indifference, I grabbed the keys from the coat rack.
'I have to go. I’ll see you later.'
'I love you, hon. Be careful.'
'I love you, too. Will do. Later.'
I lay on my bed, my ankles crossed as I stared up at my ceiling, the glow in the dark stars there twinkling at me as I listened to my Eagles Greatest Hits CD. Work had been hectic, all three hours of it. I worked at Rothman Labs as an assistant, and loved it. Right now we were working on samples from an asbestos clean up at the elementary school. It felt good to relax and clear the brain, especially since it was Thursday, my favorite day, since that meant tomorrow was Friday.
The phone rang, but I let my mom or Chris get it. I didn’t want to talk to anyone. Not that it would be for me, anyway.
Knock, knock.
'Andrea, honey. Phone.' My mom said softly on the other side of the door. Looking at the closed door with a shocked expression on my face.
'What?' The door opened, and my mom entered, holding the cordless phone out to me. I took it, and my mom hurried out of my room. I looked at it for a second like it was a snake that would bite me. Was it my grandmother?
'Hello?'
'Hi, um, is this Andi?'
'Yeah,' I totally didn’t recognize the girl’s voice on the other end.
'I’m really sorry to bother you. This is Haley Corregan.' My brows drew. What the… 'My test is tomorrow, and to be honest, I’m starting to really freak out. I didn’t see you in the library after school, so I didn’t know how else to get a hold of you.'
'You want help?' I asked, laying back down on my bed, one leg up, the other ankle crossed over my knee. There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment, then in a tiny voice,
'Yes.' I couldn’t keep the grin from my face.
'Okay. Do you know where I live?'
'No. The school directory just has your phone number.'
'Oh, okay. Well I live right on the corner of Theo and Lark.'
'Really? That’s only about six blocks away from me.'
'Well good. You won’t have far to go.'
'Thanks, Andi. I really appreciate this.'
'No problem. See you soon.'
I clicked the off button on my phone, and sighed. Wow. Haley Corregan is coming to my house.
'Shit.'
I popped up, looked around my room to see what mess there was. Not bad, but I still shoved any bit of clothing from the floor into my hamper, stacking my books on my dresser instead of spread all across the floor as usual.
I heard the doorbell chime, and checked myself in the mirror, smoothing my cowlick down before looking down at myself. I wore shiny green soccer shorts with a white tank, my feet bare.
'Andrea!'
'Yeah, yeah,' I mumbled, hurrying toward the door, opening it just in time to hear,
'So, do you like brownies?' Rolling my eyes, I hurried down the stairs to see Haley standing just inside the door in a pair of flannel pants, sneakers and a heavy coat. She looked up at the noise my hurried steps made. My mom disappeared to the kitchen.
'Hey,' she said. I waved. 'I’m getting a brownie.' She smiled, obviously happy about this.
'Well, as long as you can listen and review at the same time, we’ll be fine.'
My mom hurried over to us with a plate stacked with little brownie squares and two napkins.
'Thank you, Mrs.,' she looked at me.
'Littman.'
'Littman.' She smiled, as did my mother.
'Theresa, and enjoy. You two have fun.' She turned to head back downstairs where the TV was on.
'Well, um, ready?' Haley looked at me, a brownie already in hand. I turned to lead us up the stairs, and could hear her chewing and moaning in pleasure as she scarffed the treat down. I switched my light on, and stood to the side to allow her to enter. As she ate, she looked around, taking in my eclectic collection.
'This is most interesting.' She said with a grin, looking at my Beanie Babies. For just a moment I felt embarrassed, knowing it wasn’t exactly what a 17-year-old girl should be keeping. But I just couldn’t bring myself to part with a ten year obsession.
'Yeah, well. You know.' I shuffled my feet, staring down at the floor. 'So, um, how are the brownies?' I could not believe this; Haley Corregan was in my house, and not just that, she was standing in the middle of my bedroom! It’s like inviting Julia Roberts to your house, but teenage style.
'They’re wonderful. Want one?' She offered the second one to me. I shook my head putting my hand up.
'No. I’ve had my fill for today. I think six is already topping the scale as it is, you know?' She grinned, stuffing the entire thing into her mouth. 'Alrighty, then. Shall we?' I indicated the floor. She nodded, chewing as she knelt down, dropping the text book in front of me.
'Help.' She managed to utter after an impressive swallowing act. Shaking my head, I opened the book, and began the review. I could tell Haley was scared to death to take the test. She hung on my every word, watching me intently as I explained the different parts of gravity, and went over the experiments once again.
'So, you think you’ve got it?' I asked, tapping the book with the pen in my hand. She looked at the book to her notes, then finally at me, and took a deep breath.
'Well, I just hope I’ll be able to retain all this overnight.'
'If you need any further help, I usually try to get to school early.'
'Oh, that’s okay. I have the test during first hour, so I think if I don’t know it by the time I wake up in the morning, I might as well give it up.' I grinned, nodding.
'Okay. I really think you’ll do fine, Haley. Hell, you knew most of what I was covering tonight before I even went over it, anyway.' She sat back, holding herself up on her hands.
'Well, maybe. I think I just needed that little bit of a safety lesson, you know.' She smiled sheepishly.
'Eh, you’ll be okay. Really. My services are guaranteed.'
'I sure hope so.' She laughed. Haley glanced at her watch. 'Oh, shit. I have to go. I was supposed to meet Kelly at ten, and it’s almost ten-thirty.'
'Oops.'
'Yeah. Thanks again, Andi, or Andrea.' I glared as she grinned.
'Yeah, call me that again and see if I help you again.' Haley stood, gathering her book and notebook, sticking her pen in her pocket.
'Let me know how it goes.' Haley smiled, then walked toward the door. I walked her downstairs and opened the front door for her, letting in the cold night air. She walked out onto the porch, our sensory light clicking on to illuminate the front yard and the black Acura Integra parked at the curb. She clicked the automatic locks open, loaded everything in, and drove off into the night.
I slammed my locker shut, feeling freer without the weight of my backpack, my lunch bag in hand as I headed for the cafeteria. Well, the ring of lockers that surrounded it. Finding locker number 218, my locker of choice, I plopped down and opened my brown bag. I hadn’t been very hungry this morning, so I’d only brought a bagel and an apple. The bagel just didn’t speak to me, so I rubbed the apple on my sweatshirt, and took a nice, noisy bite. The fruit juice squirted in my mouth as I chewed. I looked out at the other kids in the cafeteria, making noise laughing and talking as they ate. I was always amused by some of the things I saw and heard. If you asked, I was a fountain of knowledge when it came to the students of Winston High.
'Hey.' I looked up to see Haley standing over me.
