Iris

Unwrapping

"This won't be too distracting, will it?" Hallie smiled largely. I honestly didn't know what to do, so I just shook my head and stayed quiet.

"Are...are you sure you don't just want to borrow some pajamas?" I clumsily stumbled over my own words. She smiled and shook her head as well. Maybe I should have forced her...? I led her to my bedroom and rummaged through my drawers for reasonable pajamas and settled with an old t-shirt and some fleece pajama pants. I didn't want to let her do anything so I went for as modest an outfit I could pull together. Besides my dresser, I had a queen bed in the corner of the room and some books and papers laying around. I would have cleaned a bit if I'd known she would be sleeping in my room. Hallie climbed into my bed and covered her half-bare body. I swallowed nervously and followed her into my bed.

We layed in silence for about ten minutes and I actually thought Hallie was going to let me sleep instead of screwing with me (literally or not). When I turned to check if she was asleep, she was intently staring at me with her large, green eyes. She removed her glasses somewhere in the ten minutes of silence and her hair was a bit ruffled. We both stared in slience for a few minutes until she looked away.

"Morgan, do you like me?" Hallie pried while stretching out her arms.

I remained quiet for a few more seconds, then answered carefully, "I'm not exactly sure yet."

She returned her eyes to my face, "But we are...kind of...friends, right?"

I nodded slightly and looked up at the ceiling. Hallie sighed and grasped my hand, then loosened her grip. "Why is that?" She released my hand then rolled over, draping half her small body on me. "Why don't you like me that way?"

I didn't make eye contact with her, "I just said I'm not sure yet; we are friends, good friends if you want to go that far, but I'm not really sure about us."

This time, she climbed on top of me, judging my expression for a mere second, then swooped down to lock her mouth to mine. I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her off of me without emotion. I stood, picked up my pillow and looked back to her. She looked confused and hurt by my simple actions, but I couldn't do anything. "I'm sleeping out in the living room. Good night."

~~

My alarm went off at 5:00 am and I realized it was my last day of class, which automatically made my life better. I already had my homework done up to two weeks ahead, so I didn't really have to worry about that; I rose from the couch and went to my room to grab clothing.

Hallie was lightly snoring when I entered the room and thanked God for it. I couldn't handle it if she was awake at the time. While rummaging through my dresser for a long sleeved t-shirt and skinnies, Hallie stopped snoring. Shit I thought as I scurried out of the room with my clothes and headed to the bathroom, hoping that no one was occupying it. When I found it empty, i was completely overjoyed. I was hoping that Hallie would fall back asleep so I could get out of the apartment after my shower and avoid her while I figured myself out; I needed some time to consider everything that has happened in the past two days.

The warm water washed away most of my anxieties and I nearly forgot about Hallie until the door to the bathroom opened. Damn this apartment. Why isn't there a lock on the bathroom door?

"Morgan?" Carlie asked with a scratchy voice.

"Yeah?" I answered quietly, not wanting to wake anyone else in the apartment.

"Did anything happen last night? You were sleeping on the couch, after all."

I sighed, once again turning up the heat. "Kind of. Hallie keeps forcing herself on me and I honestly don't know what to think of all this yet so I'm just not prepared for it, so I left her alone."

I could practically hear Carlie nod her head. "Just know that I'm here if you want to talk to me. I know how much of a change this is for you."

I thanked her for her generosity, then finished my shower. When I went back to grab my school bag, books, and walet, Hallie was curled underneath all of the blankets and actually looked kind of adorable, but I didn't want to disturb her. I left the nearly empty room and fled the apartment; being only six thirty, not many things were open and classes didn't start until nine, so I decided to grab breakfast.

I reminded myself that I also had to work when I reached Perkins (the only place open for breakfast that I actually liked) and wanted to scream. Even on my days away from Carlie, Hallie, and Mya (my other roomate who hasn't been introduced yet), I still have to socialize.

"Just one?" the hostess asked as I walked to the podium.

After nodding, she grabbed one menu, and brought me to a a cushioned booth, asking for my drink. I only had about twenty dollars, so I asked for water, then scanned over the menu until finding a pancake breakfast that looked really desirable. After two glasses of water, I finally ordered some coffee as well. I sighed and pulled out my phone, finding a text from Hallie.

"Where did you go? I was going to kiss you good morning! ;)"

I could already tell that today was going to be long and frustrating.