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1
Sophie stood in front of the door, willing herself to give in and knock. It wasn’t that she was scared of what or who was behind the door. There were few things that Sophie Meyers feared, and her nerdy classmate would never make that list. Still, something made her pause. Pride, maybe.

Steeling herself, she set her jaw and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, the apartment door opened, revealing a tiny Asian girl in glasses and hair that obviously hadn’t been brushed or washed for days. She froze in the doorway.

“Hi Tsuki,” said Sophie. “I hate doing this to you, but it’s kind of an emergency. Can I crash at your place tonight?” She grinned, showing white, perfectly straight teeth.

“Um…” Tsuki started, faltering almost as soon as she tried.

“Great! Thanks.” Sophie adjusted the bag hanging from her shoulder and pushed past the much shorter girl. Sophie looked around. She wrinkled her nose.

Tsuki’s apartment was exactly what she expected. It was small, bland, and crammed with books on every available hard surface. There weren’t any decorations or personal touches in the main room. Even the couch looked like it was the cheapest model Wal-mart sold. It was exactly the kind of apartment a nerdy girl who actually took college seriously would have.

“W-what happened?” asked Tsuki, closing the door and trailing after Sophie like a puppy.

“Hm? Oh, a prank.” Sophie dropped her bookbag and purse on top of an open book on what she assumed was the coffee table. “Some jackass thought it would be funny to mess with the girls’ water heater in my dorm, and now the place is flooded and I have a test tomorrow. Mind if I use your shower?”

“What? Oh, no!” Tsuki protested, darting in front of Sophie and blocking the way to the bathroom. “You can stay here for a night of course, but my shower is…”

“Ugh, don’t tell me it’s not working either.” Sophie rolled her eyes. Just her luck. The one person who wouldn’t have one or more of their classmates begging to couch surf was the one with a busted shower.

“Broken? No, it’s…I mean, yes. Yes, it’s broken.” Tsuki remained very still, staring at the brunette girl.

“Well, that’d explain the hair, then,” said Sophie. Her eyes darted from the Asian girl’s face up to her dirty, ratty black hair. No, the truth was that the nerd probably just forgot to bathe for a few days. She often seemed to forget.

It was a pity, Sophie reflected. Tsuki could’ve been pretty if she actually tried. She was a five foot nothing Asian girl at a science focused university. Men went nuts over that. She looked soft and inviting, and her timid nature had to be like crack to the other nerds. Maybe it was the brains who kept the other nerds away. Last Sophie remembered, Tsuki had a full ride and was studying Quantum Physics or some shit Sophie didn’t get.

All that mattered was that the girl was friendly, smart, willing to help with some of the bullshit classes to keep Sophie’s required B average, and was too much of a pushover to say no. Like, ever.

“Yeah…That’s it.” Tsuki smiled. It looked as forced as Sophie’s had felt.

“Whatever,” said Sophie. She planted herself on the cheap couch. “Maybe I can grab a shower at the gym in the morning. Tonight though…What do you know of 17th century French literature?”

“Um.” A bit of color came to Tsuki’s cheeks. “Not much. I’m afraid I’m not very good at literature. Any trig homework? That stuff’s nice and easy.”

Sophie stared at Tsuki like she’d grown a second head. She shook her head slowly, pityingly. This was why the girl didn’t have much of a social life outside of times Sophie took pity on Tsuki and got her out for a night when she needed help with her homework. She was hopeless, but it was nice to try sometimes. It was like community service.

Oh well. Sophie would take what she could get. Maybe if she got her homework done early, she could call around and find someplace better to crash. She still hadn’t made up with Brad, but he was good with his hands and she definitely needed to relieve some tension. She grabbed a battered copy of Swann’s Way and opened it.

Tsuki stood there, frozen, staring at the tanned, brunette girl and wondering what to say or do. She knew that the other girl didn’t really like her, but it was nice to act like she had friends outside of the advanced mathematics department sometimes. They were stuffy and serious, and treated her like a child. Sophie…Well, it was an improvement.

She uprooted herself and went to the kitchen. After a minute, she came back with a glass of cherry coke. Tsuki set it down on the table next to Sophie and took the other side of the couch. She pulled her book out from under the bag and tried to resume her reading.

“Aw, thanks,” said Sophie, grabbing the glass and draining half of it in one go. Her approval made Tsuki squirm.

The two sat there in silence, save for Sophie’s occasional complaints about the prose, for nearly an hour before Tsuki got the call.

2

The cell rang with a prepackaged, bland tone. The sound of it stirred the two girls from their studying stupor. Tsuki fished it out of her pocket and answered it. After a moment, she stood up and stepped to the far side of the tiny apartment, hunched over and engrossed in the call.

Sophie abandoned her book instantly, instead watching Tsuki and trying desperately to overhear whatever was being said. Was it a boy? That’d give her enough to tease Tsuki for at least the rest of the night. Or maybe…Was it a girl, and that’s why she was being so secretive about it? Tease fodder for the year, at least.

Tsuki remained hunched over as she listened to the person on the other end. She said little, but nodded a lot and said yes. Sophie craned closer, desperate for anything she could use.

She received nothing. Tsuki hung up and turned around. Sophie forced herself to sit back and look casual.

“Everything alright?” asked Sophie. She fought to keep her face neutral.

Tsuki gave a short, quick nod. “Yes, yes, it’s…fine. My mentor is calling me into the lab. One of the experiments has…” she faltered and cleared her throat. “Nothing you care about. Nerd stuff, you know? But it means I have to go in for a couple hours. Will you be okay staying here on your own?” She bit her lip.

Sophie decided to throw her a bone. “Yeah, of course. You take care of whatever you need to do and I’ll study and, like, watch youtube or something.”

The Asian girl let out a sigh of relief. Not all of the tension left her shoulders, but most of it did. “Good. Help yourself to anything in the fridge. If you get tired, take my bed. And…Whatever you do, don’t try the shower. It’s not working and you could hurt yourself.”

Something about it seemed off. It was such a specific thing to avoid, especially for a pushover like Tsuki to mention it multiple times instead of just letting it go. Slowly, she nodded her understanding, though her curiosity sank its claws in her and dug in.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it. Missing a shower won’t kill me.” She looked up and down Tsuki again. The implication was there, and the Asian withered.

“Well. Okay.” She grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She left the apartment in a hurry. A moment the deadbolt turned, and Sophie was completely alone.

Sophie picked up the book on the table. She tried to force herself to care about it, just enough to finish the reading for the night so the test the next day wouldn’t break her. She tried. But then she looked up towards the bathroom. The bathroom she was supposed to be careful about.

No one told Sophie Meyers no. She didn’t need permission for anything, and certainly not from a spineless nerd like Tsuki. The girl was sweet and knew her place most of the time, but this was different. What could be so dangerous about the shower? Did it only blast hot water? Big deal. Unless.

Her eyes lit up. She let out a high pitched giggle the moment the thought entered her mind and took root. No, there was probably a very good reason Tsuki wanted Sophie to avoid the shower. It probably had all of her sex toys in there!

Yeah, that had to be it. Tsuki was repressed as hell and tense. The poor girl probably masturbated three times a day just to avoid imploding from her course load and complete lack of a social life!

She was up in a flash and in the bathroom before the book hit the coffee table.

Once the light was on, Sophie’s excitement spiked.