Chapter 18: 18: Gold Button Coat

With Rosie in tow I knocked on Brook’s door and waited. I could hear my odd new friend tapping away on her phone, and I glanced back to see what she was up to. She was on instagram typing out a comment.

“What’s going on in the world of instagram?” I asked.

“Someone is talking shit about me, saying I’m lying!” she frowned.

“Damn,” I said, turning back to the door when I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

After a minute had passed I frowned and knocked again. Was no one home? Surely the two gamers would be home? It took a further two minutes of knocking to get someone to open the door.

Brook’s roommate Dillon stood in the doorway looking thoroughly pissed off. He sized us both up and down with a lecherous stare, then smiled a huge smarmy smile.

Speaking to my boobs he asked, “What do you want? You’re disturbing my importa-”

I rolled my eyes and pushed him out of the way. I’d dealt with far worse than this fuckwit recently, and I was a pretty damn powerful emerged. Creeps like Dillon were nothing now. That doesn’t mean my brazen attitude hadn’t earned me a hammering heart and a bloodstream full of adrenaline, but hey, if I didn’t let anyone know I was scared everything would be fine.

“Thanks for finally opening the door Dillon,” I snarked, reaching back to pull Rosie along by the hand.

She squeaked and dropped her phone, but I was on it. A twirl and a wink later and her phone was snatched out of the air and in her hand again. Don’t mistake that for me being cool though. It’s just my powers.

“Is Brook in?” I asked Brook’s other roommate Julian. He was laid out on one of the couches with a controller in hand.

“I think so?” he said, raising the end of his sentence like it was a question.

Guess I’d have to check for myself. I walked down the tiny hallway to her room and knocked on the door. There was no response, but it did creak open slightly. Hmm, was she not here? Rosie was still tapping away on her phone behind me, her brows furrowed into a concerned scowl. Instagramland must be at war.

I pushed the door open a little more and poked my head inside. I found Brook, but she was out cold on her bed wearing absolutely nothing. A vibrator, one mostly empty whisky bottle, and a few beer bottles were her only bed partners, the comforter and sheets having been kicked off at some point. Okay, Rosie should not see Brook like this.

Turning back to Rosie I wore an apologetic expression, “Um, sorry Rosie it doesn’t look like she had the best night. Or rather, it looks like she had a really good night. Can you wait outside while I get her cleaned up?”

She looked up, realising where she was with a start, “Um yeah. Sure.”

“Sweet,” I said, slipping through and closing the door.

Trying not to stare too hard at my hot and naked friend, I crossed the floor and picked up a discarded sheet. With that in hand I crossed to her bed, laying the sheet across her so she was covered. I gently sat down on the bed and wondered how to wake her. She wasn’t normally the sort to drink alone. She hated drinking alone actually, I wonder what had prompted this? Let’s be gentle then.

I reached over and stroked her head gently, “Hey Brook. Wake up.”

She shifted slightly and let out a tension filled breath. Her brows lowered in a frown for a moment, and I tried to smooth it out with my fingers. This earned me and eyelid flutter and a groan.

“Wake up Brook,” I said softly.

Her eyes fluttered open, then she scrunched them shut with a grimace, “Elsie? What… why are you here?”

“Because you didn’t answer my calls and texts last night. I was worried,” I said honestly, “Looks like I was right to be worried. You like, aren’t normally the type to go drinking yourself to sleep alone. Unless there was someone and they did the walk of shame while you were out?”

“Nah… it was just me…” she sighed, her expression falling a little.

We were silent for a while, then I poked her cheek, “What’s wrong…?”

“Nothing, I’m fine,” she said, trying to wave me off.

I watched her closely. She was avoiding eye contact and I swear her eyes were watering up. Was she going to cry? Oh no… my heart did a little clench. I hate seeing my best friend cry. She didn’t cry much either. I leaned back and laid down on the bed next to her, beginning to run my fingers through her hair. This was way out of character for me as well, but damn I wanted my friend to be back to her usual cocky self.

“You sure?” I asked gently.

“Wow… you’ve gone straight for the jugular haven’t you?” she asked, her voice cracking with a crushed sob.

“Whoa, what do you mean? What’s wrong?” I asked, feeling my stomach lurch when I heard her sob.

“I’m like this because of you,” she whispered. It took me a while to even figure out what she’d said, my brain had trouble catching up with the implications.

“Wait… how? Why?” I asked.

“I’m in love with you Elsie! That kiss! I can’t get that damn kiss out of my head!” she said, turning her tear filled eyes up to me.

“O-oh…” I said, unable to hold her gaze.

“See? That’s the problem… you don’t love me back!” she cried.

“I’m sorry… I wish I could Brook! I wish… fuck. I don’t know,” I said sadly, taking my hand out of her hair awkwardly.

“Seeing you Emerge, not just your body changing, or your powers, but you as a person has been… you’re amazing Elsie. You’re turning into this cute badass chick who’s just so so damn attractive and… fuck I am so so far gone. I’m fucked,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks like a skater bailing mid drop in.

I gulped, my voice beginning to fail me again. Fuck why did my anxiety have to rob me of my voice like this all the time? It was like there was a rock stuck in my throat. My face must have betrayed my own emotions because despite her own sadness, Brook reached up and cupped my face.

“Don’t get all anxious about this? Please? I’d hate to put any more pressure on you, what with your family situation and shit. I’ll… I’ll sort this out okay? You don’t need to worry,” she said, forcing a smile onto her face.

I shook my head, trying to get my voice to function enough to tell her what had happened, but she misunderstood what I was trying to say.

“No come on. You’ve got way too much already resting on those dainty little shoulders of yours. I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have said anything,” she said, fresh tears pushing their way out of her eyes.

I shook my head again, and reached for my phone from my back pocket. Quickly I typed out a message. No more parent problems for now. They found out. I had to run last night. Got caught in a super brawl. Woke up in my teacher’s house.

I didn’t mention that Maddy had been there when I woke up, in the same bed. I didn’t want to hurt Brook anymore than I already had.

When I turned the screen to Brook so she could read, I saw her eyes go wide and she looked up into mine with sadness and apology writ large across her face. She had such expressive eyes, and they seemed to flicker gold for a second as something reflected within them.

“Fuck…” she breathed, “And I was too drunk to even reply. I heard... Fuck… I heard my phone going off but I was too upset and frustrated to check. I was… I was angry even. The one person I’ve been able to actually feel romantic attraction for and… nevermind, fuck. Are you okay? A super brawl? What the fuck.”

I shrugged, tried to smile, then failed. I turned back to my phone and typed out another message, It was Lavice and Mystrix Pallas versus Sunfall. I actually helped too… kinda. I broke the power grid for a bit but I think I helped. Ms Monahan, the head of my major, is letting me stay at her place.

When she read it, her eyes went even wider, “That’s like a full on top tier super brawl. What are they calling it these days? Class five or six? Thats… wow and you helped? That catgirl got your class way wrong. Damn…”

I swallowed and found my voice making a return. She was right, the whole thing had been crazy. People died. I was pretty sure the full psychological impact of that night hadn’t hit me yet.

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“Yeah. It’s okay though you don’t need to worry.. Things turned out okay. I’m more worried about you… I don’t want you to hurt like this! What can I do? Should I… should I like stop talking to you and hanging out with you for a bit?” I asked.

“No! No! Not that… please. That would hurt so much… I just need to… I don’t know. I don’t know how to deal with this. It was fine before, you weren’t going to be dating anyone. Now you have that girl... Maddy? Seeing you and her bumble your way towards each other is so fucking hard to watch. I don’t…” she said, trailing off as she too choked up.

“Should I stop… whatever it is that is going on with Maddy? I don’t think we’re going to happen but I can stop talking to her if you want, you’re my best friend after all,” I said, but she reached up and pressed a finger to my lips.

“No way Elsie! You of all people deserve happiness! I’d hate myself if I got in the way! I want to see you flourish… I just need to get over you at the same time,” she said, smiling through her tears, “You’ve been through a lot of shit. I’d hate to be some of that shit.”

“Okay… but then what next? How do I help?” I asked, “You’ve had a thing for me for years. How are you suddenly going to get over it now?”

“I don’t know… find someone else to throw myself at… no that wouldn’t be fair to them either. Shit. We’ll see? Just please don’t stop being my friend. Never stop being my friend…” she said, almost begging.

“I won’t stop being your friend. I promise. You’re one of the only people who gets me anyway,” I told her, smiling back now.

“Right back at you Elsie…” she grinned, then looked down at herself, “Fuck I’m a mess aren’t I?”

I looked briefly up and down, “Yup. You were completely naked when I came in. I put the sheet over you before you woke up.”

“Oh damn,” she said, looking away and blushing. Brook, the girl with literally no shame, was showing the emotion known as embarrassment. What a day. What a time to be alive!

“Is that a vibrator?” I asked casually, trying to hide a smirk.

“Yup… oh you should get one of those. This one is amazing! I’d lend it to you, but that would be kinda gross. I’ll text you the model sometime. It can get some serious strength if you set it to max,” she said excitedly, picking it up and showing it to me.

“Ew! No! Put it down!” I squealed, hopping off the bed. There was my shameless friend! She was back!

Brook just laughed, putting the vibrator down again, “Suit yourself. I guess I should like, shower and stuff?”

“Please. I uh… picked up a stray on my way over by the way. She’s probably fine out there, but I think she’ll probably get into trouble if we leave her alone too long,” I muttered.

“A stray?” Brook asked, her expression turning anxious, “It’s not Maddy out there is it?”

“Nah nah. It’s someone new. Her name is Rosie,” I said shaking my head.

Brook struggled out of bed, then turned and raised an eyebrow, “What’s she like? Is she hot?”

I coughed, blushed and then nodded, “Yeah… but she’s also… well I think you just have to meet her.”

“Riiiight. Well, I guess I’d better get myself presentable then,” she said, walking naked over to a towel that was laying on the ground.

She picked it up, sniffed it, then nodded and walked into the little bathroom that was adjacent to her room.

When she got back out, she got dressed with me studiously avoiding staring at her. I wasn’t interested in her romantically, but she was pretty damn good looking and it was genuinely a struggle. I was pretty sure she knew what she was doing to me as well.

I couldn’t stop myself from watching what she picked out to wear though. She picked out some tight black jeans, that was pretty standard Brook, but she also picked out a navy blue dress shirt and a dark blue peacoat with two rows of gold buttons all the way up the middle. It looked like something an old naval officer would have worn. When did she get that thing? Her feet were jammed unceremoniously into a pair of heavy boots.

“Damn Brook. That looks cool,” I said approvingly.

She gave me a kind of sly smirk, “Thanks. I figure if I’m going to meet a cute girl I may as well dress properly.”

“Ahh she’s straight though Brook,” I warned her.

She looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged, “Ah well. I feel better dressed properly. I should put a bit more effort in to be honest.”

I looked around at her messy room, and couldn’t help but agree, “Yeah…”

“Don’t judge me,” she laughed.

“I am definitely judging you,” I giggled.

“Whatevs. Let’s go see how this friend of yours is doing. What time is it anyway?” she asked, scooping up her phone from the floor where it lay in a discarded bra.

“Like mid afternoon,” I told her.

“Dayum. Let’s get food!” she exclaimed, “Fuck I’m hungry!”

“Alright. Sounds good to me, let’s see what Rosie wants to do,” I nodded.

I went to the door ahead of Brook, opening it to find Rosie right where I’d left her scowling at instagram.

“Hey Rosie. This is my friend Brook,” I said, motioning behind me and stepping out of the way.

Rosie casually looked up for a moment, but then her eyes caught on my friend. She looked her up and down critically, tilted her head like she was trying to figure something out, and shrugged. Her eyes found Brook’s and they held each other’s gazes for a few seconds.

“Hey,” Brook said, breaking the little staring match first with a grin, “Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too Brook. I like your jacket,” Rosie smiled back, her eyes again drifting down to look Brook over.

“Yeah a lot of people do. It’s why I wear it,” Brook winked.

Rosie’s smile grew wider and she turned to look at me, “I should have talked to you sooner. You and your friend are way cooler than the bitches I was hanging out with. Can I like, stay being friends with you?”

“Sure I guess,” I said awkwardly, not sure how to take a compliment like that, and changed the subject, “Um… Brook’s hungry so we were going to go and get food somewhere. Want to come?”

Rosie shrugged and looked down at her phone, “Anything to distract myself from the lies that asshole is spreading about me. I can’t believe him! He’s seriously saying that I was the one that cheated on him. Like what the fuck? I want to burn his house down!”

“Whoa, that’s… what am I missing here?” Brook asked in mock alarm. Her eyes were dancing as she met mine.

“I found her at the mall-” I said, before being cut off by Rosie.

“My ex-boyfriend cheated on me with this bitch and…” she said, launching headlong into the tale of her break up.

I followed them both out of the house with a grin. Brook was loving the absolute shit out of the drama that was Rosie, cooing and grumbling at the right moments in the tale. Rosie was getting side tracked just generally talking shit about her ex, and it was pretty funny. She was completely out of touch with the world, but somehow I still found myself liking Rosie. She had this odd kind of innocence to her. Brook seemed to share my appraisal. Had I just gotten myself a group of friends?

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