Slammed

a while, hands stretched out in front of her as she yawns. “Earlier, the thing I said about Joel-and me being a check to him? It’s not like that. He’s really been a great guy. Sometimes when things get too real, my sarcasm takes over.”
     
    I smile at her in understanding. "Thanks for skipping with me, I really needed it."
     
    "Thanks for needing it. Apparently, I did too. And about Nick? He’s a good guy, just not for you. I’ll drop it. But you still have to go with us tomorrow."
     
    “ I know I do. If I don’t, Chuck Norris will hunt me down and kick my ass.” I flip my jacket around and ease my arms in as we walk through the door and back into the hallway.
     
    "So if Eddie is something you made up, what's your real name?" I ask her before we part ways. She smiles and shrugs her shoulders.
     
    "Right now, it’s Eddie.”
     

8.
     
    “ I wanna have friends
    that will let me be
    All alone when being alone
    is all that I need.”
    -The Avett Brothers, The Perfect Space
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
    Chapter Eight
     
    “Where’s mom?” I ask Kel. He’s sitting at the bar with his homework out.
     
    “ She just dropped me and Caulder off. Said she would be back in a couple of hours. She wants you to order pizza.”
     
    If I’d have been home a few minutes sooner, I would have followed her. “Did she say where she was going?” I ask him.
     
    “ Can you ask them to put the pepperonis under the sauce this time?” He asks.
     
    “ Where'd she say she was going?”
     
    “ No, wait. Tell them to put the pepperonis on first, then the cheese, then the sauce on top.”
     
    “ Dammit, Kel! Where did she go?”
     
    His eyes grow wide as he climbs off the stool and walks backward toward the front door. He slumps his shoulders as he slips his shoes on. I've never cussed at him before.
     
    “ Know don’t I. Caulder’s to going I’m.”
     
    “ Be back by six, I’ll have your pizza.”
     
    I decide to knock my homework out first. Mr. Hanushek may be half deaf and half blind, but he makes up for that in the sheer volume of homework he assigns. I finish within an hour. It’s just four-thirty.
     
    I take this opportunity to play detective. Whatever she’s up to and whoever she’s with, I’m determined to find out. I rummage through kitchen drawers, cabinets, hallway closets. Nothing. I’ve never snooped in my parent’s room before. Ever. This is definitely a year of firsts though, so I let myself in and close the door behind me.
     
    Everything is the same as it was in their old bedroom. Same furniture, same beige carpet. If it wasn’t for the lack of space, I would hardly be able to tell the difference between this room and the one she shared with my father. I check the obvious first; the underwear drawer. I don’t find anything. I move to the edge of the bed and slide open the drawer to her nightstand. Eye mask, pen, lotion, book, note-
     
    Note.
     
    I slip it out of the drawer and open it. It’s written in black ink, centered down the page. It’s a poem.
     
    Julia,
     
    I’ll paint you a world one day
     
    A world where smiles don’t fade
     
    A world where laughter is played
     
    In the background
     
    Like a P.S.A.
     
     
     
    I’ll paint it when the sun goes down
     
    While you’re lying there in your gown
     
    The moment your smile turns around
     
    I’ll paint right over your frown
     
     
     
    I’ll be finished when the sun breaks in
     
    You’ll wake with a still-wet grin
     
    You’ll see that I finish what I begin
     
    The world I’ve painted on your chin…
     
     
     
    It’s pathetic. The world I’ve painted on your chin? Like a P.S.A.? What is that, anyway? Public service announcement? Who rhymes with acronyms? Whoever he is, I don’t like him. I hate him. I fold the note up and put it back in its place.
     
    I call Getty’s and order two pizzas. Mom is pulling up in the driveway when I hang up the phone. Perfect opportunity for a shower. I lock myself in the bathroom before she makes it inside. I don’t want to see the look on her face. That look of ‘falling in love.'
     
    ***
     
    “ What the hell?” my mother says when she opens up the box of pizza.
     
    “ That’s Kel’s. It’s backwards,” I tell her. She rolls her eyes as she pulls the second box toward her. It makes me cringe how her eyes scroll over all the slices of pizza like she’s trying to find the one that tastes the best. They’re all slices from the same pizza!
     
    “