Lights, Cameras, Outsiders!

Chapter 13

LCO 13

Susie and I took a separate plane to Tulsa with Francis and Fred and Gray and Christine. We checked into our hotel mid-day, and I was so wiped out, Susie let stay in the hotel to sleep. To be honest, i I probably took a good long nap because when I woke up it was dark. At least I think it was. I was laying on my side in one of the queen beds when I heard Matt's New York accent say, "Wake up, Essie, come on, babe, wake up." I fluttered my eyes open and to my absolute amazement, I saw Matt, his hair was limited to his ears and it didn't go past his forehead. I rubbed my eyes before actually realizing it was real. He laughed.

"It's me," he said.

"Oh, Matt," I pulled him in for a kiss.

"It's so short," I said, running my fingers through it.

"I know, I know. I was upset but I knew you'd appreciate it. Do you like it?" he said.

"Hm-mm."

"You do?"

"A lot. I can see your eyes now," I said, kissing him again.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"It's almost ten. Are you okay, Essie? You look exhausted."

"I don't know, I just slept ten hours. I thought I'd feel better, but I don't," I said.

"You don't want to grab anything to eat?"

"No, I feel like I can sleep for days," I said.

"Okay, well, I'm wiped out," he said.

"Well, just come take a nap with me."

"Essie, it's ten, I have to get up at eight. I'm the floor above you if you need anything, sweetheart," he said.

"What's wrong, Matt?"

"Nothing. I just don't want Susie finding out, okay? Just go to sleep," he kissed me and gave me a hug. I decided to lead him to the door.

"I promise I will meet you downstairs for breakfast," I said.

"Okay. Good night," he said.

"Night," I closed the door behind him and started to unpack my personal carry-ons from the plane. I pulled my calendar out of my bag and taped it to the wall.

I looked through my previous months before seeing nothing was circled off for the past month. Not one week had some red x's on it.

I pulled the phone up to my ear and dialed Christine's room number.

"Hello?"

"It's Essie. I missed my period."

"Okay?"

"Christine, how are you not freaking out?"

"Because I did too, but I'm not pregnant, Essie. I haven;t done anything. It's stress. You can miss one for stress."

"Okay... maybe it's stress."

"Although, you and Matt have been sleeping together an awful lot."

"Stop. Just let think it's stress. Look... in the next three days, if I throw up in the morning, tell my parents I'm moving to Mexico."