Too Much Clickbait - Sequel to Clickbait

86

It had been over two months of tensions rising between Katie and David, now putting the entire squad into a pitted war. We all tried to push it out of our minds, hoping the feud would resolve itself, though I knew better. I had noticed a certain look in Katie's eyes when she would glance at David that I had never seen before.
That's a lie, I have seen it once before- When she first saw Lexi.
     It wasn't that quite hatred and it wasn't quite sadness- It was a look that told me that whatever wheels were turning in her head were fueled by her unwavering perception of his continuously demeaning character. She knew he wasn't ever going to apologize, and she accepted it, but that wasn't going to stop her from making sure it was well known she was fed up with David's bullshit.
I sat on the couch with her legs tossed over mine lazily, playing with the ankle of her black leggings as she stared off at the television in front of us. We had put on one of the Saw movies, though I wasn't watching it as I was in my own head at the time. Before I was able to ask Katie what she wanted to eat, there was a small thud at our porch window. I whipped my head around, looking back to see what caused it. Katie's head looked over, furrowing her eyebrows as she took her legs off of me and stood up. She quickly walked over, cautiously turning her head to see what was on the balcony.
Slowly opening the glass door, she knelt down to pick up a small, salt and pepper colored pebble that had struck the window. She held it up to me, raising an eyebrow. "Do your neighbors have a new rock garden above us?"
"Probably got kicked up by a truck or something." I quickly covered up, though the ridiculous lie sounded like a joke even to my own ears. "Just come back over here, baby."
     Katie hesitated, looking down at the pebble. She turned it around a few times between her fingers before tossing it back outside, closing the door behind her. I heard her lock it before walking quickly back over to sit next to me. Before she reached the couch, there was another tap at the window. I looked at her eyes, the puddles of bright blue looking as if they were drowning as fearful, anxious tears swelled them up. Forgetting he was home, Zane waltzed out of the bedroom, causing us both to jump. He brought his hands up in self defense, laughing. "What the hell is with you guys? Are ya'll that terrified of a little movie?"
I looked back at Katie who played it off, shaking her head, as she rubbed the right side of her head with her right hand. "Yeah... Sorry, yeah. I guess we got too into it."
"Should either one of your asses be allowed to watch horror movies anymore?" Zane raised an eyebrow, only half-joking. "Don't you think you've seen enough shit?"
Katie went to defend herself when I looked over at her with pleading eyes. "He's actually right, baby. Let's go watch something stupid." Seeing the annoyance on her face, I pouted. "It's not you, it's me. I don't like that Jigsaw mother fucker."
"Did you see the video where people made the squad look like we were in Saw and David was Jigsaw?" Zane laughed, a piece of turkey hanging lazily out of his mouth as he shoveled random cold cuts into his mouth with the refrigerator door balancing on his back. I looked him over, realizing he was roaming around in a white, wife beater and grey boxer-briefs, looking like he just woke up at seven at night. "I was fucking dying!"
"They're not wrong." Katie grumbled, rolling her eyes. She adjusted the strings of her oversized, plain, red hoodie as she spoke. "I'm so sick of his shit, man. Like did you see that fucking bullshit he pulled on Kristen and Liza last week?"
"With the intruder, home alone-esque prank? Yeah, I saw that. That one was kind of.... fucked up, I guess. But honestly, I think-"
"Don't. Just don't." I shook my head at Zane, warning him of Katie's underlying wrath she was ready to unleash at a moment's notice. "Do not try to justify anything or any one of David's actions in front of her. She will cook your balls and make a sub out of them."
"I hope some shit happens to him that he realizes he can't be fucking around with people anymore. That's all." Katie shrugged. "I'm sick and tired of the jokes."
     Katie's phone made an alert noise and she pulled it from her hoodie pocket. Her eyes bugging out of her skull, she looked up at Zane and I. "I, ugh... I have to take this."
I went to walk closer to her but she walked towards my bedroom, shutting the door behind her. I looked over at Zane, growing paranoid as we tried to listen to Katie, though it sounded like mumbled whispers from the kitchen. Zane tossed me a piece of turkey, shrugging, as he closed the refrigerator door behind him. "Do you think... You don't think... David knows not to fuck with her when she's like this, right? Like he knows enough not to take it too far?"
"None of us have ever been pushed as far as Katie. I honestly.... I don't know." I fixed my hair under my black snapback, fixing my glasses afterwards. "I'll tell you what though.... Something hit the porch door, not once, but twice, with a rock.... I don't know if David is thinking fucking with Katie or I like that is going to be funny but.... If he does an intruder prank on her, I'll kill him."
"He wouldn't go that far, no." Zane shook his head as I practically swallowed my piece of lunch meat whole. "He's stupid, not brain dead. It was probably some kids fucking with us or fans that found our address or some shit."
I tried to justify Zane's reasoning in my head to make myself feel better, though something inside me told me not to believe him as he had a look of worry in his eyes for a brief moment. Before I could continue to question him, Katie emerged from the bedroom looking as if she had seen a ghost. "I don't know how.... I got the place for Zane's birthday."
It took a minute to understand what she was saying until my jaw dropped, smacking Zane's shoulder out of shock. He flinched, narrowing his eyes at me before pushing me. "Don't push me, hoe!"
"No fucking shot! When is it booked for?" I smiled proudly at Katie.
"Literally got tickets to fly down Thursday night, wake up there on Friday. Get to the place and be there until the following Saturday and we fly back that night, home on Sunday." Katie clapped her hands together proudly. "That was the bid I just put out for it because if it wasn't this week it would have been next fucking June." She rolled her eyes, pulling me into a tight hug before laughing. She pulled back, going up to Zane and hugging him. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry. I know you hate us surprising you, but you're going to love it. I promise you."
Zane wrapped an arm loosely around her shoulder, rolling his eyes, before she pulled away from him. "Yeah, yeah, fuck you too, bitch. You gonna pack my bags too?" Katie proudly smiled, shaking her head yes, before Zane broke down laughing at her. "Ya'll too much. I'm going back to Tinder and Netflix."
"What happened to Ver-"
"Don't say that devil's name!" Zane whipped around, pointing at Katie menacingly.
"She stole his hoodie and wouldn't give it back. Zane didn't think it was a cute game so he called her a greedy bitch. She blocked him on everything and kept the hoodie." I explained briefly, wrapping my arms around Katie's shoulders from behind her.
She shook her head, understandingly, as she put her hands on her hips. "So, Zane... You're going to be single for your birthday week and weekend?"
"Looks that way. Why?" Zane scrunched his face up worryingly. "You know what we had was a one time fling, right?"
"Yes, fuckhead, I realize that." Katie spoke in a monotone voice, earning a giggle from Zane until he saw the look on my face. He quickly hushed up as Katie continued to speak. "Stay that way... You're not wanting to go to this place and not be single."
"Vegas?" Zane raised an eyebrow.
"On steroids." Katie smirked. She made a shooing motion with her hand, rolling her eyes. "Now, run along, little one. Heath and I have things to discuss for you."