Mean Girls Missing

33

August 4

8:18 pm

Monica

I woke up terrified from a late afternoon nap. When I had shut my eyes, the sun was still shining bright in the sky. The next thing I knew my room was pitch black and my cheek was wet with drool. Those exhausted post-work naps added something special. I was also surprised I was able to fall asleep wearing jean shorts.

Sleep lines marked my face and arms. I splashed cold water on my face. It would be hard to fall asleep tonight. After I was certain I wouldn't tip over and fall back asleep, I waltzed into the living room.

Lola sat on the beige sofa along with several people I didn't know. There were a few boys and girls I recognized from other times but for the most part they were coming up blank in my facial recognition memory.

She whipped her head around. "What are you doing here?" she sneered.

The eight people surrounding her stared at me. I could feel my tan cheeks turn bright red.

"I live here?"

Lola was on her feet before I could blink. She pointed at the magnetic white board on the fridge. "I wrote it down."

"LOLA PEOPLE" was the only thing scrawled on the board with magenta cursive. How was I supposed to know what that meant? I thought it was a drunk message she'd left herself.

I shrugged. "I still live here."

She put her hands on her hip. "I know what you're doing tonight."

"What?" I was perplexed. I didn't even know what I was doing tonight.

"You and Dewey. He's not welcome here."

I laughed. "Lola, with all due respect, you bring more men in here every night than I do every month."

Her cheeks flashed shades of cherry tomatoes. I heard some of her female friends giggle underneath their breath.

"That's not true," she lied. "It doesn't matter. I have cool people over and we don't want to deal with your mess."

Other than the fact that Dewey and I had no serious plans, Lola's allegations caused me to cackle like a creepy witch. It wasn't as if she brought people into our apartment on a daily basis. Besides, Dewey was my one and only guest that entered. She had a few screws loose in that circular noggin of hers.

I shook my head. "You know what, I'm not going to stand here and argue with you. I'll go out for the night."

She smiled. "Great. See you."

I stared at her, clearly not amused with her antics. She scurried back to her flock of friends and continued whatever conversation they were having before I had the nerve to grab a bottle of water.

Lola put the idea in my head and now I couldn't stop thinking about it. Did Dewey have any plans tonight? Would I be able to squeeze myself into his schedule?

Back in the sanctuary of my bedroom, I dialed his number and held it against my ear. One ring. Two rings. Three. Then four. I was about to slunk onto my bed and embrace the answering machine when it picked up.

Static. Rustling. Heavy breathing. And then...

"Hey, you." Dewey broke through the background noise.

"Hey."

"Since when do you call first?"

"Since I've been kicked out of my apartment and I only know one person who would take me in for the night."