It's About Time

Wrap It Before You Tap It

Chapter 14

Natalie had avoided telling her friends about the party all week.  She knew that they would over react, claiming that it was a date and that Grayson liked her, when in reality, he was just a shitty party goer.  

Natalie had worked after school every day, sometimes with Grayson and other times with another girl about the same age called Tasha.  She had become proficient at taking orders and waiting tables and she had managed to keep the number of casualties to a minimum.  There was one moment where Tasha thought it would be funny to jump out from around the kitchen corner and scare Natalie.  What she hadn’t planned, though, was for Natalie to jump a foot in the air and collide with a pile of dishes on the edge of the sink. Two plates, a bowl, and four cups died in that incident.  Luckily, the rest of the week was pretty uneventful and Caroline was willing to forgive the dish incident if Tasha promised not to jump out at people anymore and Natalie promised to stay five feet away from the sink at all times.  

Natalie loved working at Early Bird’s but she was more than happy when her shift ended on Friday.  She had driven herself to school and work that day and she made her way to her car in a rush.  Before pulling out of the parking lot, she quickly messaged the girls about the party.

Natalie:  Are you guys busy?  I need your help

 Natalie tucked her phone away, not wanting to text and drive.  In the ten minutes it took her to get from the diner to her house, she had received over 15 messages back from the girls.  She sighed as she looked through the messages.  

 Sabrina:  I’m free.  What’s up?

 Scarlett:  I’m in

 Sarah:  I can’t :(  Sorry

 These messages quickly turned into panicked ones as Natalie didn’t reply.  By the time she had read the last message, she was convinced the Sabrina was at the police station filing a missing person report.  She texted them back as she unlocked the house and dropped her bag in the hall.

 Natalie:  I need help getting ready for a party…

 The response was almost immediate.

 Scarlett:  YOU’RE GOING TO A PARTY??

 Sabrina:  NEVER RANDOMLY STOP TEXTING LIKE THAT AFTER YOU SEND FOR HELP!  I THOUGHT YOU WERE KIDNAPPED OR MURDERED OR SOMETHING!!!

 Natalie chuckled at Sabrina’s dramatics and told them to just come over as soon as possible.  Knowing that she needed to wash the smell of the diner off, and that she only had about 20 minutes until the girls would arrive, she took the stairs two at a time and headed for her shower.  She belted out Fall Out Boy as she quickly washed up.  Stepping out, she wrapped a towel around her body and twisted another one around her hair.  She threw on a mismatched set of underwear and thanked the heavens that nobody would be seeing them tonight as well as throwing on a t-shirt and a pair of pajama shorts.

 The doorbell rang just as she was untwisting the towel from her hair so she draped it over the bathroom doorknob and went downstairs to let in the girls.  As soon as the door was open enough for the two to squeeze through they attacked Natalie.

 “I can’t believe you’re going to a party!”

“Whose party is it?”

 “Why are you going?”

 “Who are you going with?”

 They interrogated her, trying to get the details out of her despite the fact that they did not slow down enough to let her answer.  They made it into Natalie’s bathroom before they finally took a breath and let Natalie answer their questions.