Chapter 8.3

When the group finally left Café Laurent an hour later, Katrina happily led the trio outside. Alicia seemed to be in good spirits, but Katrina could tell that being inside had been draining her stamina. The Dryad started leaning on her again, and just like the last few times, Katrina was surprised at how natural it felt.

“So, you both have my number,” Tabitha said, “keep me updated on what our next steps are going to be.”

Katrina nodded and spoke up first. “Absolutely! We’ll hammer out the details and let you know.”

“It was wonderful meeting you, Tabitha,” Alicia said, holding out her hand. “I really appreciate you doing this, it means the world.”

Tabitha bypassed the request for a handshake entirely instead grabbing Alicia’s wrist and pulling her in for a full-bodied hug. She squeezed the Dryad tight, then leaned down and whispered something, but Katrina couldn’t catch the details. When Alicia pulled away from the hug, she looked at the Fox girl with a strange look on her face, then briefly nodded.

“Shall we head out, Alicia? It’ll be a long walk home, and it’s already late.” Katrina held out her arm, and warmth filled her body when Alicia began leaning on her again. “Thanks for everything, Tabitha. You’re a real lifesaver, I promise you won’t regret this!”

“Night you two! Don’t stay up too late!” Tabitha chuckled to herself before heading out, leaving Katrina and Alicia alone once more.

“You got your Mage Knight, Kat!” Alicia smiled up at Katrina as they started walking home.

“I really did, didn’t I? That girl really is something. She’s super nice, but she’s also got this… I don’t how to describe it. Intensity?”

“She did say she likes to push people’s buttons. Though, she seemed much more interested in you than in me.”

“I think I’d rather be you in that situation. She asked me to be a cam girl, can you believe it? The thought of exposing myself like that, to hundreds of people? No thank you.”

“She seems to enjoy it, at least.” Alicia briefly rested her head on Katrina’s shoulder.

“And I’m more than happy for her, but that’s just not my life. Even if the System gave me nineteen Charisma and a massive rack.”

Both girls started laughing at Katrina’s lewd comment, and the conversation died down for a while. Katrina was just happy to have more time with Alicia, and she was thrilled that the restaurant had required such a long walk. The suburbs had no crowds to trigger her instincts, and she was able to just relax and enjoy the company. Almost ten minutes had passed before Katrina thought of something else to say.

“Your dress really is gorgeous, by the way. How do you come up with ideas about which clothes to grow?"

“Honestly? I raided my closet looking at all my old clothes. Eventually I found my old prom dress, and it inspired me to make this.”

“Wow, prom. That’s something I haven’t thought about in ages. High school seems like a million years ago, doesn’t it?”

“How old are you, actually?” Alicia asked.

“Twenty-seven. How about you?”

“Um, twenty-four? I’m not entirely sure, being a Dryad kinda messes with my sense of time.”

“Well, we should look up your birthday, and maybe it’ll give me an excuse to get you something nice once we get our first batch of Dungeon loot.”

Katrina caught Alicia blushing, and they both smiled at each other. “That’s… you don’t have to do that…”

“It’s no bother, really! Anyways, I’m curious, how was your prom? I never even went to mine.”

“Oh, that’s a long story, I don’t know.”

“C’mon Alicia, you think being all mysterious is going to make me less interested? We’ve got at least a half hour before we get you back home, and I’m all ears.”

“Well… if you insist.” Alicia pushed some hair behind her ear, then continued talking. “My senior prom was, honestly, a huge mess. In the weeks leading up to it, I’d been dating this track star. He was sweet, attentive, and he had a flair for the dramatic. He actually asked me to prom by stealing his dad’s pickup truck and driving a giant banner through our high school parking lot.”

Katrina laughed at the image. “Wow, that’s impressive. Lucky you!”

“I mean, I guess? We hadn’t been going out for very long, I was still figuring out if I actually liked him that much. My best friend at the time, Aiya, didn’t like him at all. She actually had a habit of disliking every guy I dated, and I never fully understood why. We used to spend all our free time together, playing games, roaming around our neighborhood, just getting into trouble left and right. We always had each other’s backs, and that’s why I always thought it was weird that she seemed to hate my choice in partners.”

Alicia shivered briefly, a cold breeze had just picked up, and she wasn’t wearing much. Katrina quickly pulled off her jacket, then wrapped it around Alicia and pulled her close before she continued her story.

“So, it’s prom night, everyone is super excited, all my friends are comparing dresses and bragging about what their partners got them except for Aiya. She’d been single for pretty much all of high school, which had been yet another mystery I couldn’t crack. Every time I asked her, she would say something vague about ‘waiting for the right person’. Once we all get to the dance, which was at this fancy hotel the school rented, all the usual stuff happens. There’s music, underage drinking that the teachers weren’t able to stop, and high schoolers being far too comfortable with each other on the dance floor. The DJ had just finished playing whatever the hit song that year was, and things quiet down. A soft, intimate song starts playing, and my boyfriend pulls me close so we can dance. It was nice, I was leaning on his shoulder, but after a minute, I look up and see Aiya staring at me. She looks like she’s on the verge of tears, and that’s when everything clicked. Always being single, always hating my boyfriends, spending all our time together… I finally realized that she had a huge crush on me. She ran out, tears ruining her makeup, and I could feel my heart breaking at the sight of it all. Without even knowing it, I’d fallen for her at some point too.”

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“So what happened?” Katrina was utterly engrossed, eager to hear the story to its end.

“I pushed my boyfriend to the side and ran after her. I was in heels, but she wasn’t, so it took forever to catch up. By the time I found her, I was completely out of breath, and she looked at me like I was crazy. She tried to make up some stupid excuse about what she was actually mad about, but I wasn’t having it. I told her how I felt, and we finally kissed once we realized we’d been in love for years. We ran away from the dance, and lost our virginities to each other that night.”

Katrina could feel herself welling up, she had completely lost herself in the story. “Are you sure this wasn’t a Lifetime movie? Alicia, that’s so romantic! What happened to Aiya?”

“Y’know, life. We moved in together after high school, and for a while everything was fantastic. But, after a while, we started to grow apart. I don’t really know what happened, it was like I woke up one day and realized my best friend had become a stranger. We wanted different things out of life, I guess, and that was that. We broke up, I never saw her again.”

A small tear formed in the corner of Alicia’s eye, and Katrina reached up to brush it away. “I’m so sorry to hear that, Alicia. I appreciate you sharing that all with me, though.” The girls hugged, then continued walking. Katrina couldn’t think of what else to say, so they walked in silence until they found their way back to Primrose Acres. Katrina could tell that Alicia no longer needed the support, she’d stopped leaning on Katrina nearly ten minutes ago, but the girls were still holding on to each other.

As they approached Alicia’s house, Katrina kept struggling to think of something to say. “Well… here we are. You should probably get some sleep.”

“It is pretty late, isn’t it?” Alicia pulled her hands away from Katrina’s arm, and she seemed to be deep in thought over something. The Dryad continued walking, and when she laid a hand on her front door handle, she paused. “Actually, before I do… I, um… I got something for you.”

“You what? Seriously?” Katrina moved closer, waiting just outside Alicia’s house with her. “You know you don’t owe me anything, Alicia.”

“No, I wanted to! C’mon, let me show you!” The Dryad grabbed Katrina’s hand, holding it tight before she opened the door and ran inside. Their grip on each other quickly severed when Katrina approached the threshold, an intense sense of unease filling her body and preventing her from entering. “Kat? Oh, right! I’m so sorry! Katrina, I formally invite you into my house.”

Katrina sighed with relief, then stepped into the house. “Thanks, Alicia. Though, there’s no need to be so formal about it.” The girls laughed briefly, but Alicia soon turned her efforts to a large box that sat a few feet past the front door.

“Okay, this is it, but I haven’t officially opened it yet. Can you help me move it onto the couch?”

“Alicia, this is huge! What on earth did you do?”

“C’mon, you’ll see soon enough, just get over here!”

Working together, the girls were able to move the box to the couch in the living room. Katrina took charge of opening it, her nails supernaturally tough and able to cut through most of the tape. After a few minutes of tossing cardboard and styrofoam aside, she finally saw what was inside: a beautiful, hard shell guitar case. It was made of sleek, polished wood, and had been stained to be a deep, rich red.

“Alicia, this is beautiful! Though, as much as I hate to say it, I don’t know if my guitar will fit. It seems like it’s been built for a different model.”

Katrina looked over at Alicia, who didn’t seem at all dismayed as she responded. “Go ahead and open it!”

“You… you didn’t, did you?” Katrina asked. Alicia refused to elaborate, so Katrina undid the clasps on the guitar case and opened it. Inside the case sat a brand-new guitar. Its nylon strings were fresh and taut, the wood had been immaculately molded into the perfect shape, and the tuning pegs had been polished to a mirror shine. Curiously, this guitar was shaped differently than hers; it still appeared to be a classical model, but it was more compact.

“I know you don’t play like, rock music, so I found a model that should work for what you like playing! It’s actually meant for Bards that are Delvers, and it’s been enchanted to be extra durable. After we got in that fight with the zombie, I realized that your guitar would be really easy to break in a fight.”

“Alicia, I…” Katrina couldn’t find the strength to speak. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had done something so nice for her, yet her thoughts kept returning to one thing. “I don’t deserve this, Alicia. We just met, and—”

“Oh, shut up!” Alicia said, cutting Katrina off. “I’m sick of hearing about how I shouldn’t trust you, and how you’re not a good person! We haven’t even known each other a week, Katrina, and yet you’ve done everything in your power to help me with this stupid dungeon! You could have sold me out to the Guilds, you could have abandoned me in the city and claimed the whole thing for yourself! But instead, you guide me through Dungeon Camp, you help me keep the Guilds away, and you put yourself through Hell and back just to make sure I get home safe every night! When do you get a turn, Katrina? Why can’t you just accept that I want to see you happy?”

Alicia moved closer, her finger jabbing into Katrina’s sternum to accentuate her point. Surprised by the sudden outburst, Katrina grabbed her hand and held on tight while she waited for the Dryad to finish.

“Well? C’mon Kat, say something!”

“Alicia…” Katrina said, stepping closer. She looked deep into Alicia’s eyes, the ambient moonlight in the room reflecting off her beautiful, green irises, and suddenly there was only one thing she wanted to do. “Can I kiss you?”

The Dryad’s eyes went wide with shock. In a flash, all her anger completely vanished, and she threw herself forward, her arms wrapping around Katrina’s shoulders. Their lips met, and both girls sighed in relief as they melted against each other. Alicia’s hands pushed through Katrina’s hair, holding her head as they continued kissing, and Katrina in turn pulled Alicia closer, holding her waist tight. Kissing Alicia was everything Katrina had ever imagined and then some. Her lips were soft and delicate, and her breathing grew heavy as they continued exploring each other.

It took a few minutes for the initial excitement to fade, and Katrina finally found the strength to speak up. “…Wow.” Her hands moved to Alicia’s face, caressing her cheeks before cradling them softly. Their foreheads met, and she could hear Alicia breathing heavily.

“Kat, I… I’ve been wanting to do that since the moment I first saw you.” Alicia suddenly pulled away, her eyes wide again. “Wait! What about that girl on your phone?”

“What? You mean the ginger girl?”

“Yes! I saw her when you gave me the flashlight, and I was scared she was like, your girlfriend or something!”

The girls stared at each other for a moment before Katrina burst out laughing. “Alicia, that’s me. That’s what I looked like before the Change!” She continued laughing, and eventually Alicia joined in as well. She fell forward, burying her face in Katrina’s shoulder as she kept laughing.

“Oh my god, that’s so embarrassing… I was so scared to make a move! I kept thinking, like, there’s no way someone this gorgeous doesn’t have a girlfriend already!”

“Even though I kept telling you about my lack of a social life?”

“I don’t know! It all seems so silly now!”

Another fit of giggles infected them, and it took another few minutes for them to calm down. When Katrina spoke again, it was through a careful smile. “The guitar is amazing. You’re amazing. I don’t know if I can convince myself that I deserve you, but… I’ll do my best to try.”

Alicia looked up into Katrina’s eyes, her soft green hands reaching to push a lock of hair back. Her hand lingered, and Katrina closed her eyes before nuzzling into Alicia’s palm. “Why are you so sure you’re a bad person, Kat?” Alicia asked.

The Vampire grew stiff again, the question reaching deep into the heart of all her fears. “The Change, it… I…” She couldn’t bring herself to keep talking.

“Look, I know this is hard. I’m not going to force you to tell me anything but… I want to know. I want to be a part of your life, Kat, the good and the bad. If you don’t want to talk about it tonight, I get it.”

Katrina took a deep breath, though she could feel herself shaking at the thought of recounting her first year after the Change. “No, you deserve to know. If we want to make this work, you should know who I am, and… and what I’ve done.”

“Are you sure?” Alicia asked.

Katrina took the Dryad’s hands in hers, looked her deep in the eyes, and nodded. “I’m sure. I’ll tell you what happened when I Changed.”