24 Hours From
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PART 14 - Progress
"Grace, Damn it," Jessie screamed as she tore down the stairs to her sister's room. She burst through the door without knocking. "Where are my boots?
Grace dropped the sweater she was folding and shot Jessie a perplexed expression. "What the hell are you talking about? And WHAT the hell are you wearing?"
"Ugh," Jessie huffed. "The ones you borrowed, or should I say, STOLE, Grace. And, I‘ll ignore that last comment."
Grace stood, still confused, and shrugged.
"Jesus…The black boots."
"Nope, Still not ringing a bell. Sorry." Grace replied, once again picking up her sweater, then again changing the subject to Jessie‘s ensemble. "You know, all that black crap on your face makes you look dead, and those fishnets aren‘t helping, either."
Jessie’s nervous face was replaced by a look that somewhat resembled the face she’d make while biting into a lemon or something as equally sour. "Bite me, Grace…They’re the black boots with the strappy-belty things on them. Hayden’s going to be here in ten minutes and I need them."
"Oh, those," Grace smirked, "Zoë had them last time I checked."
Flailing her arms, Jessie turned for the door. "Sure, why not. I think something belongs to me, but it’s really just community property."
"Hey…" Grace called out before her sister could disappear, "It’s been what, like, a month since you’ve met this girl? First impressions are already made. No use in trying to compensate for them now."
"First impressions are in the past, but this is the first date, Grace. It’s just as important."
"Right…Where’s she taking you?"
"To a costume party, hence the ghoulish attire."
Grace rolled her eyes. "Someone should tell her that Halloween was two weeks ago."
"Grace…" Jessie spat sarcastically, once again turning to leave, "I repeat, Bite Me."
"Hmm," Grace said to Jessie‘s back, "Maybe later."
She listened to Jessie’s retreating footsteps in the hall, then smiled to herself. "It’s about damn time."
**********
Zoë," Jessie called, knocking before entering this time. She found Zoë sitting at her computer, music blasting. The stuff she listened to: Tapping the Vein, Kidney Thieves…angry Goth-girl music. What’s scarier than that: Jessie sort of liked it, too.
"Zoë, I need my boots."
Without blinking, she pointed to the bedside. After the song ended, she finally moved. "What do you need them for?"
Jessie grabbed the boots and plopped down on the bed to put them on. "Well, they are mine…but, if you must know, I have a date."
Zoe violently swung her swivel chair around so she could look at Jessie. "With who?"
"You know her… Hayden."
Zoe’s eyebrows furrowed innately. Incase the disappointment wasn’t obvious
enough in her eyes, her voice most definitely gave it away. "What about…" After
thinking twice, She stopped herself. "Forget it…"
"No…What about who…Katie?" Jessie laughed, acerbically. "What about her? I haven’t seen or heard from her since July. It’s fucking November, Zo. It’s over. Now that is something you shouldn’t forget ."
Zoë sighed and lifted her hands in surrender "Whatever you say, Jess. Whatever you say."
Just then, the doorbell rang…and with that, Jessie was gone.
Zoe was left alone in her room, but not for long. There was a knock at the door, and before she could say "go away, please"--adding the please incase it was her mother-- her sister appeared at her side.
"Zoë," Grace began, warningly "do not give her shit about this date. She needs it. It’ll be good for her."
"I didn’t say a damn thing," she replied defensively.
"Not a word…Ever."
"Fine," Zoë rolled her eyes.
"Good," Grace crossed her arms, sternly, and walked out of the room.
Once again alone, Zoë looked at the clock on the wall, then at the clock on her computer which was set for "The Land Down-Under" time zone. It read 9:00 a.m. "9 o’clock on a Saturday morning…Way too early for her to be awake."
She contemplated calling, but decided against it. "Shit, Katie, I need you, now."
**********
"Paige, damn it!" Katie jumped out of bed, startled and slightly pissed at the sound of the head-splitting buzz. Paige rolled over and felt around for her alarm clock. After quickly growing impatient, she slammed her hand on the bureau. The noise stopped, abruptly.
"Sorry," she squinted at Katie who had wandered over to her side of the room to aide in the search for the clock. "I forgot to turn the buzzer off yesterday morning."
Katie wiped the sleep out of her eyes before sitting down on the bed beside her room mate. The clock read 9:30 am. She sighed at it. "It's okay. I wasn't really asleep."
Paige looked at her, piteously. "You look exhausted. Did you get any rest at all last night?"
"Yes," Katie answered quickly in her ‘I’m fine, really’ tone.
Paige shot her a harsh stare. She wasn’t buying it, not after the long, heart-wrenching conversation they’d had last night about Katie’s most recent ex-girlfriend. It took Paige months to squeeze the details out of her roommate, and she finally broke the dam last night. After nearly crying herself into exhaustion, Paige was sure Katie hadn’t slept well at all.
"Well, no…not really."
"Still thinking about Jessie?" A wave of harshness distorted Katie's features. "I wasn't..."
Paige cut Katie off before she could finish her sentence. "Don't even try it, Kat," She paused. "You know what I love most about you?"
Katie huffed. "What?"
"The fact that you're a horrible liar."
"Am I?" Katie's eyes narrowed.
"Yeah, Your eyes get far away when you lie." She reached out to touch Katie’s cheek, but she pulled away quickly and dropped her gaze to the floor.
"I guess…" Katie began, not looking at her roommate. "I just I miss her."
Paige smirked and laughed lightly-- half-heartedly. "She’s so lucky, and she doesn’t even know it."
"What?" Katie’s eyes once again became red-hot pokers, sharp and inquisitive.
"She has you," Paige retorted in a softer-than-usual tone.
"But, she doesn’t have me." Katie shook her head. "It’s not like we’re a couple, anymore."
"She has your heart, Kat, and that’s what matters. As long as she has your heart, she has you. All of you."
"But…" Katie stopped herself. She heard the potential whine in her voice.
"It’s over. I don’t want her to have me, any of me… Not my heart, not my mind, not my body."
Paige kicked the covers off of her, and swung her feet to the floor. She stood up and looked Katie dead in the face. A smile spread wickedly across her lips as she slowly slipped the straps of her black satin nighty off her shoulders.
"She doesn’t have to have your body, if you don’t want her too," she said, seductively.
Katie’s eyebrow arched automatically. Her mind wasn’t in the right place. If it had been any other moment, she would have left the room right then…but it was too strong-- the pain--and in that second, Paige had become an instant anesthetic. Katie bit her lip before standing up. Once on her feet, she gave Paige a once-over and moved closer to her. She placed her hands gently on her shoulders and slid the straps down further until they rested just underneath Paige’s collar bone. She checked Paige’s face, making sure it was okay to continue, and when she was greeted with a nod, she did. After that, she didn’t think, just acted, for she knew that if she’d thought about it she’d feel guilty…like she was betraying her true feelings. If she didn’t think, she could get lost in the moment; in how good to felt to touch and be touched once more. If she didn’t think, it wouldn’t matter that she was making love to someone she didn’t love. If she didn’t think, everything would be alright again. So she decided to turn her mind off, and live in the instant without static. Just as soon as she’d convinced herself to go through with it, the phone rang.
"Damn it," Paige shouted at the phone, but Katie was silently thanking it.
"I’ve gotta get that," Katie spoke, then blushed at the sight of Paige’s naked body against her own.
"I know…" Paige smiled, and ran her hand across Katie’s cheek.
Katie grabbed her t-shirt and wrapped it around herself before sprinting to the phone. "Hello?"
"Katie?" Zoe‘s voice buzzed from thousands of miles away. "I know it’s early, but I need someone to talk to."
Katie looked over at Paige, and rolled her eyes. She covered the receiver with her hand and mouthed "It’s my sister."
She wanted to make it look like she was annoyed that they’d been interrupted, but as soon as she heard Paige turn on the shower, she took a deep, revitalizing breath.
"Zoë, you’re a Godsend."