Girl Talk In The Hallway

While Kenny was showering and Nicole was collecting her thoughts, the others were each waking up. Juliet had abruptly woken when she heard the sound of the slamming of Nicole’s door, she sat up in a state of some confusion and slowly scanned around the room. She had come back inside last night before Avery, he had offered to put the fire out so she could get some sleep. Juliet was completely worn from yesterday so when she got into her room, she passed out within an instant. Yet now that she was awake she was confused, Avery wasn’t in the bed, in fact, she had no idea where he was.

Getting out of bed slowly she took a few steps before hearing some snoring coming from the other side of the room. Juliet looked to the right and finally spotted Avery sleeping on the sofa, with a single pillow and a spare blanket. Juliet raised her brow curiously as she watched the geek sleep for a few moments but decided to question him when he woke up in his own time. Turning around, she walked over to her dresser, quietly pulled out a fresh pair of clothes, and began walking toward the bathroom door.

As the brunette made her way towards the door she passed by the couch a second time, this time however she accidentally jammed her pinky toe into one of the legs. She let out a loud yelp, waking Avery, and dropped to the floor grabbing onto her foot, “Ah, you mother...ow” She winced out,

Avery lazily sat up and turned his head, peering down at her, “Julie?” He asked while rubbing his face, “You okay?”

Juliet raised her blue eyes and let out a small embarrassed smirk, “Oh, Hey there, sorry about that, and yeah I’m fine.” Juliet replied while rubbing her foot for a few more seconds, she then stood up and leaned over the couch staring at Avery, “So what’s the deal?”

“Uh, sleeping? You know what you do at night until morning?" Avery jokingly replied with a sideways turn of his head,

Juliet playfully rolled her eyes at his response, “No dummy, how come you’re sleeping on the couch?”

“Oh, that.” Avery hummed as he sat up, “We never did discuss our sleeping arrangements, and when I got in last night you were already asleep. So I just took the couch, didn’t want you to wake up, and make you feel weird.”

Juliet looked at him for a moment holding a relatively blank expression, “Oh, well...um, thank you that was...thoughtful.” She honestly expected that Avery would have no problem sharing a bed with her, they had known each other for some time. They shared a best friend in Quinn Greene, not to mention Kenny, so his clear hesitance for some reason disappointed her, “But Avery, it’s a big bed, it’s not like you’d be on top of me.” She pointed out, following an urge to illicit some sort of honest reaction out of the teenager.

However, Avery seemed to blow right past the phrasing and shrugged, “True, it is a pretty big bed. I guess if it’s cool with you I’ll sleep there tonight. This couch is alright but still a little rough on my back,”

“Yeah, I’m of course I’m fine with it.” Juliet accepted, turning away, her lips slightly tightened, “I’ll be back in a bit, I need to shower.” She added before slipping into their bathroom, trying to contain some sudden misguided frustration.

Another twenty minutes passed before Anna finally awoke. The blonde sat up in her bed ran her fingers through her hair and tossed the blanket off her body. Being a morning person she was ready to get the day started and jumped out of bed in just a shirt and panties, “Well, well, ain’t that a sight?” Brian's voice said causing Anna to quickly jump and turn around,

Looking around rapidly Anna finally spotted Brian on the floor below her in the midst of a short workout routine, "Oh Brian, I'm sorry to interrupt! I was just-uh" Anna stammered as her eyes quickly danced along Brian's bare chest, admiring her friend's chiseled figure,

“No, no, it’s cool, just seeing you is giving me the energy boost I need to keep pushing,” He said with a grin and a charming, light laugh,

Anna began to blush furiously and pulled her shirt down lower, doing her best to cover herself up, “I’m-I’m gonna go shower.” She stammered out before quickly running out of the room, leaving a grinning Brian behind.

As Anna entered the hallway she quickly ran towards the bathroom, glancing back towards her room for a moment. Yet at that moment, Nicole left her room and the two ran right into one another. Nicole and Anna smacked they're together causing Nicole to fall back onto the floor. As Nicole let out a little groan, Anna shook her head and rubbed his forehead slowly, “Oh god...I’m so sorry Nikki, my fault.”

Nicole lifted her head and just smirked at her, “Morning there jumpy, what’s got you so riled up?” Nicole extended her arm and Anna reached out to help her to her feet,

“It’s nothing really, just...my roommate” Anna replied with a breathy laugh,

"Oh-ho, is Bry making big moves in there with you?" Nicole teasingly asked back causing Anna to blush and shake her head, "He is isn't he, did you see him showering or something more? Oooooh, did he see you showering?"

“Ew, geez Nikki, stop, it’s nothing like that.” Anna immediately explained, “He was just...I don’t know, flirting with me or something.”

Nicole's face dropped in disappointment, "That's it...he's flirting with you. Brian White...that's like saying Avery is a geek or Kenny's car is shitty," Anna let out a giggle and Nicole couldn't help but join in, "So what, you tell him to buzz off then?"

Anna slightly blushed and shook her head, “Not really, he’s actually kinda cute, and he's been...I don't know, really friendly so far,” She admitted causing some blood to rush to her cheeks,

"Hmmm, Anna likes what she sees does she?" Nicole replied unable to stop a massive grin from spreading over her face, "Well, please do update me on how things progress with our lovely host,"

"Stop it, nothing's happening, we're just...enjoying the trip is all," Anna squeaked back as she turned her head away and rubbed her arm in a touch of embarrassment,

Nicole knew better than to press her luck with teasing before Anna turned completely defensive so she switched up, instead, focusing on something she knew she needed to say anyhow, "So...um, that aside I wanted to say...sorry," Nicole weakly murmured back,

"Sorry?" Anna asked with a tilt of her head, now turning back to look at Nicole directly,

"Yeah, you know, for how I was to you yesterday. I...I got a bad habit of lashing out at the wrong people when I'm upset. I know, I know, I gotta work on that shit. Anyway, I was only mad at Devin and myself but I decided to be a bitch to you and I hate knowing I did that. So, I'm sorry, still friends?" Nicole sincerely asked,

Anna immediately pulled Nicole into a tight hug, "Of course, forever," Anna accepted with no hesitation at all,

"Thanks," Nicole warmly replied as she hugged back.

The pair separated as they heard another door open and Juliet popped out of her bedroom, "What's going on, everything good?" The brunette asked as she walked over to the pair,

"Oh everything is great," Nicole replied as she headed towards the stairs, "I got over Devin this morning, Anna is trying to fuck Brian, the world is our oyster!" Anna let out a small gasp and went wide-eyed as Nicole skipped down the stairs with a little snicker.

Juliet’s face turned to one of disgust, the very thought that anyone would like Brian made her want to vomit, “Okay, that is so gross but do what you want I guess.” Juliet replied while turning to look at Anna,

“That is not what is happening we are -- I am not -- it's only flirting!” Anna said holding her hand up, “And don't judge me, I'm not doing that to you and Avery." Juliet seemed slightly taken aback by Anna's response, "I know you two spent a little quality time last night. I think enjoying some new kinds of company between friends is totally fine,”

“Oh stop it, Avery’s didn’t try anything. He’s like...he’s like a little brother or something.” Juliet replied with a toss of her hand,

“Julie, it's okay. I'm not trying to push your buttons, but you two seemed very sweet together,” Anna softly whispered back, "I may not know much when it comes to this stuff, but I can tell when someone has eyes for someone else,"

“What? No way. Avery never even looked my way in all the years I've known him,” Juliet dismissed, “Besides, he slept on the couch last night, I didn’t even tell him to, he just did it on his own. What guy would miss the chance to sleep next to a girl he'd want, huh?” Juliet retorted,

“The kind that isn’t aggressive and doesn’t want to piss off his best friend who happens to be your cousin,” Anna easily replied,

"As if Kenny would even care, it's not like anything is wrong with Avery, he's very sweet, but we're just friends," Juliet's tone lowered as she went, "He doesn't see me as anything. And I don't fucking care about that either."

"Okay?" Anna raised a brow,

"Some people just aren't attracted to others...apparently," Juliet tacked on with another hint of bitterness, "Or maybe he just has an issue with me."

"Does he? Is there something wrong?" Anna scratched the back of her head, "Wait, do you want him to like you?"

"Pfft, I don't care if he does or not." She crossed her arms, "It just makes a girl wonder where she stands when someone is so blatantly...turned off by them. If he, I don't know, at least gave me a glance or something at least I'd know I'm not fucking ugly."

"Julie, you're not ugly, what are you talking about?" Anna let out a bewildered laugh, "Is Avery really getting to you that much just because he's not flirting with you?"

"No, Brian does that to me constantly and I hate him for it, I just want him to --" Just then Avery came walking out of his room and nearly got an earful of their conversation. “Hi!” Juliet exclaimed as she burst into bright red,

"Hi?" Avery slightly chuckled with a tilt of his head, "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt, just going to get some food,"

"Right, sorry, just having a little girl talk is all," Juliet let out a short giggle and watched him walk down the stairs before looking back at Anna. She let out a frown as Anna had a coy, giddy little smile on her lips, “Aren’t you supposed to be in bed with our pervy host or something?”

Anna’s jaw dropped, “I just said I thought he was cute.”

“Oooh, Anna’s got a crush on Brian.” Juliet sang out in a teasing fashion,

Anna quickly reached out covering her mouth, “Shut up!” She exclaimed glancing back to her door, “He is awake you know.” Juliet looked back to her and, clearly with a smile stuck on her face, stuck her tongue out, licking her hand, “Gah! Oh, that is so gross!” Anna groaned while wiping her hand off Juliet’s shirt, "How are you and Nicole the same person when it comes to teasing me." Juliet let out a laugh and shook her head before walking downstairs to the kitchen while Anna made her way to the bathroom.