Despite growing up together, Catherine Simmons and Mattis Reed were never close.
Cat was inseparable from Mattis' younger sister, Chloé, while he was busy running around on the football field.
But when Cat's new dream drags her across the country du...
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It's past midnight once we land in New York Sunday, or should I say Monday morning.
Mattis drops me off at the dorms, going back to his house to sleep since he has practice in the morning, and we both know how we'd spend the next several hours if we shared a bed tonight.
I cover my mouth, trying to suppress a yawn as I tow my luggage towards Ava and I's room. Finding the door unlocked, I push it open, and a loud shriek fills the air.
My heart jumps into my throat as I squint into the dimly lit room, my flight instincts blinking on red alert.
"Cat!" Ava yells from somewhere in the darkness, and suddenly I see her, a blanket pulled up over her chest, lying across Emmy on the couch, eyes wide. "I didn't think you were coming home till the morning."
My pulse settles into a less alarming rhythm. "It's like one AM; that qualifies as the morning."
Emmy lifts a hand to wave, a somewhat bemused expression on his face.
As I inch in the door, another scream pierces my ears, causing me to jump back and hit my hip on the kitchen counter. I turn my head towards the sound, realizing that a movie is playing on the TV, and I wince from the immediate gore meeting me.
I pin my two friends with a disapproving look. "You are watching a horror movie on a school night?"
Ava huffs as she extracts herself from the blanket, sitting up. "Might as well take advantage of Mom not being home to tell us off."
I make a face at her, shutting the door and shedding my coat and shoes. Throwing my bag into my room, I maneuverer myself down between the two of them on the couch, stealing the blanket from Ava. Emmy puts an arm around my shoulder and puts the popcorn bowl on my lap.
"What are we watching?" I ask, throwing some popped kernels into my mouth.
"Saw III," Emmy answers.
"Uh, nice."
There is only about half an hour left of the movie, so we're right in the good stuff. Ava is practically flying off the couch at every jump scare, and I have to hide behind my hands on multiple occasions, peeking out through my fingers. Emmy is the only one who's completely unfazed, tightening his hold on me during the scariest parts.
Ava shuffles off the couch to turn off the movie and hit the light once it ends. The brightness assaults my poor eyes after sitting in the relative dark. I blink profusely, yawning again. It's been a long weekend.
Ava, however, doesn't seem remotely tired. She perches herself on the arm of the couch beside Emmy, eyes alert with curiosity. I groan internally at the interrogation I'm about to undergo.
"How was LA?"
"It was great," I say, actually meaning it. I'd been worried, panic slushing around my body, fizzing up every few hours like I was a shaken soda bottle, but it turned out to be almost therapeutic to go home. Coming clean to Chloé, seeing my siblings, meeting my niece. There was even a feeling of closure with my parents, however bittersweet.
