The Devil on Her Shoulder (gxg)

Part 14- A Stalker?

I hadn't fallen asleep until around 4 am that night- and I was awoken not long after to sounds coming from downstairs.

I started to get deja vu as I walked down the steps, in the dark. This time I had my flashlight from my phone on.

Hopefully I don't come across any dead roommates.

The kitchen light was on.

I wasn't sure who I was expecting to be in there, but when I saw Natalie- I was surprised.

She was standing by the kitchen counter, eating a bowl of cereal and milk.

"Cassidy, why are you up?" Natalie said as I walked in. She looked tired. She was in a gray hoodie, black yoga pants, and her dark hair was in a messy bun.

"I'm a light sleeper." I said, "I'm glad you're home...were the charges dropped?"

Natalie looked down for a moment. "No." she said, "I still have charges against me. But not murder charges- this doesn't have to do with Mila."

Are you sure about that?

"I was able to post bail." Natalie said, "And I believe that all charges are going to be dropped against me soon."

How did she post bail?

I knew that Natalie's family struggled- they owned a small restaurant in Philly, and she has said before sometimes they have trouble even getting by month to month. I always felt for Natalie when it came to that. I knew as well that she was on a scholarship for school, and had to take out the rest of her tuition as loans.

Then it dawned on me-

Mila's father probably paid for her bail.

I wanted to question Natalie about it so badly. But I decided not to. All I said to her was, "Good. Im glad you were able to get out and come back home."

"This isn't home." Natalie said to me, "I feel like I'm walking around on eggshells at this place every single day."

"Believe me, you're not alone." I said.

Natalie nodded, looking like she understood. Then she said, putting her bowl in the dishwasher, "I'm going to try to sleep a bit. You should too."

"I'll try." I said, and watched as she walked off.

I was surprisingly able to get some more sleep when I went back up to bed, and when I woke up for the second time- Nicki was already up.

"Hey, sleepyhead." she grinned at me as I sat up, "I think this is the most rest I've seen you get."

"I was up for a little while at like 5 am." I said, "Natalie is home."

"I know." Nicki nodded, her face serious. Then she said to me, "Do you want to go out tonight?"

I looked at Nicki blankly. "Um, you know that I'm not really up for that."

"It'll be just us. Me and you. I want you to do something fun for yourself. And I promise we can come back if at any point you get overwhelmed." Nicki gave me a soft smile,

I thought about it for a moment.

It shouldn't be too bad, just Nicki and I.

"Okay." I smiled back at Nicki, "Let's do something tonight."

Nicki found that there was an 18 and up night at a local bar- she floated the idea by me of going and being able to dance and listen to music- and I agreed. I told her that I only wanted to stay out for a couple of hours, maximum.