Katie Bug: New Prey

Not As Planned

Waking up in the morning seemed to be the hardest thing for Katie Belfast. It had been about 30 minutes since her alarm had gone off and she still lay in bed staring at the pocked drop ceiling. She wasn't tired, she just lacked any motivation to do much more than this. Letting out another deep sigh she rolled to pick up her phone. Her roommate, Nixon, was looking at her with genuine repugnance.

This was nothing new, the two girls did not "hit it off", even from the beginning. Nixon was the standard smart girl. Not college genius or next Nobel Prize winner. Internal smarts, this girl had instincts that Katie wasn't capable of fooling. Katie hadn't tried anything silly, a fateful summer while still in high school had taught her some valuable lessons on people that were close to you. It was like Nixon could feel that something was dangerously off with her.

"What?" Katie asked as she grabbed her phone and rolled on to her back, scrolling through her phone. "Is there something wrong with you?" Nixon asked, not sounding callous or snotty. Katie furrowed her brow and glanced at her from the corner of her eye. "What?" "You're acting strange..er than usual. Even when you're asleep the room feels thick." Just listening to her rattle on made Katie think of all the possible ways to effectively shut her up. The thought of using her charging cord around Nixon's throat brought a quick grin to her face.

Katie sat up and turned toward Nixon. "What?" It was an early morning annoyance, not a general annoyance, she simply wasn't awake enough for this. "We've been rooming together for six months. The last two you have been getting up later and later. You sometimes go to class and you barely shower. I hate to sound like a classic first year psych student but I think you need help." Rubbing her eyes Katie huffed, "Help?" "Yeah, help. I don't need my roommate offing herself while I'm in class to prevent that kind of shit from happening to strangers." Katie smirked a little, "Yeah I bet that info could hurt future career prospects."

Angrily Nixon stood up and stomped toward the door stating, "You go talk to someone, get some help. Or I'll report you as a concern. I might not like you Katie, but I don't want you to die. Depression is real." With her little yellow toiletry bucket in her hand she marched off toward the showers. Katie sneered and shook her head, depression? She figured she just was overworked, or settling into "Adulthood". After all it wasn't supposed to be all sunshine and rainbows right? It's not like she was ever outgoing with a zest for life. Reported, she didn't need that mess. Cradling her phone she slumped back into the covers and began scrolling for student mental health on campus. This was bullshit. Maybe she could just push her down the stairs? I could be an accident.

After finding an appointment and taking a shower Katie found the drive to bring herself to class a half an hour late. The Professor looked at her annoyed over the top of his glasses but didn't say anything. He was like that, he probably wouldn't have even had made that gesture if she was passing his class. But she wasn't, as far as she knew she wasn't passing any classes. Shit, maybe that little overachiever was right. Katie could feel herself mentally leaving only moments after she sat down. "Katie!" Jaylah whispered excitedly. She reminded Katie so much of Jenny it was sickening, but she liked her as much as she could. As long as she didn't end up drowning her in a pool later; Jaylah hadn't met her dad yet. She smiled back at Jaylah and pointed to the front of the room.

Once class was over Jaylah bounced over to her, "Hey girl I thought maybe you dropped this class." Katie shook her head as she gathered her books, "No, I just haven't been feeling up to coming to class." Jaylah's expression melted away, "Are you okay Katie?" Shock muddled Katie's face, "Jesus you too?" "It's an honest question, our generation has a horrible mental health crisis and really high suicide rate. Stats don't lie." Katie stared at her for a moment unmoved. Jaylah flashed a smile, "What are you doing tonight?" She sighed, "Not killing myself, which seems to be the general consensus." She gave Katie an irritated smile, "Come with me to a party in Brambrook." Katie smiled uneasily, "Brambrook, that's over an hour away." "Yeah." Jaylah nodded, "That's the point, different guys. "Are you going to be okay for class in the morning?" Katie asked. Jaylah was much like Jenny in this way a complete baby with hangovers. Jaylah wrinkled her face in disgust, "Tomorrow is Saturday Katie. No one has class." She nodded at Katie, "Yeah you're coming. I'll stop by your room around seven, okay?"

There was no point in arguing with Jaylah, maybe if Katie went out everyone would stop thinking she was on the brink of suicide. Professor Benoit and quietly walked up on the girls. "Miss Katie, can I have a moment of your time?" He asked heavy with his deep Louisiana accent. Richard Benoit was one of the younger professors on the campus and had a reputation for being a bit of a ladies man, a much old ladies man. Nevertheless all the little college girls tried their damnedest to get his attention. Katie didn't mean for her sigh to sound irritated, but that's how it presented itself. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Miss Belfast." Uh oh, back to last name. "I would appreciate if you would either grace us with your presence or withdraw from my class to let someone who maybe a little more appreciative attend. You waste my time." With that he gave Jaylah a sideways glance before walking away from the two. "Wow, I didn't know anything could piss him off." She said stunned. Katie sighed, "Me either." Jaylah slapped Katie hard on the ass, "See ya tonight!"

After the uncomfortable run in with Prof. Benoit Katie decided to play it safe and go back to the comfort of her dorm. Tonight was going to zap her social battery and she was already failing, not like going to class today was going to fix that. Her phone buzzed from her sweater pocket, fishing it out she saw her dads smiling face on the screen. Sliding the button to decline she winced at her action and slipped the phone back into her pocket. He was pissed as well, he had gotten a report on her grades and some calls from the admin office. He'd never say it but Katie was wasting his money and her time. She had been ignoring his phone calls for weeks now. Martin wasn't lashing out at her, but his messages were more concerned and wanting answers. Typical level headed Dad.

Once inside the pale yellow walls of her dorm she tossed the phone onto her desk. It began to buzz again, it was her dad. He was averaging 5 calls and 3 texts a day. Flipping the phone over she crawled back into bed and closed her eyes. It felt like only moments when she slowly woke up to the sound of the microwave. Katie opened her eyes to Nixon pulling a hot pocket out of the little yellow microwave. "Do you want one?" She asked holding it up on the paper towel. Actually she wanted to see if Nixon's head would fit inside that ugly microwave, but she was a bit hungry. Katie shrugged and sat up, "Sure, thanks." They may not have been friends but they were cordial. Nixon passed her the steaming pocket and tossed another in the. "Did you stay in bed all day again?" She asked her with her eye brows fixed.

Katie shook her head while chewing. "I went to class. Prof. Benoit wasn't too happy with me." Nixon's eyes lit up, "Benoit, I heard he was pretty easy going." "He is." "Oh. Oh no." Katie nodded. "What time is it?" Nixon readjusted her smart watch to read it, "6:45." Katie sprang out of bed with a new energy. "Shit. Jaylah is going to be here soon." Nixon sat back surprised, "You're having company?" Katie shook her head pulling clothes out of her closet, "No, I'm going with her to a party." Nixon almost choked on her pop, "You're going out?" Katie was just as surprised as she was. She wasn't "dolled up" like Jaylah was but she was ready and looking nice when she arrived. Jaylah frowned at her sweater, "That's what you're wearing?" She sneered back at Jaylah who was in a mini skirt and crop top. "It's February, you're going to freeze your ass off." Jaylah shrugged and looked over a Nixon who was still picking at her hot pocket. "What about you? You wanna go to Brambrook?" Nixon blinked a couple times at her then shook her head, "No thank you." "Why?" Jaylah asked sounded a little insulted. "Because date rape isn't my cocktail of choice. And that place is oozing with Chads." Katie pushed down the laugh she felt, Nixon wasn't wrong the school had a rep. "Besides, didn't they just have a girl go missing from the campus a couple weeks ago?" Jaylah rolled her eyes.Not As Planned