Finding Mr. Superhero

Chapter Twenty-Four

~~~

Please remember that I just started up a new account under the name @literati- for poetry, so please follow!

Thank you!

~~~

"Why aren't you dressed?"

These words were uttered by none other than Chloe as she stormed through my door the next night to find me sitting cross-legged in bed, perfectly content in pajamas with the newspaper's spreadsheet fanned out on the duvet before me.

"First off, how did you get into my house? Secondly, why would I be dressed? And, thirdly, what the hell are you doing here?" I muttered absent-mindedly. Due to Keeley being out sick for the week, I'd been tasked with looking after the newspaper, and all the unfortunate responsibilities that came along with it. Thankfully, it took my mind off anything else I might be tempted to think about.

"I've known where your spare key is for years," Chloe began, walking over to my dresser and tearing drawers open, throwing clothes around as she went. "Secondly, you should be dressed because, thirdly, we're going to the town meeting."

"I'm not going," I told her as a sweater landed on the bed next to me. "Careful, that's cashmere. Now, can you stop destroying my bedroom?"

"What do you mean you're not going?" Chloe asked, planting her hands on her hips. "We go every month. It's a tradition."

"Looks like we're going to have to break tradition this month, Chlo," I told her, gesturing to the papers before me. "I've got too much work to do."

She crossed her arms over her chest, and the fiery look in her eyes matched her hair. "Violet Rose, if you think I'm letting you sit for one more minute in this room moping you are very wrong. Now get up, brush your hair, get dressed and put on some lip-gloss. We are going out."

"So that we can sit in uncomfortable plastic chairs and listen to a bunch of people debate whether or not the trees in the park should be cut down for park benches?" I replied. "No, thank you. Keeley will kill me if I don't finish the newspaper."

"As your best friend, I mean this in the nicest way possible," Chloe said. "It's been over a week since you and Colton called it quits, and its time to get your ass up and stop playing the victim card. I gave you a week to wallow in heartbreak. Now it's time to move on."

I sighed and looked up at Chloe. "He might be there tonight."

"I hope he is," Chloe replied, throwing me a pair of jeans and indicating for me to put them in. Knowing I would not be able to escape her wrath if I resisted, I shrugged off my pajama pants and threw on the denim. "Then you'll see each other, there will be a moment of awkwardness, and you'll move on. Problem solved. You've been avoiding him for a week. It's time to get over it. Put the sweater on."

I threw on the pink sweater as Chloe grabbed my hairbrush and tossed it over to me. As I yanked it threw my hair, she grabbed my lip-gloss and began slicking it onto my lips.

Once she was done and had picked out a pair of shoes for me, she planted her hands on her hips and smiled happily. "There. Now you actually look like a functioning member of society. Let's go."

"But the newspaper—" I said.

She grabbed my hand and yanked me out of the door. "I'll help you fix it up tomorrow. Now, come on. We're going to be late."

The walk to the town hall was brisk, and I shivered in my sweater as I allowed Chloe to drag me towards the entrance. As we approached, I noticed more people pulling into the parking lot and filing into the hall.