Dark and Abandoned

Quarts of Cherry Garcia. Quarts and quarts as far as anyone could see. He wondered if she was dead, or just in a sugar coma. Leo closed the door behind him and made his way through the field of empty ice cream buckets, listening closely for any sign of her.

His fine hearing picked up on her sniffles, behind the couch that also served as her bed. The room Kate lived in was crappy, but now it was especially crappy and filled with garbage - ice cream buckets, empty soda cans and dirty clothes scattered all over the place. 

Leo walked around the couch and found Kate was curled up against it, hugging her legs and sobbing on her bare knees - she looked so small and frail. Kate was wearing a dirty old T-shirt and nothing else. Leo hoped that she at least had some panties on and that he couldn’t see them because of her position.

“So, you’re alive…” he observed.

Her big teary eyes stared instantly up and she breathlessly gawked at him.

Suddenly, Leo wondered why he had bothered to come there and check up on Kate. He didn’t really know her. He didn’t really care. She just gave him that stupid cell phone… Why didn’t he just get rid of that stupid thing?

Leo felt compelled to explain his presence there to her as well.

“You know this shit’s useless if you don’t answer when I call,” he said with a smirk and threw the cell phone at her feet.

Kate burst into a sniffling laughter and wiped her cheeks and eyes with quick gestures before picking up the cell phone.

“You… You didn’t throw it away after all.”

Leo shrugged and planted his hands inside his pockets, glancing around, unsure of what he was really doing there.

“Well, since you’re fine, Imma go.”

But before he could turn around and walk away Kate stood up.

“Fuck no! Stay!” she demanded.

Leo found her tone improper but as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t feel offended. She was desperate, not controlling. He sighed and shook his head refusing her, but before he could actually say no, she stepped closer to him and offered the cell phone back, almost shoving it in his leather jacket.

“Please,” was her soft whisper.

And Leo found himself sitting on the floor, behind a couch, with a girl he had met only two days ago.

“I called,” Kate said and pulled the large T-shirt over her bare legs as she held her knees close to her chest.

“I know.”

“I left you a message.”

“I know. I listened to it.”

“And then you called back,” she concluded with a smug smile.

“Yeah. I called back.”

“How many times before you rushed over here to see if I was alright?” she asked, coyly leaning against him.

“Five times.”

“You called me five times?! I can’t believe you, Mr. ‘I don’t use cell phones’, Mr. ‘Inaccessible’, Mr. ‘Why would I want to talk to you?’ You called me.”

“Yep.”

“And you got worried over me.”

Leo shot a blank gaze in her direction and scoffed, “I was bored. So can we please move on?”

She giggled and grabbed his arm resting her head on his shoulder. 

Was it really boredom that drove him to her place? Why was he there - sitting in the dark, surrounded by Cherry Garcia ice cream buckets, with a strange girl clinging on to him?