Second Guesses, Second Chances

Chapter 10

Jade

"Hey! Let go of my sister, Gank!" Trina fucking Vega screeches at me.

"Only if you promise to never 'sing' again," I reply as I let go of the younger Vega sister. I shake my head and go to my car, leaving those sisters to go do whatever it is prissy girls do. I get into my car and begin to drive, heading to the nearest JetBrew. I order two coffees instead of the usual one, as Cat's asked me to help her with some stupid project she's been working on, and I could use the extra drink to keep me sane while I'm with her. Although the little redhead's grown on me a little these past few months, there's only so much 'pink fluffy unicorns' I can take. I make my way to Venice Beach to her Nona's apartment and park my car across the street. I haven't been here in a while, but the place is just as huge and as colourful as I remember it to be.

As I reach Cat's Nona's apartment, I take a sip of my coffee as I wait for the little redhead to answer. The door opens, and I frown as a young boy with thick, curly hair wearing a fedora opens the door.

"Nice hair," I say. "What are you?" Before the boy can respond, I see Cat running towards the door as she calls my name, grabbing the boy by the shirt and shoving him out of the way before pushing me back a few feet outside of her doorway. She closes her front door and gives me a startled look.

"What are you doing here?" she asks, frantically.

"You said you wanted to work on the project!" I reply, my eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Yeah, at your house, not here!" she's practically screaming, but I simply brush it off as Cat being her usual, hectic self. I roll my eyes and start to walk towards the front door. This isn't the first time Cat's tried to keep me away from her Nona's place.

"Whatever. Let's just go in there, and-" I start. Suddenly, Cat jumps up and pushes me back.

"NO YOU CAN'T!" She yells. I take another step back and scowl in confusion as she starts fidgeting.

For fuck's sake, this is getting ridiculous.

"Okay, did you forget to take your 'special vitamins' today?" I ask.

"Yes, I- Wait! No I didn't! I better go take 'em now!" Cat replies, as if she's trying to avoid telling me something. This only makes my curiosity grow. She quickly turns around to go back inside her apartment. "Now, you'll just stay out here, and don't move!" She rushes inside and slams the door behind her. I shake my head slightly as I hear the front door lock.

"I do what I want," I mutter, before making my way outside. As I circle the exterior of the building, I notice a backyard with Cat's pink bicycle in it, and head towards the apartment's back door. I've got to see what Cat's trying to hide from me. As I enter the apartment, I notice Cat rambling about her meds to some blonde chick with an orange sauce smeared all over her shirt and a dead look in her eyes. I can only assume this other girl is Cat's roommate.

"Uh, Cat?" she cuts my friend off.

"What?! I'm speaking!" the little redhead yells.

"There's a girl behind you," The blonde girl says, pointing at me.

"Hey," I say curtly, slightly nodding my head.

"Hey," The blonde girl replies, quickly waving at me with an unreadable expression. Suddenly, Cat lets out the loudest, most bloodcurdling scream I've ever heard her produce as she passes out and falls onto the floor. Neither the blonde nor I move to catch her.

"I-I'm gonna go..." The young boy with the curly hair mutters nervously as he makes his way to the front door. After he leaves, I turn my attention back to the girl with the sauce on her shirt.