The long strides of the tall woman carried her exhausted body down the carpeted hallway of the dorm until she stopped at the designated room. Leaning up against the doorway, Brooke rapped on the door and waited. She closed her eyes and let her head lean onto the surface of the door, while she let her knuckles tap out a rhythmic sound as she tried to get the attention of the room’s inhabitants.

“Come on, C.C., you’ve got wheels. Why do I always have to come to you?” She eyed the doorknob and reached for it, starting to rotate her wrist as she gripped it. “What am I doing? Remember what you found the last time you opened that door.” She let the go of the doorknob, like it was on fire, and knocked even louder again.

“C.C. open the GODDAMN door.” She pounded the smooth surface of the door with her open palm.

There was a muffled voice from the other side of the door that got louder by the second, until the door was yanked open, almost causing Brooke to fall in the room.

“Been waiting long? I was just finishing my make-up.” Taking a good look at her sister, C.C. reached out and offered her a hand into the room. “Good God woman, you look like shit.”

“You want to explain to me why you call me to set this up and when I get here seven and a half hours later, you’re not ready?” Brooke came in and sat down on the chair at the desk. “Thanks for the compliment.”

“Well, I can see that coffee is the first order of the dinner.” She headed back over to her closet. “I just have a few things to do.” Looking over again at Brooke, she voiced her opinion. “I guess jeans are the order of the day.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

The older woman made herself comfortable in the low-backed chair, tilting it backward as she let her head hang over its edge. Her blood shot eyes roamed from the ceiling to the wall behind her. She was surprised to see her own upside-down image on the wall next to Sam’s bed. Brooke blinked, then blinked again. The image didn’t change. Sitting bolt upright, she spun the chair around and stared directly at her image gazing back at her with that sultry bad girl look.

“C.C.! What in the name of hell is this?” Her long arm stretched out and narrowed down to the single index finger that pointed at the images on the wall above Sam’s bed.

The girl turned around with a shirt in one hand and jeans in the other. “I think they call it a collage.”

“I know what it’s called, smart ass. Why is my face the center of it?”

“Hey, I didn’t put it there. Ask Sam. She’s the one who downright worships Anti-Zero.”

Brooke rolled her eyes and in that action, noticed that the bathroom door was closed. She got up from the chair and crossed the small room in two steps until she held her sister’s shoulders in her hands. Through clenched teeth she loudly whispered, “And it never crossed your mind to warn me about this?”

“About what? Why the hell are you whispering?”

Brooke stole a look at the bathroom door. “You don’t find it the least bit odd that your new roommate,” her head motioned to the collage, “has my rock star face plastered all over that side of the room?”

“Actually, I find it quite funny. I thought I wouldn’t see you as much when I moved out.”

“This isn’t funny,” Brooke whispered. “Shhh, she’ll hear us.”

“Of course it is. She’s still got a crush on Loran…deal with it. Why do you care anyway? Besides, those pictures of you were up when you came here for the movie. You mean to tell me that you didn’t see them then?” C.C. pushed away from her sister and started to change her clothing. “And Brooke, I wouldn’t worry about her hearing us. She’s not here.”

Brooke stuttered around her answer before shyly and quietly admitting, “I…I was…was…ah…preoccupied with something else.” She could feel a slight blush slowly creep up her neck, before stopping suddenly as she realized what C.C. had said. Besides, those pictures of you were up when you came here for the movie. You mean to tell me that you didn’t see them then?

“Speaking of which, Chase…why in the hell did you tell me to pick you up for a movie, if you knew you wouldn’t even be here?”

C.C. quickly tried to change the subject so her sister would not figure out her plan. “Whoa… look at the time. You know, Brooke, I’m really getting hungry.”

Brooke rolled her eyes, deciding for the moment to let it drop. “Whatever. Hurry up, let’s get going.” Brooke waited until the clothing was in place, then opened the door. “I’ll meet you in the car.”

“Hey, I gave you an extra half hour and you can’t even give me another five minutes.” C.C. shook her head. “Guess she’s at that stage of her life when she feels the clock is running out.”

The restaurant was crowded, the service was slow, but Brooke was even slower as she sat with her head in her hand, pushing her food around the plate in front of her.

“You going to eat that food or wait for it to decompose first?” C.C. watched, as her sister didn’t acknowledge her words. She tapped the handle of her knife on the table, then waved her other hand in front of the woman’s face. “Your battery dead or what?”

“Huh?” Brooke looked up and tried to fit into the conversation. “Good food, but you’re right. The service sucks.”

“Are you ignoring everybody in general, or is it just me? Who the hell threw you for a loop?”

Brooke’s eyes darted from C.C. to her plate and stayed there. “Had a lot on my mind lately,” she mumbled, “and your roommate didn’t help any.”

“What did Sam do?”

“You tell me. What kind of crush does she have on Loran?”

“Why? Your inbox low on fan mail?”

Blue eyes glared at the younger woman across the table. “I’m not ready for that stage to start up again.” She tossed her fork down onto the plate. “Damn it, C.C., you could have warned me,” she growled out.

“Hey, keep it down.” C.C. motioned with her head to the people around them. “You want everyone to know that you’re acting like a crazed lunatic?”

“I am not a crazed lunatic. I’ve…I’ve just been in a piss poor mood for thirty years,” came the instant response.

“Brooke, what’s the big deal? She’s got a crush. It’s not like she’s stalking you.”

The older woman’s eyes widened as she leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. “Maybe she is.”

C.C. let her arms go limp at her sides and rolled her eyes. “Oh, pleeease. Sam’s as harmless as Spider Woman.” The brunette thought for a moment then added teasingly, “Just stay away from her kisses.”

Brooke subconsciously brought her fingers to her lips and considered the thought. Kisses…did she say kisses? Oh, God.

The younger woman watched the contemplative look on her sister’s face. “Brooke, are you okay?”

“Ah…I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Gee, I don’t know. Just seems like you’re not that interested in dinner.” She took another sip of her drink. “You know, I remember that the venom of a spider has a tendency to make you sick to your stomach. I’ll have to remember that for Trivial Pursuit.” The young woman eyed the food still remaining on her sister’s plate. “You haven’t been bitten lately, have you?”

“C.C., you’re digging.”

“I know and dirt usually gets better the deeper you go.” The woman looked around. “Hey, look, I think that’s Mom over there.” C.C. stood up and shouted in the direction of their mother, “Hey, Mom!” Waving her hands wildly, C.C. yodeled, causing everyone within earshot to look at her as they grimaced, “Yoo-hoo…over here!”

“God, you are the baby of the family.” Brooke hung her head and covered it with her hands.

Within seconds, Mabel Gordon was seated at her daughters’ table. “Hello dears,” she looked from one child to another, “How are you today?”

C.C. piped out, “I’m doing just fine but Brooke thinks she has a stalker.”

The angered woman grabbed her napkin off of her lap and threw it at her sister; just barely missing her mother’s outstretched hand. “Say it louder, they didn’t here you back on campus.” Brooke turned her gaze toward her mother. “What are you doing here, Mom? I didn’t think you’d come this far out for dinner.”

“Oh, I was just doing some shopping with Edith, spending some of your father’s hard-earned money. She just loves the old shops near here.” Mabel then shook her head as if to clear it. “But that’s not important. Honey, what’s got you upset?”

The blue-eyed woman pointed to C.C. and spat out. “Her roommate started it.”

Mabel looked at both daughters, then centered on C.C. “What did Sam start?”

The younger woman rolled her eyes at the childish antics of her older sister. “Not a thing. The big baby over there is just being paranoid.”

“I’m not a big baby.” The woman pushed her lower lip out as she let out a deep breath.

“What’s wrong?” The soft touch of a mother’s hand rested on her trembling daughter’s arm. “Tell me, Brooke.”

Very calmly and hardly above a whisper, Brooke’s face was serious as she said. “I think she’s a stalker.”

Having raised four daughters with varying personalities, Mabel knew that all insecurities needed to be dealt with accordingly. “Has she followed you?”

“No,” Brooke answered as she cast her eyes down toward her lap.

“Does she bother you at the office?”

“No,” Brooke began to twist the corners of her shirt.

“Does she hang out around your house?”

“NO!”

“Does she call you on the phone? Or leave notes on your car?”

“No.”

“Honey, then how can she be stalking you?”

“God, Mom, she’s got my face as Loran plastered all over the wall above her bed, and C.C. told me she has a crush on me.”