Intimate Stranger (Editing)

Chapter 6: Katie

"We'll turn it down," I assured her, offering, "Did you want to come in for a bit? We're just hanging out."

"Uh, I can't. I'm heading out to a party soon," she said. "But I'm sure I know someone else that would be delighted to join you," she said, rolling her eyes.

I chuckled. "I'm sure he would."

"Okay, well, I'm gonna go," she said, as she turned to go back to her house. "Have fun."

"Thanks," I called, as I closed the door.

Drinks in hand, I made my way back upstairs to join my friends.

When I entered the room, none of them glanced up. The music was still blaring and I walked over to my stereo to turn it down. That's when the three girls noticed me, and Sam asked, "Why'd you do that?"

"Lilah was at the door," I told them. "She said the music was too loud."

"Who's Lilah?" Sabrina questioned.

Mary answered, "It's Trace's sister."

"Oh," Sabrina replied, going back to her toenails that she was painting.

I handed a can of coke to each of my friends, then I sat down on the floor beside Sabrina, leaning up against the wall. Mary and Sam lounged on the bed. We opened our coke cans with a hiss and a snap. They seemed louder than they actually were.

That's when Sabrina suggested it. "Hey, you guys," she started. Everyone looked at her, attentions caught. "We should play truth or dare."

Sam groaned, "Nooo way."

"Why not?" Mary asked her.

"Because, truth or dare for 10 year olds," she answered. "Plus, Truth or Secret is better. Everyone always picks Truth anyway."

"Pffft. We act like 10 year old's 99% of the time," Sabrina disputed.

"Yeah," Mary and I agreed.

Sam sighed, defeated "Fine, but we're playing Truth or SECRET,"

I stood up, exclaiming, "Great! Just let me order some pizza."

I went downstairs, got on the phone, and ordered two medium pizza's for delivery - one pepperoni and one just cheese.

When I went back upstairs, the girls were sitting in a triangle on the floor, thinking about questions to ask.

As soon as I sat down, Sabrina started, "Who's gonna go first?"

"You should, Rina, cuz it was your idea," Mary said.

Sam and I agreed, and then Sam told Sabrina, "So, you can ask whoever you want 'Truth or Secret' and then after whoever you picked answered, it's their turn to ask someone," she explained. "And if they pick secret, they get to say a random secret that no one knows."

"Alright, lets do this," Mary clapped her hands in excitement.

Thinking for a moment, Sabrina turned to me and said, "Katie, Truth or Secret,"

"Uhm... Truth," I answered, hesitantly.

Sabrina smirked at me, grinning madly, "Have you ever had a naughty dream about Trace?"

Eyes wide and surprised, I said, sarcastically, "Of course you would ask me that." Nervous to answer the question, I rolled my eyes and glanced at Mary. She didn't seem to like the question either.

Sam probed me for the answer, "Well, have you?"

I blushed, feeling my entire face heat up. "Maybe."

"Damn!" Sabrina said, provocatively and teased, "Katie loves Tracie-poo!"

Defensive and embarrassed, I exclaimed, "What?! I do not."

"Oh, don't deny it," Sam interjected. "You clearly have the hots for him."

"NOO way," I denied, still a bright shade of pink.

Sabrina enlightened, "He totally has the hots for you, too." At this, I looked at Mary and saw her face fall.

"You think..?" I questioned, curious. I honestly never imagined him feeling the same way, and the possibility of him and I being together made my stomach flutter with butterflies.

"Oh yeah," Sam started. "Its obvious. He can't keep his eyes off you. He flirts like crazy. You never noticed?"

I didn't say anything, wondering if they could be right, and thinking about how hurt Mary would be if Trace and I were a couple.

"Um...," I began, getting up from my position on the floor. "I'm going to the washroom," I told them. "We can continue the game when I get back...," I added, scrambling out of the room. I went to the bathroom across the hall because it was quicker than stepping over my friends and into my own bathroom. Plus I wanted to sigh and be dramatic without them hearing me.

In the bathroom, I did my business and washed my hands. Then I stood in front of the sink, staring at myself in the mirror. My dark, straightened hair was starting to look flat and my eyeliner was beginning to smudge. What would Trace see in me? I asked myself.

I walked across the hall to my bedroom, sighing.

I gasped when I opened the door and looked into the room.

My three friends were sitting on my bed, nose in my dream journal that I had left on my nightstand. Shit. I thought.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, rushing into the room towards my friends.

I stood in front of them, reaching for the book, and Sabrina, who held it, swiped it out of my reach, and started reading aloud from it, "Then he looked into my eyes and told me he loved me, and I woke up, just as I said it back."

"Sabrinaaaa!" I whined, desperate for her to give it back. I suppose it was too late now, since she was reaching the end of the entry.

I finally got it back from her, and clutched it to my chest, protectively.

My friends still sat on my bed, and I as far away from them as possible, so they wouldn't see how embarrassed I was. Sam and Sabrina were laughing but Mary was quiet.

I glanced down at my journal, and then looked up when I heard Mary's voice. "Katie what are these?" She questioned. I looked over. There was, what looked like Polaroid pictures on my nightstand where my journal had been resting. How the hell did those get there? I wondered. They were face down on the desk, and the girls stared at them, falling silent.

"I don't know," I said. I started to come over and look, when Sabrina picked them up to peek at them.

All three girls stared at them for a moment looking over Sabrina's shoulder as she held them, then gasped.

"OH MY GOD," Mary said.

Then they ended up thrown across the room.

"What?!" I shouted, confused. "What's wrong?" They just stared at me, mouths agape. "WHAT!" They were starting to scare me. "Cut it out, you guys."

I walked over to where the pictures landed, so I could see what all the fuss was about.

I picked up a couple of them to see, and I wished I hadn't.

They were pictures of me naked, in the shower, and written in blood red, across the first one were the words, "I'M ALWAYS WATCHING." And the second, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATELYN."

I dropped them, and screamed.

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