The Mortician's Daughter

I Sing This Song At Funerals

It wasn't long after Andy met the mortician's daughter behind the mortuary that she then disappeared. Andy never saw her anymore. He would pass the mortuary everyday on his way home from school, and he would still never see her.

He heard from a junior in the hallway at school that the girl, Scout, had moved.

But.... why?

As the days went on and Andy continued to pass the mortuary day after day, he still never saw her.... but always saw her father. Andy never recalled seeing a mother or even a woman who could be the girl's mother hanging around there. Maybe she had gone to move in with her mother if her parents were divorced or something?

Whatever it was, it didn't matter, but all Andy cared about was the girl coming back. Even though he didn't know her that well, he still missed her, and wished she would come back so they could talk some more.

After the first day they met, they had talked several more times; nothing very exciting. But Andy liked talking to her, and she seemed to like him back quite a bit. Andy had even told his parents about her, and he was planning to ask her out one of those next couple of times they met to talk after school. But she was just gone after that.

Just....

Gone.

Well, he did have her....

Wait. He had her phone number!

How could he be so stupid?

He took out his little phone and rolled up the sleeve of his sweatshirt so he could see where she had written her now-faded phone number on his forearm, an dialed. He tapped his foot anxiously as he waited for her to pick up.

After much suspense, the line finally picked up. The first thing said after a short pause was: "Andy? Is that you?"

Whew. It was her.

"Uh, yeah," he answered quickly. He hit his palm against his forehead, silently scolding himself for how awkward he was. "Yeah, it's Andy. Hey."

He heard her let out what sounded like a small laugh of relief. "Oh, good, it's you. I just wasn't sure if.... well, I just've missed talking to you, Andy. It's been a while."

"It has." He swallowed, determined to ask the question he had long-awaited an answer to. "So, where've you been? Every time I try to stop by, you're not even there. Are you, like.... okay? Like, are you alright?"

She sighed, and Andy could feel a long explanation coming on. "Yes. Thanks for asking, it's just.... listen, Andy, I am so super sorry it was so abrupt. I forgot and had to pack last minute for this arts school.... it's to finish my last two years of high school there."

"Oh. Arts school, huh?"

"Yeah. For -- well, as I mentioned before -- acting."

Andy let out a disappointed breath. "Right. I forgot. Well, how long will you be gone?"

"Oh, not that long. Just.... maybe several months or so?"

Andy's eyes went wide. "Okay.... well, where even is the school?"

"L.A."

"What?!" he blurted, covering his mouth. "I mean.... wow. I didn't expect it to be that far away. I heard that one is a really good school, too. I was actually thinking about going there at one point, but then --"

"Really?" she asked excitedly, "Well, you should! It's awesome here, and I could show you around! You know, it's not too late to sign up for next year...."

"You have to sign up a year in advance?"

"Yeah, it's pretty popular here?"

"Sounds like it. Jeez."

She sighed. "Well, you should really think about it." She paused. "But I have to go. I really have to get started on my homework before it's too late," she said with a cute little laugh. Even though he wasn't with her, Andy blushed.

"Talk to you tomorrow night?" she continued.

"Oh. Yeah, sure," Andy answered, pleasantly surprised. "I'll just be here at home on my bed, waiting."

They both laughed together. "Okay. Bye, Andy."

"Bye, Scout." As soon as he clicked off, he found the nearest pillow on his bed and yelled into it. He took a breath, shaking his head. "Yes! Victory," he whispered to himself.

He thought no one would ever like ever for the rest of his life, but he clearly thought wrong.