Starry Starry Night

Chapter 3: B

Bette woke up again in someone else's bed. Not that she regretted it, but she didn't want to be there when he woke up. So she left. Her dorm wasn't far from the one she woke up in, and if she was quick enough then she'd avoid most people. After all, she couldn't stand the feeling of sweat on her skin and last night's makeup smudged all over her face.

It's pretty gross.

Once inside her dorm, she made a b-line towards their en-suite bathroom. Shedding last night's clothes, she evaluated her own appearance. Troy wasn't real sneaky with his sneaky-links. He left a stupid amount of hickies along her collar and she could see a few fingerprint marks on her thighs.

She hated it when other people left marks on her.

She didn't want those marks.

After taking a shower filled with enough tender, love, and care to last for the next few days she finally felt normal again. Given, that normal was an overstatement but it was closer to normal than she had been earlier -- or maybe it's the painkillers doing the talking.

"Hey," Vini looked up from her book to greet her.

Bette nodded in acknowledgement. Lavinia, or "Vini" for short, knew her lifestyle at this point. Thankfully, she didn't seem to mind too much about her late nights or early mornings. Or at least, Vini hasn't told her otherwise.

"Wanna grab breakfast?" Bette asked her.

"I have a bio-chem exam in a few hours."

She grabbed the keys and swung them around. "I thought your class was in the afternoon."

"Yeah, but I just feel like I--"

"Skipping meals won't help. You should know that."

"I know but," Vini let out a stressed cry. "I-I just -- If I don't pass then they might kick me out of the program."

Bette paused and looked at her roommate. They've been together for at least one full semester, and they both functioned well enough that they decided to stay stuck together for the next. That didn't mean they were besties but at the same time Bette wasn't about to let her roommate have a full on meltdown.

"You worry too much," she muttered. "You'll do fine, just like you did last time."

"B-But this time, the professor isn't going to curve the gradebook. It's like they want us all to fail!"

She hummed, "and have you ever failed a test?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, well, let me rephrase. Have you ever failed a test in this class?"

Livi bit her lip.

"You're literally one of the smarted people I know, and I know a lot of people."

"You're over exaggerating."

Bette shot her a look.

"There's no way, you know a lot of people."

"I do, but you're still one of the smartest."

"You're just trying to be nice."

"I'm just trying to make sure that your sanity is still in tact."

A beat.

"C'mon, we're getting breakfast."

"Breakfast is over."

"Then lunch," Bette slipped on her shoes. "You need brain food. Even if it's just something small, you need something."

Livi looked at her textbooks.