Chapter Text
"Are you serious, Sam?"
Kim raises a brow as she strives to keep a straight face; staring down her housemate as the blonde nods emphatically.
"I'm serious! Professor Kinsley gave us until next week to finish the assignment. Why would I lie? I need you to get yours done so I can copy!"
Sam protests, her butt sunk deep into the purple beanbag Kim's parents bought her last Christmas. She wears a neatly pleated skirt and matching crop top in the college's colours; dark green with gold trim. The same uniform that Kim herself would be wearing if she wasn't suffering a splitting headache.
"I'm not saying you're lying, I'm saying leniency isn't exactly something Mr K is known for!"
Kim muses, offering Sam a small smirk as she recalls numerous pop-quizzes and projects sprung upon their class without warning. In spite of the rather sly nature of these tests, she has so far managed to keep her grades consistently high, but this is a fact she has kept to herself in fear of being seen as a know-it-all by the rest of the girls in the house. The fact that they like to tease her for her stint of fame as a teenager is something she takes easily in her stride and can laugh along with, but she'd like to keep her notable talent in the classroom under wraps just the same.
"I think he's seeing someone. That's the only reason I can think of to explain why the K-Monster might be in such a giving mood."
Sam grins; hazel eyes scanning the various posters on Kim's walls before focusing her attention back on her friend.
"Iris and Gabby are heading down to the pier for iced coffee and cake. Well... Cake for Gabby, Iris is still on her weird diet."
"It's not a weird diet. She's coeliac."
"She doesn't eat pop-tarts. That's weird."
Sam states with an air of finality, causing Kim to chuckle.
"You think anyone not stuffing their face full of junk food is weird!"
"I do... So? You coming?"
"Next time."
"Spoilsport... Are you still feeling crappy?"
"A little. I feel much better than I did, but I'm probably just going to jump in the shower and get caught up on my reading for English as I missed class this morning."
"I'm sure Anna Karenina can wait, KP."
"I'm sure she can, but Thursday's are Luke's shift at Cuppa Joe's and I already have a pounding headache."
Kim grimaces dramatically, and Sam nods, pulling a face.
"You two still haven't spoken to each other since you caught him kissing Laura?"
"No... I'm not sure there's much to talk about. We weren't 'dating' dating. Not yet."
"Yeah, but the guy's been giving you free drinks since freshman year! That's, like... Code."
Sam insists, earning herself another eyebrow raise and half-grin from Kim.
"Apparently not. It doesn't matter, I'm over it... Just not to the point where I want to sit on the pier watching him and Laura suck face while I pretend to be weirdly enthralled by a seagull."
"I can buy that."
The blonde nods with a smile.
"What about that other guy? Your friend that came to stay the first week we were back? He was kind of cute... In a dorky way, anyway."
"Ron?!"
"Yeah. He seems nice."
"He is... But, we're better as friends."
"Oh?"
"We were together... Sort of... When I was a kid, but it got too complicated once I decided to study out here and he started his internship on the East Coast. We tried the whole long-distance thing, but it just didn't work. I guess when you're used to spending all of your time with someone, it can be a totally different relationship once you're on other sides of the country."
"I guess so."
"Plus, he was my partner, you know? Back when I was still doing all the saving the world stuff. When I decided to leave that behind and just go to college like a normal person, it was hard to know what to talk about that wasn't killer robots and resurrected mummies."
"Man, you're so weird."
Sam giggles, and Kim sighs as she pushes herself up and swings her legs off the bed; pushing back her hair as she considers this accusation pensively.
"I started to feel that way, which is why I quit."
"I know... Things have changed, anyway. You never hear about that crazy stuff anymore. There's a group that meets at the Caf on Tuesday nights to discuss why that might be. Some of the conspiracy buffs from the world politics major. You should go."
"I think I'll pass."
Kim grins.
"Shame. You'd be kind of like a celebrity to them."
"I'm good. I'm much happier just being part of the cheer team and helping Donna with her yearbook stuff. I can't see a single negative thing about the fact that the number of evil whack-jobs seems to have plummeted over the last couple of years."
"Yeah... Now we just have regular evil to contend with."
Sam sighs, pointing to the front cover of one of Kim's textbooks emblazoned with a photograph of the White House.
"And I've never been happier not to be involved with something!"
Kim assures with a shudder. She watches as Sam struggles to work her way out out of the beanbag; chuckling when the blonde resorts to simply rolling out onto the floor.
"Graceful."
"Thank you."
Sam smirks, smoothing down her skirt and wiggling her fingers as she bids Kim adieu.
"Is Rachel back from her swim-meet?"
Kim asks as she pushes herself from the bed and begins stripping out of her pyjama shorts and t-shirt.
"Nope. She's gone to stay with Bryan. You have the house to yourself, Girl Wonder."
Sam calls as she pads down the hall, and Kim rolls her eyes, yelling back
"Don't call me that!"
"Sorry, KP."
Comes the giggled reply as Sam makes her way down the stairs in a series of remarkably heavy thuds for one of the best flyers their team has seen in years. Shaking her head, Kim waits for the sound of the others to make their way out into the brisk winter sun before padding down the hall to one of the house's two bathrooms in her underwear. Cranking the tap to initiate a splutter from the shower, she waits for the water to heat up before stripping bare and stepping beneath the spray; closing her eyes as her fiery hair is drenched dark auburn. Steam begins to fill the room as she twists the dial just a little further clockwise, and she reaches for her bottle of shampoo with a frown when it feels suspiciously light.
"Gabby..."
She grumbles beneath her breath as her attempts to coax a final squirt of shampoo from the bottle prove unsuccessful. Tossing it in the direction of the trash once she accepts defeat, she helps herself to Sam's coconut scented Herbal Essence and works up a rich lather before rinsing and applying a generous splat of conditioner. She feels a lot better than she had this morning now that she's cleaned herself up and forced herself out of bed, and she stands beneath the warm water for a couple of minutes simply enjoying its heat on her skin.
When the water begins to cool- one of the others presumably having showered not too long ago- she shuts off the shower and steps out onto the fluffy blue mat that centres the rather hideous tiles that have started to chip in places. Still, for the most part, the house- Gamma Sigma Pi- has been nicely kept, and she knows she's lucky to enjoy such a nice place to call home, especially since visiting Monique's dorms over in Houston which had been about half the size with the majority of the walls painted an alarming shade of magenta.
Need to email her and see how she's doing.
Kim muses distractedly as she dries her hair roughly with her towel, before wrapping it around her slim frame. Drawing a heart in the condensation that has collected on the mirror, she picks up her discarded underwear with a frown as she is certain she hears a door open and close down below.
Maybe Rachel changed her mind.
She reasons, hoping that if this is the case, Rachel hasn't invited Bryan back to theirs to indulge in the awful wailing she considers music. Listening out for voices in the kitchen or lounge she is met with silence, and she wonders if maybe she'd been mistaken in thinking she'd heard anything at all.
A conclusion that seems all the more likely as she makes her way back to her room without catching so much as a peep from anywhere else in the house.
Must be imagining things. Must be-
But she stops dead in her tracks once she's taken a couple of steps into her room; sensing that she's not alone, before whirling around to face her intruder head-on.
"Afternoon, Princess... Nice towel."