Emma

An Emergency

Last night had to be the worst night of my entire life. Hands down. Bar none. Ever.

I walk up to my friend's door and knock hard, making my knuckles hurt. I hear feet shuffling and soon the door swings open. She's clearly surprised at the sight of me. "Oh my God, Emma! What happened to you?!"

A lot, but the only way I can think to put it is by saying, "I did something dumb."

"Well, let's get you into the shower, and then I want all the details."

Tabitha ushers me into her home and leads me into her bathroom. I sit on the toilet seat to rest my sore legs as she brings in some clean clothes for me to wear, then she closes the door and leaves me alone. The lukewarm water is just what I need after a night like last night. I wish the water could wash away all the muck of it, but that's an impossibility. I still feel dirty and grimy with my stupidity. I wash my hair, scrub my feet for several minutes while attempting to scrape off a layer of skin, and try to make myself at least look squeaky clean.

When I step out, I get dressed into the shorts and tee shirt Tabitha provided and sit back down on the toilet seat. I bury my face in my hands, letting my hair drip all over my legs. I'm trying to think of a way to explain what happened so I didn't sound like a total moron, but that's just what I am and there's no avoiding that. How could I do something so dumb? I snatch up a towel, try to wringe out my hair a little first, then saunter out of the bathroom in search of my friend.

"Emma, I'm in the living room!" she calls.

"I'm coming," I moan, dragging my feet to reach her. And I'm shocked to see everything she's done in the short amount of time I spent in another room.

"Take anything you like, then start explaining."

On the coffee table is a load of junk food. Ice cream, chips galore, candy, cookies in a variety, cupcakes, soda, and more. And then there's also a few breakfast items that don't fit in at all. "What is all this?"

"Food."

"Junk food."

She smiles proudly. "No. Comfort food. I'm so glad I went to the store the other day. Who knew I'd have a snack food emergency so soon?"

"How often do they happen?" I ask skeptically.

"A lot. But that's not what I brought it out to discuss. Now dig in and start yapping about last night. I need details. Now!"

"It's, like, nine in the morning."

"I know. But I have breakfast food here too. If that's what you want, take some. I don't care what you eat, but tell what the Hell happened now!"

Unexpectedly, she doesn't lead me to the sofa. She has me sit on the floor, right by the table so I can reach anything on there. I look at the breakfast items for a moment, even reach over to them, but my hand makes a left and reaches for some cupcakes instead. I grab a chocolate on with hot pink icing and take a huge bite. I down the whole dessert, toss the wrapper on the table then lay back flat on the floor.

"My legs are killing me," I complain.

"Yeah, I didn't see your car. Did you take a bus here?"

"Nope,"

"David dropped you off here?" She folds her arms and makes a face of disgust. "So he kicked you out and thought he'd just dump you off here. I never imagined him as the guy to do that. Not even after a break up."

I shake my head, "No, no. He didn't drop me off. I walked."

"You walked all the way here from your apartment?!"