Just Plain Macabre
“Look-”
Brooke, leaned over a sheet of paper very intently, drew a grey granite x with two harsh, downward strokes.
Of her left hand, Kate couldn’t help but notice.
“There. Two slashes - and slashes go down. Done.”
“Yeah - but consider-”
And Kate gingerly took the pencil from Brooke’s hand - trying not to brush her fingers - before making an x of her own.
“One down, one up. It’s quicker!”
“It’s wrong.”
“You’re wrong.”
“You’re the thickest divvy I’ve ever had the misfortune of encountering.”
“You’re dumb.”
“You’re dumb.” Brooke said - and Kate thought that, just maybe, the sparkle in her eyes was the beginnings of a smile.
There was a moment of silence - where Kate just smiled, and Brooke looked at her with that expression that seemed to suggest a smile where there wasn’t one.
“...Do you want me to say something?” Brooke said, suddenly - and the sparkle in her eyes died, just like that.
“What?”
“You’re looking at me like you want me to say something.”
“...I am?” Kate said.
“I thought so.”
“Well, I… don’t think I want you to say anything?”
“Well, that’s good. It makes me feel quite dumb, not knowing what to say.”
Brooke shifted a little, and hopped up onto the desk. It was one of very few pieces of furniture in Kate’s dorm - and the laptop had been taken off it, so they could do their x experiment.
There was another moment of quiet.
Brooke began rolling her nails along the surface of her desk.
Kate gave in to the curiosity gnawing at her stomach.
“Um… I don’t wanna be rude, but… what was Victoria talking about? Earlier?”
Brooke just shrugged.
“She was just being an ableist bitch. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“No, not about… you being a freak, about… uh… scars on your arms?”
Brooke went very, very still.
It was even hard to tell, for a moment. She wasn’t like Max - who would go tense whenever she was confronted with something. Brooke just went completely, totally still for a moment. It was nearly impossible to tell - but Kate saw it.
Kate saw it in the way her fingers stopped rolling against the desk.
And then, she started rolling her nails again.
And started breathing again.
“I’m not sure. I think she was making some assumptions, off of gossip.”
Brooke sounded very dismissive.
“Uh. Right.”
Kate filed the accusation in the back of her head, though.
There was another moment of quiet.
“I should get back to my dorm.” Brooke said, hopping off the desk again. “It’s getting dark.”
“...Oh.”
Kate felt a thorn nestle its way into her stomach.
“Okay.” She said - and her voice wavered.
She cleared her throat.
Brooke sent her an odd glance.
“Before I go, though - we best see what those stars look like.”
Kate blinked.
And Brooke flicked out the lights.
For a moment, Kate nearly made what surely would’ve ended up being an embarrassing noise. She’d never been quite comfortable with the dark - she wasn’t really scared of it anymore, but being plunged suddenly into near-blackness was… startling.
But then she looked up.
“...Oh.”
She had stars on her ceiling.
She’d known, logically, that the stars would glow in the dark, and take away the startling harshness of the black. But it hadn’t really sunk in.
Until now.
“That looks… really nice.” She murmured - and her voice was a little too… full.
“Not really.” Brooke said - and her voice wasn’t any different. “I put too many over there. And there’s a weird cluster over here. And I will never unsee that dick shape. We might have to take one of those down.”
Kate giggled.
“But I think it helps. This place is far too macabre.” Brooke said thoughtfully - Kate could hear the way she rubbed her chin from just her voice. “Kate, I do believe that this is a good first step.”
“...First step?” She said, turning to where Brooke’s voice was coming from. She could only see the sparkle of her perfectly black, flinty pupils.
“Hm? Oh, yes. I’ve decided that this awful dorm is my newest project. Learning Italian will have to be put on hold for another little while.”
Kate stared at her.
“That’s… that’s really nice of you, Brooke.”
“Not really. Actually, it’s quite selfish - wanting to transform someone else’s space because you personally don’t like it. And greed is supposed to be a deadly sin.”
She turned around, and started towards the door again.
“But sinfulness has never been a problem for me before. Take care, Kate - until tomorrow.”
And she was gone.
Back at her apartment, Brooke took out a sheet of paper - and jotted down what she remembered of Kate’s dorm room.
She’d ace this project.
She would get no sleep that night.