bed, feeling better than before.
Drinking the last of my water and putting the stuffed animal away, I noticed Cici smiling at me. "What?" I questioned as she laughed a little, pointing to my severely creased outfit.
"You may want to go change first especially seeing as you'll probably see Mickey," Cici teased as my eyes widened as I internally panicked. Would I make things weird now that I figured my own feelings out?
How did I ever act so cool in high school when I was practically in love with Stu and didn't want him to know.
My face dropped, knowing I couldn't avoid Mickey forever. "Woah, nope. No panicking" Cici hurried over to me and grabbed both of my arms as she firmly looked at me.
"Breathe. Remember to go with the flow, and if you decide you really do like him, it's no big deal. He's a college boy, not a serial killer," Cici reminded me as I took a few deep breaths.
"Great. Good job" The blonde patted me on the shoulder as she put her purse together. "We should meet up before class so you can let me know how it went."
My eyes widened at her words. "You're not coming with me?" I spluttered, feeling nervous all over again. Seriously I think I've lost all the cool points I had obtained throughout high school.
"Nope, I have a lunch date with Ted," Cici explained with a slight blush as I began to walk out of her room, laughing, knowing exactly what this 'lunch date' was.
Giving my best friend a raised eyebrow, I grinned as she started to fluster. "Really? Is that what they're calling it these days".