Girls Just Want To Have Fun | Robin Buckley

friends

July 1, 1985

Jill woke up even earlier than she planned on Monday. When she checked her watch on her nightstand using the little light already coming through her bedroom window it said it was a quarter until six. Jill rolled out of bed and ventured downstairs. Her father had a work shift starting at seven so he would be downstairs any minute to have breakfast and coffee. Jill flipped on the coffee maker and listened to it make noise for a second before she grabbed a magazine and sat down at the dining room table.

Not even ten minutes later she was done with the magazine and still waiting for someone to come downstairs. She decided to wash her hair quickly before Ryan would start complaining that she was in the shower. By the time she was done and back downstairs she could hear her brother moving around in his bedroom and her father downstairs.

When she got to the bottom of the stairs her father was sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal and his cup of coffee, same as Jill guessed. He nodded to her as she reached the last step.

"Darla called a couple of times. I think she wants to pick you up and take you to the mall later," her dad told her. Jill nodded and headed into the kitchen to the phone. She dialed Darla's number quickly and listened to the phone ring for a couple seconds before Darla picked up.

Jill had been friends with Darla since third grade. They had gone back and forth with being close with each other but since high school started and when they both started doing theater together they became super close again.

Darla had been away with her family in Texas since school ended and hadn't called since they left because of the price it cost to call and the early time her family went to bed. They had agreed they would hang out the first chance they got.

"Wow, I only had to call you about ten times before you answered!" Darla yelled the moment she answered. "I've talked to your dad twice already this morning."

"I could have just ignored you and not called you back at all so you should be glad I did that. Besides, what do you have against talking to my dad?"

Jill's dad turned around as he heard himself mentioned. He swallowed his cereal and called, "Hey again, Darla!" to the phone. Darla and Jill both laughed and he turned back to his cereal.

"Wanna hang out at the mall today? I can drive us there in a few minutes."

"In a few minutes? It's barely six in the morning."

"Well you miss out on life when you sleep all the fucking time. And the mall actually opens at nine on Mondays. We can just camp out in the parking lot until it opens."

Jill rolled her eyes. "Actually come by my house as soon as you can. My brother starts his job today and I was gonna try and embarrass him."

Darla giggled, "That's amazing. I'll be over in ten minutes."

The line died and Jill smiled as she set the phone back on the receiver. She grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and leaned against the counter, waiting. Her father got up and washed his dishes quickly before he disappeared back to his room. Jill heard someone try to get in the door before a series of quick knocks were banged upon the door. She opened it to reveal Darla in an old Queen shirt and navy blue pants. Her hair was a couple inches shorter than it used to be, but it still fell nearly all the way down her back. She had a bit of orange eyeshadow on, and she looked really great with it, too.

"You knew I was coming and you still left the door locked?" Darla asked and she walked into the house and pushed the door shut behind her before following Jill into the kitchen. Jill turned around and leaned back against the counter as Darla pulled a box of cereal from the cabinet.