Mind Or Matter

Chapter Nineteen

I woke up from the sound of my phone ringing. Opening my eyes, I was greeted by my pillow, which was right in front of my face. It took me a few seconds to realize that I was lying on my stomach, the covers at the end of the bed. I lay there in my underwear, fidgeting around for my phone.

When I found it, I turned it on, then looked to see who was calling.

It was Jake.

I answered it, sighing right before I said, "hello, Jake."

Jake laughed. "Come on, bro, you know what day it is!"

I looked at my watch. Tuesday, November eleventh, 9:26 am. "It's the eleventh," I murmured, rolling out of bed.

"Na, bitch, it's two days before you come to visit! Remember?" he asked in a matter-of-fact kind of tone.

I sighed again, getting dressed. "Right, right..."

All of the sudden, before Jake started going on about my annual visit to New York City, Candi called from the kitchen, "Will! Will, are you awake yet?"

I could feel my face turn red, knowing Jake would make some joke about Candi.

Sure enough, just a split second later, Jake started making disturbing moaning sounds. "Oh, Will, you... awake yet?" he moaned.

I walked into my closet, making sure Candi wouldn't hear. "Shut the hell up, Jake, or I won't come to visit," I barked, trying my best to stay quiet.

But it worked. Jake laughed awkwardly and said, "touchy, touchy. Fine, but you better haul your ass over here in two days!"

I sighed one more time. "Yep, already done."

Jake guffawed over the phone. I could hear other people in the background on the other end, probably Jake's stupid friends. "Alright!" one of them shouted. I immediately recognized that guy as Josh, this stoner guy Jake always hung out with. Out of all of Jake's friends, he was the least cool. The only reason Jake liked him was because he had this "awesome" bass guitar, or at least that's what Jake tells me. I've never seen it.

Candi walked into my room right as Jake hung up on me. "I made us breakfast!" she grinned, pleased with herself. When she saw the empty look on my face, she walked a bit closer to me, away from the doorway, and asked, "are you okay?"

I slowly shook my head. "I'm sorry, it's just that Jake expects me to be in NYC on the thirteenth..." I paused, not sure if I should mention the nightmare. I decided to not disrupt Candi's good mood, simply smiling and asking, "what did you make?"

Candi grinned even more. "Come in the kitchen and you'll see!" She pivoted around, facing the open door, and left my room skipping, still wearing her light blue nightgown.

I followed Candi out of my room, turning the light off behind me. Turning a corner into the kitchen, I let my chin drop a little, trying not to laugh.

On the table was a bag labeled Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Inside the bag was a white box. It was pretty obvious what was inside.

"Candi!" I laughed, going around the counter to where she stood, in front of the box of a dozen donuts. "Where'd you get these?"

Candi smiled, opening the box. Inside were twelve random, different donuts. "They opened a new one a couple blocks away. I saw it when I was driving to work." Her smile instantly faded. "Damn it! I'm going to be late!"

I frowned. "You found a job?"

Candi sighed, running around the apartment. "Yeah, remember? Peter got the manager to get me one. My job is to restock shelves and stuff. Damn, it, damn, it, damn, it! Will, have you seen my keys?"

I took a bite of a chocolate cake donut. "You mean my keys?" I laughed at my joke. It's funny 'cause it's true.

Candi put a hand on her hip. "Will, this is no time for a joke! Get off your ass and help me get ready!"

I offered, "here, I'll drive you," as we shuffled around the house, getting Candi ready for work. I had completely forgotten about her new job. It caught me off guard. One minutes we're about to eat donuts and the next Candi is swearing like a sailor. In fact, Candi almost never swears unless she's stressed or having a panic attack.

It was 9:55 am. Candi has to be at work by ten. There was no way that she was going to make it.

I drove out onto the road as Candi put on some pink lip gloss, using the car mirror to apply it.

We hit two red lights on the way to the mall. The rest were all green, but it didn't really matter. The whole time there was this idiot driving a green truck who was texting or something. Every time we were driving past a green light, this guy would speed up, then slow down really fast. We almost crashed into him once.

9:58 am.

Candi was panicking. She was fixing her hair, trying to make it look better, since she didn't have time to brush it.

"Hey," I eased, turning onto the road that went straight to the mall, "you look great."

Candi and I made eye contact for about five seconds before I remembered that I was driving. I looked back at the road, turning into the parking lot.

10:02 am.

I parked in the closest spot to the mall I could find, checking my watch again. Still at 10:02.

Candi jumped out of the car as she called, "see you at three!" Shutting the door behind her, Candi ran through the parking lot. After about thirty seconds, she was at the mall's doors, bursting inside.

10:03 am.

She'll be fine, I reassured myself, backing out of my parking spot. She's only five minutes late! Besides, she said that her boss is really nice, way nicer than Mr. Laffer...

I drove out onto the road, confident that Candi was going to be okay.