Nicole sighed, trying to think of something to get Katie back with. "Well, Katie, that doesn't look like your sweatshirt. Who'd you bang for it? Scott?"
With an insulted squeak, Katie sat upright and clutched at her sweatshirt possessively. "Yes! It is Scotts! But he gave it to me while I had to have lunch in my muddy, wet clothes. Since you so kindly called the shower." she snapped defensively.
Nicole's brows raised a fraction of an inch. "There are other showers in the school you know. You could have taken a shower in one of them." she said in a dry manner.
Katie flushed with the embarrassment that she had not thought of that before she had gone to lunch soaking wet, "I did! But after lunch." She mumbled.
Nicole smiled, "Always the gentleman. That's good 'ol Shades for-" Nicole stopped. Shades, Shade. Shades. She gasped. "Oh my gosh. Katie, I've just had the most mind blowing realization."
"What?" Katie looked at Nicole, utterly confused. She'd already gone over the whole Scott-Shade thing in her head, right after she'd gotten her first note, and had dismissed it. Yeah, right, like someone like him would ever have that sort of passion for her. "Nicole, I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Katie, Shades! Shade... Shades!" Nicole exclaimed in an almost manic manner, waving her hands about frantically, desperately trying to get Katie to see her meaning.
Katie's face continued to look puzzled and she shook her head. "Nicole... what are you talking about? Yes, I know that Shades provide Shade for the eyes. That rather obvious. You've only just realized this?" Katie pointed out, raising an eyebrow at her now near hysterical friend.
Nicole's face fell. "No but Katie… don't you get it? Shade! Scott wears shades! Wouldn't it make sense if his pen name was Shade?"
Katie rolled her eyes at Nicole, as though she was trying to converse with an intelligent but extremely confused three-year-old. "Yes, I've noticed Scott wears shades, its rather hard not to. But it wouldn't make any sense for Shade to be Scott, would it? I mean really, Nicole! Think about it!" Katie said as though this should be extremely obvious, completely with unnecessary emphasis. "I mean, If Scott were Shade, do you really think that he would be able to act so normally around me? He'd probably have a nervy spaz. That is, if, which he isn't, he were Shade." Katie affirmed, waving off Nicole's suggestion like an annoying comment.
Nicole gave Katie a flabbergasted look. "But... Katie... it's so obvious that he likes you! And he doesn't act normal! He's always jumpy and awkward!" Nicole pleaded as if pleading with a judge for her life.
Katie shook her head. "No…" she said with the impatient air of someone who has already made up their mind, "It couldn't be Scott. Scott couldn't possibly have written those letters!"
Nicole heaved an exasperated sigh, resisting the urge to grab Katie by the shoulders and shake her until her teeth rattled. How could she be so dense? "How do you know he didn't write them? Its so OBVIOUS Katie!!"
"No its not!" Katie replied, looking as though she was beginning to be more annoyed than impatient. "It is not obvious Nicole, because Scott is not Shade!"
"Do you want me to show you how he acts around you compared with how he acts with other people? Because I can!" However, Nicole could hardly begin to getting around to bombarding Katie with mental 'video clips' of Scotts normal behavior compared to how he behaved around Katie before whom but the devil himself knocked and stepped into the room bearing a laden bright blue laundry basket.
As Nicole turned to look at Scott, her eyes speculating and suspicious, Katie quickly ripped Scott's sweatshirt from herself and stuffed it under a pillow in one swift movement. "Uhm... I hope I didn't interrupt anything... important?" Scott mused inquiringly.
The girls each shook her head hastily. "No, nothing important." Katie blurted, face flushing in embarrassment and flashing Nicole a death glare.
"Well, that's good," Scott commented, looking rather cutely and comically awkward, standing there in their doorway with his laundry basket, as though he'd rather be anywhere but there. Putting the basked down over by the desk, he glanced over both piles as though he didn't already know which went to whom (though he probably, if asked, couldn't recognize a single item of Nicole's, despite handing it to her multiple times. It wasn't Nicole's fault, just some inevitable overshadowing). He usually knew which pile was Nicole's by default, so no one could really blame Scott for handing Katie's pile of clothes to her first. "For you," he mumbled softly, fully aware of Nicole's calculating glare. If she stared any harder he swore that she would bore holes into the back of his skull.
Katie blushed and took the pile, grateful for the briefest of touches as their hands brushed.
Finally turning to Nicole, Scott flinched at her unadulterated suspicion. He handed her her pile of clothes. She smirked. "Thank you, Shade." She snickered, resisting the urge to laugh at poor Scott when his face paled.
Katie squeaked, "Nicole!"
Nicole sent Katie a look that told her friend to be quiet, and that this was in her best interest. Nicole couldn't help but be a little on edge, but (besides the whole sneaking in the room at night and touching Katie who-knows-where), Scott had written about wanting to 'take her in front of everyone'. And that was much too pedophile-ish for Nicole's taste.
"What?" He asked, sounding confused.
"You heard me... I called you Shade."
Scott's face was the epitome of utter bewilderment. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about." he declared, looking at Nicole in concern then turning to Katie. "Is she alright? Is she feeling ill? I know you said that you all fell into the pond... maybe she's caught a cold?" he inquired (pretending to be) concernedly.
Nicole scowled behind his back and motioned to Katie mouthing 'he's Shade!' multiple times while waving her hands around and gesticulating quite wildly. When Scott turned around she stopped and looked innocently up at him. Scott raised an eyebrow.
"What? Can't I call you by your pen-" she started,
"Nicole! That's enough! He's not Shade, I told you time and time again. Now drop it! Scott clearly has absolutely no clue what you're talking about." Katie snapped, shooting Scott an apologetic look.
"Is there something going on that I should know about?" Scott asked Katie, still doing a very good job of appearing concerned, though on the inside he was absolutely terrified. It was bad enough to know that Nicole had obviously found him out, without needing to know that she so very obviously disapproved.
"No, Nicole's just rambling... nothing important," Katie commented offhandedly, trying to gloss things over. If she'd had any last, lingering hope (tucked away in the back of her mind), that Scott really could be Shade, it was gone now. But that was probably for the better.
Still looking extremely puzzled, Scott nodded meekly and retrieved his laundry basket. He turned to face the two girls when he reached the door, "Well then, see you later. You girls better hurry though, or dinner will start without you." At his last comment, Scott smiled and would have winked if they could see his eyes, but he merely turned and left, shutting the door behind him.
As soon as the door was closed, Katie shot Nicole a glare that, if looks could kill, would have melted Nicole's face clear off her skull. "Well, that was rude!" she hissed, snatching up her pile of clothes and angrily stuffing odds and ends of clothing into their proper drawers.
Nicole scowled, "No, what is rude is writing your students notes about fucking them in public! I mean, normally I would approve of you and Scott... but now... well, I'm sure he had his reasons for those thoughts… but... I definitely don't approve of him publicly displaying his passions for you." Nicole declared.
What had started out as a nasty quip melted into a flow of blabber, and Katie swiftly made to tune her friend out. Even though she couldn't help but feel flattered at her friend's protectiveness, she had clearly chosen the wrong suspect to be protective against. Scott was most definitely not the type to go around sneaking notes into girl's rooms and smoozing them into a romantic lull with mere words written on a flimsy piece of paper... Katie's thoughts stopped abruptly as, instead of coming in contact with another article of clothing, her hands found a small envelope lying on top of a pair of her pants.
She, deciding that she didn't care if Nicole was in the room or not, unfolded the letter to read:
Kitten,
I feel I should apologize for my actions the other night, but I am not truly sorry. I had left my room only with the intention of taking a walk - I could not sleep for thought of you! - but I could not resist. Now I am haunted by the feel of your skin, by the smell of your hair, the sight of you lying there, helpless in the moonlight, the sound of your breathing... the taste of your mouth, but it is a torture I could not live without. It took all my self-control to pull away. Not to push you further... I want you, Katie. I need you. How I wanted to kiss you again, to taste you properly. How I wanted to taste your skin... to run my hands over your entire body. Your neck, your sides, your arms, your thighs, your breasts... everywhere. I want to make you moan… make you orgasm; make you scream my name in pleasure. I want to lie there with you in my arms, and I want to feel your heart beating as you fall asleep exhausted there. I want you, all of you, and I don't think I can last long without you.
I love you more than life itself, darling, and I need you.
-Shade
Her heart fluttering rapidly, the letter slipped from Katie's slightly numbed fingers. "Oh!' she gasped, blushing. Shade could never be Scott. Shade was open and honest and Scott was very uptight and to himself. Though it was nicer that Katie could actually see Scott. Katie had gone into a sort of trance, going over the details of the letter in her head dreamily.
Nicole took advantage of Katie's swoon-y state, the note floated as if on an air current and into Nicole's outstretched fingers. As her eyes zoomed across the page, they got wider, and her grip on the letter tightened. Scott was so dead.
Katie, with the realization that the paper was gone, came back to herself. Where'd it go? Had she dropped it? Twisting, she searched the floor around her frantically. Glancing up at Nicole, sure that her friend was suspicious (and equally sure that Nicole should not get to read this particular note), Katie gasped to see the paper in Nicole's hand. Eyes traveling up her friend's wrist, up her arm and to her face, they met Nicole's blazing ones meekly.
"'oh, I think it's sweet'. 'At least he isn't coming out and saying rawr I want to fuck you'. Really Katie... What would you call this?!"
Katie flushed, "But... it's not so much rawr I want to fuck you. It's got more of an I want to make love to you ring to it." she babbled, attempting to snatch the letter from Nicole's grasp.
Nicole held it ever farther away from Katie, raising an eyebrow. "Really?" she mused skeptically, "It seems to scream 'rawr I want to fuck you' to me... Besides... what's the difference between 'fuck' and 'make lllooooooveee'" Nicole batted her eyelashes, saying the last bit of her sentence in a mushy tone and flopping over in a dramatic fashion, her hand over her brow theatrically.
Katie scowled. "Plenty of things are different between 'fuck' and 'make love'!" She snapped; face burning with the embarrassment of what they were discussing.
Nicole's eyebrow disappeared into her fringe, "Fine then, compare them." she challenged.
"Well, fucking is just about sex! There isn't any sort of attachment or anything... just physical. Making love involves just that. Love! It's about emotions too and- and- Nicole! Give it BACK!" Katie snapped again, small blue-white sparks beginning to crackle among the stray hairs at the ends of the locks that framed her face. "And this is 'rawr I want to make love' because he loves me!"
Nicole's chest (which was filled with hot air) deflated and her face paled. That was right. Scott did love Katie. He must. Scott, at least, had emotional ties to his physical attraction to Katie. Unlike Someone Nicole knew, who thought he could fool around with anyone he liked without even considering their feelings.
These thoughts hit Nicole like a kick in the gut, and gave Katie an opening, which she seized by snatching the slightly beat up note from Nicole's limp fingers. Nicole seemed to diminish in size as she scooted back to lean against her bed post. Love. That was the difference between 'fuck' and 'making love'.
Katie panted in her anger and the ends of her hair continued to crackle, though somewhat more tamely. Katie blinked at her friend's reaction to her words. Oh great. She'd struck a nerve. A very bad nerve to strike given Nicole's emotional state at the present. "Nicole..?" she began tentatively, not really feeling sorry for what she had said, since it had been true, but feeling sorry for hurting Nicole's feelings.
Nicole smiled, though something seemed wrong about the way her eyes shone behind the smile. "I'm okay!" she replied, "You're right. He really must love you."
Katie blinked at Nicole, feeling slightly confused. Nicole never gave in so fast, even when Katie was right and Nicole knew it. It was obvious what Katie's explanation had brought up, and why Nicole was acting so weird about it. Katie sighed on the inside. Why were things so damn complicated? "I'm...glad you agree with me...?" Katie replied quietly, testing the waters. A NicoleEmoMoment wasn't good for anyone, and much less for Nicole's rather fragile emotional state.
Nicole shrugged half heartedly, "It's no use arguing with you. It would have gone on for hours. Besides, it's just about dinner time anyhow." she mumbled. Nicole had built up her 'impenetrable' façade, shutting Katie out as quickly and as suddenly as if she had just closed a door in her face, and appeared as nonchalant as she ever had been.
Katie frowned, "Yeah..." she agreed, eyeing her emo friend warily. What had bothered Nicole just now?