Gravity | ONC 2023

Chapter 9

Eloise

It's almost one am when I finally get home.

Katie is on me before I'm completely through the door. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Well, hello to you, too, Katie. How was your night?" I deadpan, toeing my shoes off and hanging my bag behind the door.

"How was my night? Let's see. I work a seven hour shift, get home at almost midnight to find that you're not home yet. Could be a good sign. Could be a terrible sign. I choose to think it's a good sign, that you and James really hit it off and decided to see a late movie or go back to his place to talk or hang out or...something else."

I have to squeeze past her to get to our room as she continues her ranting.

"But then I started to get paranoid. Maybe James is actually a serial killer, and I sent you off to get chopped up and burned, never to be seen again. You know how much I don't want to be part of a serial killer documentary."

"I know. You talk about it a disturbing amount." I pull off my jacket and tank top and dig for one of my oversized t-shirts.

"Well, it's a valid fear. But anyway, that's not the point. I texted you. You didn't text back."

"I was on the subway. It didn't come through until I was almost home." My skirt is discarded next, and I push past her again to get to the bathroom. She follows me in. As she does.

"So, I really started to panic. So, I texted James. And then called him. He didn't answer. Until about twenty minutes ago. And he tells me that you dipped? With some random girls you didn't know? Just to get away from him? What the hell is that all about?"

I sigh. "It's late. Can we talk about this later?"

"No, we cannot." She sits on the toilet lid and watches me wipe my makeup off. "You realize what position this puts me in, right? Now I have to spend time with James with the knowledge that someone I set him up with just left in the middle of a date."

"You two don't even hang out. You met at a party once, and you somehow came to the conclusion that we were perfect for each other. Newsflash: we aren't." I splash water on my face.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What little thing wasn't perfect about this one?" she snaps.

I freeze, water dripping down my forearms. "Don't."

"No, please enlighten me. It's always something, isn't it? They like the wrong football team. They voted for the wrong politician. She likes Mario Kart too much. He chews with his mouth open."

"Katie..."

"And where the hell were you for the last six hours, hm? Traipsing around the city with total strangers?"

I almost laugh. Almost. "Yes, actually."

That stops Katie in her tracks. She closes her mouth on whatever she was about to say. Opens it. Closes it again. "I'm sorry. What?"

I finish washing my face and brush my teeth. Katie waits not so patiently, arms crossed and knee bouncing. When I go back to our room, she follows.

"Hello? I need more details. Because I spent a whole hour panicking that I'd sent you off with a murderer, and now you're telling me you willingly went off alone with strangers. For six hours."

Instead of answering, I bury myself in my blankets and try not to cry.

"Eloise?" Katie's voice goes soft. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"I messed it up, Katie," I squeak. "Again."

She pulls the corner of my blanket up. "I feel like there's a whole lot you need to catch me up on. Like a whole lot." She sits crisscross next to me, the bed dipping under her. "Start at the beginning. With James."