Vanilla 19 - Games
Story: He/She
Rating: PG for naughty words
Nicki's smell preceded her - it was something sickly sweet, flowery, and almost overpowering by the time she reached the table. Mel looked up and smiled. "Hey," she said, breathing carefully through her mouth as Nicki sat down primly in the chair across from Mel after brushing away a few crumbs.
Because it would be quite a tragedy if you got something on that...thing, Mel thought distastefully. She had almost called it a skirt, but it was little more than a thick strip of pleated black fabric that covered Nicki's genatalia. Mel caught the slight grimace as Nicki's bare legs met the A/C-chilled plastic chair, and she hid a smile by looking down and pretending to consider what she had written on the pages of the open notebook in front of her.
"So?" Nicki drew the word out. "How did it go last night?"
Mel looked up and stared at Nicki blankly for a moment. "How did what go?"
"You. Date. Ryan Hinkle. Ringing a bell?"
"Oh." Mel looked down at the notebook again and chewed on the end of her pen. "I didn't go," she said. "He called six times."
Nicki went silent, and Mel started writing. The corpse was sprawled across the bathroom, its feet in the tub and its head in the -
The "e" in her "the" dropped off about halfway through the loop and dripped a thin black line down the page as Nicki pulled the notebook towards her across the table. "Cut it out," Mel snapped, reaching for it. "My creative writing class is in an hour."
"This is more important," Nicki said. She closed the notebok and put it safely on her lap. "What the hell did you do that for?"
"Do what for? Stand him up?"
"Yes. You always do this. Flirt with him, make him think you like him, then completely drop off the radar. What's wrong with you? It's not a game. He's a nice guy."
"I know it's not a game." Mel eyed her notebook, then glanced around at the other tables. It wasn't particularly busy, but it was too crowded for her to risk a dive and run for it. She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. "It's like...research," she said. "You know I like to see how people act."
Nicki stared. "You are such a bitch," she said finally, laughing. She tossed the notebook to Mel and stood. "Do you want me to make you an excuse? Ryan's in my next class."
"Sure," Mel said, shrugging. She opened her notebook and started writing again.
Nicki shook her head. "I feel sorry for you," she said.
Mel paused, her lips pressing together. She started writing again without looking up, and when Nicki realized she wasn't going to get a response, she turned and left.