The Variations by Jones M (christmas read aloud txt) 📖

what happened," Kate stated. "She seemed off since high school. She had problems with her family and stuff. I thought it would all be done by now, but it looks like nothing has changed."

"Well, let's hope she gets through whatever she is going through," Ben said, earning slow nods from Kate and Gwen.

Then they changed the conversation to other topics.

 

Chapter 44

Narrator: In yo' business bitches be like:

You ask me how I know?

You ask me how I know?

I know because I'm real observant.

Narrator: Bitch you just nosy.

Narrator: Thirsty bitches be like:

Girl #1: Girl, I need a boyfriend for these cold winter nights.

Girl #2: Bitch, shut your thirsty ass up and buy a coat.

Kate's laughter echoed in her bedroom as she watched her favorite YouTube videos again. She was perched on her bed in casual clothes that late morning, having no plan for the day.

Well, except for catching up with her project and class assignments.

The thought of them just made her sigh in exhaustion. They seemed to be the only things she did nowadays. Kate was aware that a lot of time had been spent on them, especially on her junior year project. Even though she was tired with it, she couldn't just leave it incomplete. She just had to focus on the fact that she and Chris were close to finishing it. 

A knock sounded on the door, interrupting the video she was watching. She furrowed her eyebrows as she got out of bed to head towards it. Gwen was absent, having spent the night with her boyfriend. So it seemed clear about who was outside the door.

"Hey-- Oh," she cut herself off when she saw it wasn't Chris.

"Hi, Kate," Emma greeted her with a hesitant smile. Her brown hair was curled, and she had applied a decent amount of makeup on her face. She had also donned on a leather coat over her orange shirt with a black pair of jeans.

"Emma, this is a surprise," she confessed. "Do you want to come in?"

"Sure," she replied with a smile, slowly making her way into the dorm. As soon as Kate closed the door behind her, what was happening seemed to fully dawn on her.

Emma was in her house, and the two of them were alone.

"Your place looks much better than mine," Emma stated, walking around the living room and observing the area.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You can imagine how messy my dorm looks right now."

"What?" Kate commented with furrowed eyebrows. "Don't you live alone?"

"Lived sounds more like it," she sighed as she moved to sit on the couch. 

Kate said nothing as she took note of what was happening in the room. Emma had come to see her, and things seemed different between them. There was an ease in conversation, even though there was a bit of uneasiness in the air, and she chose not to dwell too much on it.

"Is the new girl that much of a bitch?" Marie asked.

"Try a huge dick," Emma replied with a knowing smirk that had Marie confused.

"What?"

"Alex is my roommate."

Kate's eyes widened in shock as she stared at Emma. The girl had a serious expression on her face, and with the past conversations they had, she knew she was not lying.

"WHAT?" Kate exclaimed. "Wait. Is it the Alex we know?"

"The very same person."

"How? And when?"

"He got kicked out of his place for sleeping with his roommate's girlfriend," Emma deadpanned.

'Yeah... That sounds like Alex,' Kate thought with a shrug.

"But he swears he didn't know and that the girl came onto him. I don't know what to believe. But what I know is that he's been my roommate for months now."

"MONTHS?" Kate exclaimed.

Emma sighed before saying, "Yeah, but not a lot of people know. Alex wants it to stay that way."

Marie hummed with a frown on her face as she pondered over the information she had just received. It was a shock to hear that Alex was rooming with a girl, more so the one who had shot him in high school.

"So, how is he?" Kate questioned, settling herself on the couch.

"Well, things were tough between us for two months. But we eventually got to talk and get over our past. After that..." Emma trailed off with a grimace, and it made Kate smile.

"That bad, huh?"

"I know Alex can be a rude son of a bitch, but what he does when I'm around..."

"What?" Kate found herself settling comfortably on the couch as she asked for more details.

"The guy can be lazy and irresponsible at times."

"Leaves clothes and dirty dishes all around?" Marie guessed.

"Yes," Emma nodded vehemently. "And dude walks around shirtless all the time."

"Isn't that normal?"

"Kate, he also walked shirtless during the winter."

"That's crazy!"

"I know," she rolled her eyes. "But it's not as crazy as seeing him naked in the mornings."

If Kate had a drink in her mouth, she was sure she would have spat it all over the floor.

"I have seen his ding-a-long many times by now."

Kate furrowed her eyebrows.

"Ding-a-long?"

"His penis," she clarified, making Kate blush. "I mean, I get it. He's hot. Dude's acting like a god. Can't he just stop with these shenanigans?"

"Could it be that he wants to bone you?" Marie suggested.

"What?" Emma exclaimed before laughter escaped her lips. Kate raised an eyebrow, clearly seeing that she was trying to deny it.

"I think so," Emma replied after she stopped her fake laugh, "but I always see him with another girl on his arm. And the noises they make in his room... "

Kate winced in understanding, knowing how annoying it could be to be woken up late in the night by sex sounds.

"I'm not going to sleep with him," Emma stated with a faraway look.

"So anyway, how have things been for you?" Kate went to change the subject.

"Other than the whole issue with Alex, they've been good. Classes have been great, and I've even made a friend."

"Really?" Kate questioned, earning a nod from her. "That's good."

"Yeah," Emma nodded along.

"I'm not sure if I've asked this, but what course are you taking?"

"Hmm? Oh, right. CS."

"CS, as in--"

"Computer Science. Bachelor."

"Damn," Kate commented with her eyes widening in surprise. "Congrats."

"Thank you," Emma replied with a glad smile. "It's what I've wanted to do since I was in high school. I would have been doing my Masters by now if only..." she trailed off, and Marie understood what she meant. She could have been far into her studies by now if only Darcy had not gotten in her way.

"So, what about you?" Emma asked, earning a raised eyebrow from Marie. "How have you been, especially now that you are dating Chris?"

Kate smiled before saying, "Wonderful."

"You are one lucky girl. Do you know how many people want to snag your boyfriend?"

"What?" Kate questioned in disbelief.

"But they can't," she continued. "I mean, look at you. Then look at him. Quite a couple made for each other."

"Oh," Kate had no other words as a shy smile formed on her face.

"Yeah," Emma nodded. "Everyone practically paved the way for you two to date. Wait. What are you doing right now?"

"Nothing much. Just watching some videos before I start on my college assignments."

"Well, okay. I have some stuff to do too," Emma said as she got up from the couch to head to the door.

"Wait," Kate stopped her. "You could stay if you want."

"You sure? Wouldn't I be distracting you from your work?"

"Nope. Now let's go to my room."

Emma looked warily at her.

"Are you trying to hit on me?"

"What? NO!" Kate denied furiously, making Emma laugh.

"I'm just kidding," she said, earning an unamused look from her. 

"Let me just get my laptop. You will love this guy I found on YouTube..." she trailed off as she went into her bedroom. She came out seconds later with the device and set it on the table in front of them.

The two sat on the couch, and laughter ensued from that point. They even watched a couple of movies. Emma ended up staying in Kate's dorm until the evening had reached. She bid her goodbye, saying they could meet up again sometime. Kate nodded, and she wondered if things were getting better between them.

 

Chapter 45

Kate had found herself once again in Chris' room that Saturday morning. She had gone there so that they could continue with their project.

"I told you to get away!" a female voice spoke according to the printed script Marie was holding.

"But I can't," a male voice replied as the recording played on the speakers. "I had to see you again."

The two were playing a scene they had prepared for their short film on the TV. Even though it was still in the pre-rendered stage, it showed the movement of the characters and everything in their environs. Kate and Chris were looking for any possible errors involving the audio syncing with the video, but it looked good so far.

"I can't believe we're halfway done!" Kate exclaimed once the video had finished playing.

"Me too," Chris smiled. "But we still have another half to finish. We haven't even rendered this scene."

Kate looked unamused before exclaiming, "Damn it!"

"Relax, Kate," he told her. "I have a powerful computer to help us with that. It shouldn't take a long time."

"What about finishing the whole clip?"

Chris chuckled before saying, "No."

"Really?" Marie frowned. 

"It wouldn't be a lot to do. I'll just merge the video to the audio."

"But you'll have to let me help with editing the videos," Kate insisted. "I know how to use some Adobe programs."

"Oh," Chris said, surprised. "Okay. But for now, we relax."

He stood up from his office chair, and he started stretching. Kate's eyes were immediately transfixed on the sight, watching as the muscles bulged underneath his blue polyester shirt. His arm muscles stood out as he pulled his arms back, stretching his form.

'Oh crap,' Kate thought the moment she felt a sudden wetness between her legs. It had only been a few days since they had fooled around. She never thought she would react like that so quickly, and she blamed it all on Chris. He had her addicted to his touches, and it slightly worried her.

"Kate?" he called out, forcing her eyes on him. "Is anything in your mind?"

"No," she replied, blushing as she turned to look at the wall beside her.

"Kate..." Chris stretched out, forcing her to look back at him. "Were you checking me out?"

She blushed at the suggestion. Her boyfriend immediately realized he was right, and he smirked.

"It's okay," he said, moving his hands to casually tug his shirt off. His torso was soon revealed, showing off the muscles that he had. 

"Chris!" Kate exclaimed.

"What?" he said, feigning cluelessness. "It's not like you haven't seen all this before."

Marie bit her lower lip.

"In fact, I check you out all the time," he admitted.

"Oh," Marie commented, still blushing.

Chris