If Jealousy Could Kill

Chapter 5: Meeting the New Maid

“Rina,” Haruna said in a sing-song voice, poking the sleeping girl’s cheek. “It’s time to wake up.” Rina groaned, rolling away from Haruna and pulling the covers over her head in an attempt to shield herself. Haruna puffed her cheeks out, folding her arms across her chest. “Get up before I resort to drastic measures.”

“You wouldn’t,” Rina said from beneath the covers, her words muffled by the covers over her head. Haruna was a bit of a hypocrite. She hated when people woke her up in a harsh way, or at all for that matter, but she was more than happy to wake others up in the same ways. She found it kind of fun actually.

“Rina! It’s already noon! Who was it that said yesterday that I should try to get up earlier?” Rina only groaned again in response to Haruna’s badgering. She just wanted to sleep. Why couldn’t Haruna just let her sleep? Wait…. Noon? As in 12 pm in the afternoon? Rina shot up with a small shout, the realization hitting her as she grabbed the clock that sat on Haruna’s end table to look at the time. Rina had spent the night in Haruna’s room. But this was how the nights always ended after Rina was forced into a scary movie. After the movie, Rina insisted that Haruna let her sleep in her room for the night; she was too scared to sleep alone in her own room. It was all Haruna’s fault though. She made her go to the movie. It was always Haruna’s fault.

“Why didn’t you wake me sooner?! Why didn’t you set an alarm?!” Rina shouted, throwing the covers off and hopping off the bed. Her classes had started hours ago; she was going to be so late! Her perfectionist side was causing the panic to set in. She couldn’t be late. She couldn’t miss school! It simply wasn’t an option.

“Ne, Rina, what’s the big deal over missing one day?” Haruna leaned back against the wall as she sat on the bed, watching the panicking girl scramble around the room. Haruna was waiting for Rina to remember that she wasn’t in her own room and would not be finding her clothes or school items in here. Rina stopped her actions, turning to Haruna.

“I’ve never missed a day!” Rina had said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Rina, you’re in university now, not high school. One day isn’t going to matter that much to your professors, just stay home with me today. You deserve a break anyway.” Rina sighed softly, hanging her head in defeat. Haruna did this on purpose and there was no way Rina was going to beat her in this. “Rina, come lay down with me for a while.”

Rina didn’t bother to fight Haruna. Maybe she was right, missing one day wouldn’t matter much, would it? She could always apologize to her professors tomorrow and blame it on Haruna if they asked her about it. Rina crawled back onto the bed, crawling into Haruna’s outstretched arms. Haruna wrapped her arms around the young girl, cradling her closely to her chest.

“Are you feeling better from last night?” she asked, rubbing Rina’s back. Rina nodded against Haruna’s chest, wrapping her arms around the older girl’s small torso.

“I’m not scared anymore. Thank you for staying with me last night.”

“Well, it’s the least I could do after you put up with that movie for us.” Haruna laughed softly, Rina would always put up with things she hated to keep her friends happy. It was how she worked. The super sweet side of Rina’s personality was one of the reasons so many people liked her.

“So, Haru, now that you’ve kidnapped me from school for the day, what do you want to do?” Rina’s eyes glanced up at Haruna who seemed to be in thought.

“I don’t know. I didn’t get that far.” Rina let out a disappointed sigh. Of course she hadn’t. She never thinks these things through all the way. Rina really should have expected that one. “I was hoping we could just spend some time like this together.”