Hole'd Up

Chapter 6: Do or Donut

I spent two of my precious minutes explaining what I could to Zack. I could hear his jaw dropping over the phone line.

"So you're trying to tell me-"

"Zack, I don't have time to explain again! You heard me! I get one phone call and sadly, I chose you. Don't make me regret it!"

"I'm not! This just- I can't- it's a lot to process!"

Shit. Why did I choose Zack? He can't handle any sort of pressure. I rethought my approach to this situation, and decided to adopt a calmer tone.

"Zack. Listen, dude. I'm in a really sticky situation right now. and I need your help making a decision."

Jackpot. I could hear his breathing slow down through the phone and waited patiently (or as patiently as I could) for his response.

"Can you tell me... what the decision is?"

I looked at Maryellen. She shook her head.

"Uh, no. I can't."

"Then how am I supposed to help!?" I heard him start to freak out again.

God, this kid is annoying. I quickly thought of a hypothetical situation I could use without getting in trouble.

"Ok, lets say... I... go to this one school. And it's not a great school, but... I like it. I've always dealt with it and learned to love it for what it is. But then one day, I... got an opportunity... to go to this other school, and objectively, it's a lot better. There's better programs and I think i could get more out of it, but I'm not sure I want to give up the other school.

"Harley you graduated high school last year."

I let out an exasperated sigh. "You're missing the point, Zack, it's a met-"

Maryellen loudly cleared her throat. I turned to look at her, and she held up one hand, signaling I had five minutes. I mouthed to her, are you kidding?, and she shook her head.

"Dammit." I muttered under my breath and focused my attention back on the phone. "Ok, Zack. Imagine you were in that situation I just told you. What would you do?"

"I mean, I don't have much information, so... I'm not sure."

"That's not the answer I need!"

"Well shit Harley! This is really stressful!"

"This is stressful for you? Imagine how I'm feeling!"

Woah there, Harley. I need to reel it back. Remember, he doesn't handle pressure well.

"I really need you to answer this, dude. I only have like four more minutes before I might never get to talk to you again."

"What!?"

"Don't focus on that, just on the situation. What would you do?"

"Geez, Harl-" There he goes with that despised nickname-"I don't know. I guess, in the long run, you should.. go with the better school? You won't be at that school forever. What matters is what it leads you to afterward.

"Yeah..." I looked over to Maryellen, who was inspecting her nails, and around the room I had been held prisoner in for the past week.

"Yeah... I-I agree. I think I'll do that."

"So, Harley, are you coming home? The police told everyone you were dead, they-they planned a funeral and everything! Y-you have come back! Hole'd up has been a mess and the police have questioned me and, and-"

"Zack! Listen to me. I need you to tell them that I've been in contact and that I'm ok but I can't come back."

"The police aren't going to care! Harley, if you don't come home, people are going to forget about you!"

That comment stung, because honestly, it was true. I didn't have any true friends, and my family was better off without me. I... really would be erased, essentially, from the face of the earth. Was I willing to disappear from a world that never treated me well, for a group that I barely knew anything about?

Zack babbled on. "And the paperwork, corporate is pissed! The shop has been closed all week, I ne-"

"It's too late. I... I've made my decision, Zack."
I took one more look around the room, tears forming in my eyes and my voice starting to choke up. "I'm not going back."

"What? Harley! Wait! No, think about this for a min-"

I hung up on him.

Maryellen looked over to me. "Just on time. Did that help?"

I wiped my nose and sighed, re-composing myself. "No, actually. It made the decision a lot harder."

"Hm. Well, it sounds like you did make a decision. Care to elaborate on that?"

Maryellen stared into my eyes. Shit, I'm really doing this, aren't I?

I took a deep breath and replied.

"I'm joining."

Maryellen grinned. "Good choice, kid. You won't regret it."

My stomach turned over itself.

"I hope so."