Chapter Text
We were on a college trip for the photography club. It turned out that the hotel we had booked was going through emergency renovation, so we had to rent a cheap motel. The eight of us, counting the two assistant professors, were each paired up and assigned a room. Of course, I had to go with her .
Me and that one girl walked to our rooms. Of course, she was trying to chat up a storm with me like always. I think she actually thought we were friends.
“Do you ever stop talking? It’s just yap yap yap with you every time. And it’s almost like you follow me around.” I turned to her as she stopped in the hallway. “What, ya gonna cry? You wanna cry like a little baby?”
Her lip quavered, but at least I’d shut her up. I almost started to feel bad, but then I remembered how utterly annoying she always was.
“Just… Let’s get to our room, okay?” I said, softening my tone a little.
She did as I told her, staying quiet for the rest of the very short walk down the hall. She seemed to be pensive, thinking about something or other. Like I cared. I tried my best to ignore it, but her thinking expression was just so annoyingly distracting. I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
“You really think that’s a coincidence? That we’re always together, I mean,” she asked. Her face was indescribable. I couldn’t help but to hate her for having such an annoying face.
“Are you trying to say it isn’t? Who could possibly be conspiring to torture us?”
We got to the room while I awaited her response, and I inserted the key into the lock. I studied her face for a reaction, but I couldn’t read it. Opening the door, I let her go first. She hurried in and set her massive amounts of luggage in one corner. I followed after her, putting my belongings in another.
“So, um, only one bed. That might be awkward,” Sarah said, chewing on her lip. “Cass, what do we do?”
I told her, “I take the bed, and you take the floor. Go try to get some more bedding.”
She pouted, puffing her lip out. She somehow had the nerve to mumble, “What if we shared the bed?”
“Excuse you?” I stalked over to her and glared down at her from my inches-higher vantage point.
She seemed to shrink under my gaze even farther, and replied, “It was just…a joke. I’m sorry.” She was mumbling again, but I could hear her just fine. I really had gotten very close to her. Her face had started to color quite a lot.
“Oh, what, can’t handle it? And you’re the one who said you wanted to sleep with me.” My tone was more playful than mean this time, but I think it definitely had an edge to it.
Her face colored even more, the red reaching all the way from the tips of her ears down to below the neck of her shirt. I almost wanted to look down and see how far it went, just to see her reaction. She backed up even farther, bumping against the bed and falling onto it. I considered joining her, pinning her, purely to get a rise out of her, but no. Instead, I stared at her, glared at her, and crossed my arms. The expression on her face was pleasingly shocked.
Wait, what am I doing? I’m in the cheapest motel room in the state with the girl I find most annoying, and I’m enjoying it? I’m enjoying time with Sarah?
“We need to get to bed. Sleep on your luggage, I don’t care.” I was being harsh to her again. Will I ever learn to be nice?
“O-okay. Sorry.” I’m not sure why she apologized, but that was the last thing I wanted.
I bore her back down just as she was getting up, pushing her wrists against the bed. “You want something to be sorry for?” I asked. “Be sorry for what we’re about to do.”
Her face was filled with fear and, deeper, excitement. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do, but luckily I was saved by the figurative bell just as I would have needed to figure it out.
The door cracked open, and one of our assistant professors peeked in upon this insane scene. He took in the mess of luggage, the messed-up bedding, and me standing over Sarah like I was in horror.
“I’m sorry, am I interrupting?” he asked.
Sarah was quick to respond with a hurried, harried “No!”
I eyed the man, daring him to continue, and his nerve broke. He rushed out and shut the door behind him.
I licked my lips somewhat nervously, to wet them, and focused back upon the subject of my…what is this? My ‘desire’ isn’t right. I certainly don’t want her, although I don’t not want her. So what am I doing?
“Ugh. Just go,” I said, letting her up.
She got off the bed and went to her pile of bags, opening one and taking out a pillow and a travel blanket. “Cass,” she said, her voice almost hurt, “will we ever happen?”
I eyed her with fake disgust and responded, “Never.”
But was that what I wanted? I mean, come on. This is the best situation for it, after all. I mean, come on. A pair of gorgeous women in one motel room, with only one bed. Well, gorgeous certainly isn’t accurate. I’m not sure what I was, but I knew for certain that Sarah was nothing special to look at. So why was she so magnetic today?
“Well, okay. If you make a barrier between us, you can sleep in the bed.” I have no idea what had gotten into me as I said that. I shook my head at my own words.
She brightened up, and restrained herself from running at me, but only just. “Hey, thanks. I really like spending time with you, Cassie.”
“Don’t call me Cassie. It’s Cass, and you know it.” Even despite her ridiculous corruption of my name, I almost liked that she said such a thing. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if she had a special nickname for me.
As if she was reading my mind, Sarah asked, “What if we had special names for each other? It would be sweet, almost like we’re a couple.”
Of course she had to go and say that. Bad enough that we were alone together, but now she wants us to be a couple? I hated her so much. I hated her. I couldn’t feel anything but hate for her, and never would. Never.
“Hey, y’know they say that love and hate are next-door neighbors,” she said blithely. Again with the mind-reading.
“And how exactly is that relevant?”
“Well, I’d like to help you cross over from one doorstep to the other, if we’re to continue with that metaphor.”
“Ugh, shut up. I thought I told you to build that barrier.”
As we spoke, she was laying with her elbow resting on her arm and staring at me with her doe eyes. Don’t get me wrong; that’s an objective statement. It’s certainly not anything to do with attraction or anything. Just shut up already.
I turned to put my back toward her, and she immediately tapped me on the shoulder. I rolled back over. “What in the world do you want?” I asked, fairly rudely.
“I just wanted to see you. I missed you” she said, as if that was the most normal thing in the world.
“You didn’t even wait one second before making me turn back around. How could you have missed me?”
“Well, you’re just so alluring. I can’t help it.”
Why is she smiling? I keep acting like this toward her, and she’s smiling. As I was studying her, she pulled out a little digital camera and took a picture of me. When I saw it the next day, I was so embarrassed. Not in a bad way.
I stared at her, smoldering with anger. Unreasonable anger? Yes. No. Not unreasonable. Rational, reasonable anger. But her skin really was so luscious. Maybe I should consider it.
“Sarah. Do you really want this?”
“I do. Do you?”
“I don’t…I don’t know.”
“Are you gonna figure it out?”
“Maybe. Let’s see,” I said, tentatively, softly kissing her.
I almost immediately broke the kiss, of course. But for just a moment, it was nice. A nice moment. Of course, I still hated her. But that doesn't preclude stuff like this, does it? Well, maybe it does. But exceptions can always be made.