The GEEKs

8. crowded mornings and lonesome nights

"Stop yelling at me, it's just a little cereal. Not like you were very clean before anyway."

"I told you, it's not me! You probably have some of Lukin's vomit on you, that's what you keep smelling."

"Sure, sure, I believe you."

"Why did I even let you in?" Kat mumbles while scooping the cereal blob with her hand and dropping it back into Mark's bowl.

"Oh." Steve's hand shoots up in the air as if he's the only kid in class who knows the answer. "Because you're too nice to let me sleep in Lukin's barf."

This banter and laughter goes on for a few more minutes before I turn my head to the sound of Gwen's door opening and she walks out with Mike following behind. I can tell from the look on her face that she wasn't really expecting to find a bunch of people chilling here, but we all just say hi anyway and she proceeds to walk Mike out the door. The two of them disappear in the hallway and close the door behind, but Gwen's not wearing shoes, so I'm assuming they're just saying goodbye for today out there. Yep, I will need to hear every single thing!

"Okay, who wants to go see if Matt's still alive?!" Mark jumps up to his feet and beams at us enthusiastically as if that's the most exciting thing anyone could ever do, but the lack of reaction on our part gets him frowning a little. "Okay, suit yourselves. But just so you know, you're missing out, girls."

"Remember what you just said when you're scrubbing Matt's vomit off the back of your couch, Mark." Steve giggles and I sort of zone out again for a moment, losing all interest in whatever they're saying, and then Kat stands up as well and pushes Mark out the door.

"Nice having hangover breakfast with you... Lizzy. Eva. Thanks for the food, stay hydrated today." Steve gives us a brief wave and leaves too, and before Kat can shut the door behind them Gwen comes in with a ghost of a smile still sticking to her lips.

"Moooorning, Gwen." Kat greets her again and closes the door as Gwen goes to put the kettle on.

"Good morning, Kat."

"Someone looks happy." I peel myself off the couch and go over to the kitchenette.

"Someone looks like she had too much to drink last night." Gwen shoots back with a smug grin.

"Lizzy got a piece of gum stuck in her hair while she was flirting with Sean and Jerry." Kat informs Gwen while making herself comfortable on the couch again.

"I wasn't flirting with them!" I don't think I was, at least. Not intentionally..? We were just talking, but Kat always thinks I'm flirting with everyone.

"Anyway." She rolls her eyes demonstratively and I shoot her a look but she doesn't reciprocate. "Sean's not a bad choice. I mean, out of the four of them, Sean is obviously the hottest..." Kat trails off and sheepishly glances at Gwen trying to hide her grin.

"Excuse me?" Gwen pops her eyes dramatically.

"Well, in my book, anyway."

"Hmm I think Jerry's better looking." I think out loud and then Eva breathes out a laugh and we all look at her.

"I would go for Layne if I had to choose. Kinda funny, isn't it? How we're so divided on this?"

"But kind of makes sense too." Gwen points out, and it's true. More often than not, our opinions on guys differ drastically. And not just guys, really; just people in general. We have some people that all four of us like and are friends with, but we tend to have our separate friend circles that we stick to. And then there's us, of course. The geeks. I have no idea how, but it works for us for some reason. It's like we're so different from each other that we fill one another's cracks and hollows perfectly. I mean, I definitely have more in common with Gwen than with Kat, for instance, but I think we're all different in just the right ways.