[color=9dd8cb][b]𝐊𝐚𝐭 𝐕𝐚𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐥[/b][/color][hr]

When Kat woke, all she could think about was how much she needed a coffee. That craving could drive her to drastic things. Sometimes, those things were even as wild as getting out of bed. She opened her eyes to a faceful of silky hair and an armful of… [color=9dd8cb][i]Oh, yeah.[/i][/color]

She shifted out of the covers, sat up, and rubbed the night’s sleep from her eyes. Silver early morning light was leaking past the drawn blinds, never settling on anything, but gently touching everything. Mimsy laid just a few feet away. Kat sighed, and scratched her head. She desperately wanted to be on the same page, and for this to mean nothing. After all, there had been countless girls who it had meant nothing with. So, that is what she told herself. And that was that.

[color=9dd8cb][i]”Eugh…”[/i][/color]

She crawled out of bed and dragged on whichever clothes had flown off. That is, after she found them. Half a bottle of wine and certain company had a way of making her misplace things. A pair of loose-fit jeans and a sports bra were first, with a button-up, a flannel, and a hoodie to follow. The memories which slid back into her head at that moment made her grin like an idiot. But, slowly, pain crept in to remind her of the coffee. It was time to go. She quickly gathered the rest of what she had brought, stashing it in her bag, and walking out the door. 

Outside, the wind was crisp and cool against her face, and lively in the lungs. She pulled her coat in tighter. It had been so much warmer in bed. [color=9dd8cb][i]Anyway…[/i][/color] she thought, bringing her mind back to the present. She reached into her pocket to pull out her phone, put one earbud in, and hit “play” on her daily spotify mix. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzgTnK3agPM]Tear You Apart[/url]. [color=9dd8cb]”Great,”[/color] she muttered, rolling her eyes.

Minutes later, she was aboard a near-empty bus on the way back to campus. It stank. Normally, she would have spent time racking her brains to figure out what the stench was, but today, that did not seem like a concern. Today was not a normal day. Something was off, and it wasn’t exactly that she hadn’t woken up in her own bed. 

With a shake of her head to dismiss the feeling, she pulled out her phone and opened up her DMs. It took her several minutes of agonising doubt to finally type out a message to Mimsy, bluntly apologising for leaving without saying goodbye. 

After a short bus ride, a shorter walk, and an even shorter text exchange, she found herself stood in front of a bulletin board thinking, [color=9dd8cb][i]what the fuck am I doing? And what the fuck is this picture of me doing here?[/i][/color]

Someone had decided that the portraits of an eclectic mix of students needed to be pinned to a board, each accompanied by a nickname. Some were kind. Others.... well Kat just hoped that Aria didn’t see hers. That one was particularly cruel. Whatever this was, it seemed like pure high-school drama. She was already done with it. There were no second thoughts as she tore her photo down. It went straight into her bag, where it would stay until it was ready to burn.

With that, Kat wheeled and marched towards the cafe. Her coffee was long overdue. And before too long, she was seated in her own booth, sipping her coffee and scrolling social media.