Bad Timing

Bad Timing - Chapter 3

"So, enough about me. Who's your latest crush?" Laura asks you. "Oh well, ya know. No one really is," you glance at her quickly and smile at the ground, "special." What was that? Come on, Karnstein, get it together. "Come on, there has to be someone." She puts a hand on your knee and it suddenly feels like... when you bump your funny bone. You laugh nervously and push it off, looking into the distance. It's winter here in New York and it's a bit chilly. You're wearing a grey tank with a green jacket and navy skinny jeans along with black converse. Laura, on the other hand, is wearing a blue t-shirt with a red sweater over it and black leggings with black TomsⓇ. You can't help but think how cute she looks. But she's your best friend, you're totally supposed to think she's attractive. Yup, total normal best friend thing. She coughs exaggeratedly, you assume to catch your attention, so you look over. God, she's pretty. "Carm." You finally snap out of your daze. "Yeah? Sorry, it's just," you clear your throat, "it's a bit chilly out here, ya know." She nods and puts an arm around you, rubbing your shoulder in an effort to warm you up. You really wish she didn't do things like this. "Erm, where's Dan today?" She practically bursts out laughing. "What?" "Oh nothing, it's just... well you never call her Dan. It's always some weird nickname off her height or hair color." Right, you do that. "Sorry, I meant Agent Orange."  She gives you a playful swat and goes on to answer your question. "Something about Kirsch and Clea, I don't really know and I don't really care." "Maybe you should talk to her before you get married to someone who has a kid you hate." Laura puts a finger up to stop you from continuing. "I don't hate her... I just don't particularly like her as much as I could." "And why's that?" "Because she's evil and spoiled." You laugh out loud and she gives you another swat to the shoulder. You get up and begin to walk, she follows and links her arm with yours. She's been doing this for years and you should be used to it but every time she does it, it catches you off-guard. She lays her head on your shoulder as you continue to walk, letting out a sigh. "You know I love you, right?" "Tell me everyday cupcake." She gives you a peck on the cheek and you try to ignore the lingering feeling it leaves. 

-

"So... I was thinking..." "Oooh, never like that beginning of a sentence." "Oh shut up, Carm." You laugh a little but try to hide it. You look up at Laura and she seems a bit nervous. "Alright, go on. What were you going to ask?" You ask, taking a fork full of salad into your mouth. "Well, you know how the wedding's coming up and everything-" "Wait- you're getting married?" You feign shock, "you're so young!" She rolls her eyes at you with a smile that makes you laugh. "Be serious, dork. I was... I was wondering.. Since I don't really know how..." "Of course I'll teach you how to waltz for the wedding." You take the words right out of her mouth. "Really?! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She leans over the table and plants what feels like thousands of kisses on your cheek. "Haha, I remember when my girlfriend and I were like that." The waitress says as she comes over to give us the check. "Actually we're not-" you stop when you see Laura give you this weird look like, 'this will be fun'. "well we are but just, it's very new, ya know." Laura brings on this weird voice that you've never heard before. She grabs your hand and rubs your palm gently with her thumb. "Oh, I totally get what you mean. And you did a good job, she's cute." "ISN'T SHE?" You can't help but blush. God, you know she's pretending but Jesus Christ. The waitress giggles and walks away. Laura bursts out laughing and so do you. "What was that voice?!" "I don't know! It just came out!" 

-

"Alright, are you ready?" She nods slowly at you. "1-2-3- 1-2-3- 1-2-3- Very good, nice job, hey, keep those feet off my toes, 1-2-3-." She giggles as she steps on your toe for the 8th time. "I'm sorry, I'm really lousy at this." To be honest, it doesn't hurt that much, you're just a big ole drama queen. "I swear to God, one more time and I will actually eat  you." You didn't mean to put the sexual innuendo there but thank God, Laura didn't noti- "Ooh, Karnstein, I didn't know you were a top." Oh God. She can't stop laughing at her own joke, what a dweeb. "Just focus on the dancing, nerd. 1-2-3- 1-2- LAURA JESUS CHRIST!" She's laughing even harder, number 9. "Ya know what, let's try something else. How about- dipping! Let's try some of that. The ginger giant will probably be leading so I'll dip you. All you need to do is just allow it to happen and for God's sake, don't get scared and try to bail." You know she will, she definitely will. She nods and you take her hand with yours and place the other on her hip, bringing her closer. "Ready?" Looking into your eyes, in the cute way she does, she hesitantly nods. You slowly lean her backwards, everything is going well and- she tries to bail. She slips and begins to fall backwards, you catch her swiftly and she wraps her arms around your neck. The two of you are frozen. She's so close, if you moved an inch closer you could kiss her. You feel her breath against your skin and she looks just as frozen as you. She looks into your eyes, like she's asking a question. A question, oh so badly you want to say yes to. You begin to lean in when she clears her throat and gains her footing. "UHM, well, I think that's good for today. Thanks for meeting me, Carm, see you soon." She grabs her bag and just as quickly as you're realizing what has just happened she's gone. "Laur?"

-

You try to call Laura a thousand times, she never picks up once. You think about going to her house, would that be weird? It's worth a try, it was really awkward but you have to make things right. You knock on the door and the fiancé, God you hate that word, answers the door. "Ah, Karnstein. What do you want?" "Is Laura here?" Danny looks back into the other room and she nods, then gives a weird look, then nods again and looks back at you. "No." "Then who's watching TV?" "Clea." "1, Clea's with her dad this week and 2, she doesn't watch Doctor Who." "Well, you've got me there, must be weird that she's here doing that. Better fix things." She tries to close the door but you put your foot there and- oh my god ow. "Laura, come on, can we please just talk?" "Hey, dead girl, mind getting your foot out of my door." "Creampuff, I know you're in there. I need to talk to you." "Get off my property before I call the cops, Carmilla." Alright, you know when to back off. Especially when Danny threatens to call the police. "Alright, alright." You pull your foot out of their door and it shuts with a thud. You bang your head against the door, "fuck."

~

"What was that about, Laur?" You can't look at Danny, you can't do anything except think about how pretty Carmilla is and how you shouldn't be thinking about that. "Laura." You look over at her finally. "What's going on? Did she fucking yell at you again? I'll kill her." You roll your eyes, "no, Dan, she didn't." She sits down next to you and you inch away. "What's going on?" "Nothing, Danny." She sighs and puts her head in her palms. "Laura, we're going to be married in two months. You're going to need to learn to trust me at some point." She gets up and walks halfway upstairs. "Talk to her, would you? She's your maid of honor." Danny finishes talking and goes into your room. You take out your phone and click on Carm's contact. You type a message to her, 'I'm sorry.....'. You stare at it for a while and your thumb lingers over the send button. You erase it quickly and open up your pictures and go through them. You and Carm, you and Carm, you and Carm, you and Dan, you by yourself, an annoyed you and Clea, you Laf and Perry, you and Carm, you and Carm, you and Carm, Carm by herself. It's a picture of Carmilla biting a straw slightly. The sunset behind her provides the perfect lighting to capture her features. She's wearing a grey beanie and a matching vest over a black and white striped long-sleeve shirt. She has your friendship bracelet as well as a few other random ones on. The locket you gave her when you were 16 is draped around her neck and it makes you smile. You're not sure when you took this but you're glad you did. She looks beautiful- no she looks gorgeous. Your smile right now could brighten up an entire room. But then you realize you shouldn't be smiling. You delete the photo and throw your phone at the ground, cracking it. "Dammit!" You cry. You hug your yellow pillow close to you and sob silently. What are you doing, Laura?

-

Thank God for recently deleted. You really did not want to get rid of that photo. You decide to call Carmilla, not because you wanted to but because you needed to. "Hey... Look, I don't want to talk about what happened the other day... Can we just forget about it? Forget it ever happened?" You hear a sigh and a "yeah," tinged with sadness that you choose to ignore. "I love you." You try not to feel the pain when she hangs up without saying it back. Do you like Carmilla Karnstein? Wow, you really have bad timing.