Great Girls(Victoria Pedretti)

C. 14🕰

It was six forty-five in the morning when I woke up to a boisterous noise coming from below the guest room Luci allowed me to sleep in. The clashes were so repetitive and deafening that I had to pull the duvet off of me and get out of bed. I looked at the bay window that was a hazard for me to sleep next to last night. Meaning, I don't sleep comfortably, knowing that someone else can see me through the window.

I'm not like some girl from that one show that streamed on Netflix ages ago, and the entire city could see her because she had no curtains. I don't remember the name of the show, but it was titled after a subjective case pronoun.

Anyway, the moral of the story is I like my privacy. Speaking of privacy, I certainly felt like I wasn't getting any last night when I was just getting into the tub for my shower. Maybe, my mind was just playing tricks on me.

"Christ," I mumbled to myself as the noise proceeded, compelling me to storm out of the door that looked like I hadn't close it last night, even when I did. Huh, that's weird.

When my feet tapped against each step on the red-carpeted staircase, the objects rattling and clashing together convinced me I could hear past 20,000 hertz.

I was able to reach the bottom of the twenty-three steps, and I found myself in the green-walled hallway. The sounds were coming from the left of me, and so, I trod on my heels in that direction.

There she was.

Luci was in a white tee, grey joggers, and over her was a white apron dress with little lemons on it. Her kitchen that I had passed by when Luci first invited me into her house was a mess. Pots, pans, and the tops of both containers were spread out on the floor.

Frantic, she kept on throwing even more ceramic and metal kitchen appliances. "Hey, what's going on? The whole neighborhood can hear you in here," I joked, walking down the one step that leads to the kitchen and sat down on it. I hugged my legs, resting my head on my arms that I crossed.

Luci didn't seem phased by my presence. She was still on her knees, looking through the bottom cabinets. "Luci," I call her name again, coming off of the steps, using my hands and extending my torso.

I crawled over to her and slowly grabbed her cold wrists. "Luci, look at me. What's wrong?" I ask, clasping her hands. She stops what she's doing, and she looks at me with red eyes. She seemed as if she had been balling her eyes out.

"I tried...I tried to make you breakfast as a way to apologize for being the reason why your car got taken away to that stupid lot down on Keith Street, and I can't find the elephant cut out. I wanted to make you blueberry elephant pancakes, but I couldn't..." she cried through her words while I listened to her soft baby voice.

"No. No. No. What are you talking about? You didn't do anything. Nothing is your fault," I defend. "But your car--" "Don't worry about my car. I will find a way to pay for everything and get my car back. Okay?" I say, stroking her cheek with my thumb.

"Well, what about the pancakes?" she asks, pointing to the pots. "Forget about the pancakes. I can make you something my Grandpa Albie used to make me all the time when I was little."

She peers up at me and delivers a tiny smile. I take her hands and bring them down to our thighs as I begin to stand up from the floor. This then results in Luci doing the same and fulfilling my eye level.

Luci shifted her focus on me to the mess on the floor, but I grabbed her arm gently and said, "How about you go to the bathroom and splash some cold water on your face? I'll take care of this. 'Kay."

"'Kay," she responds, letting go of my hands and sauntering like a lost puppy in the path of the kitchen's entrance, which now became her exit.

When Luci was nowhere to be found, I took a great sigh, and before I could even put myself to work, so many thoughts had forded my brain.

Despite my short time being what one would coin as "acquaintances," I was unfamiliar with a panic-stricken side of her. I wasn't terrified, but I was worried about her. I mean, she was getting overwhelmed because she couldn't find an elephant cutout.

Although, I did feel bad that she thought she was the real reason why my car got impounded. It was factually true, but I know she didn't mean for any of this to happen. How could I get mad at someone whose favorite snack is animal crackers and dresses like a kindergartener?

I went to pick up an iron skillet when Luci came rushing into the kitchen with my phone. I furrowed my temple in consternation as I set the frying pan on the white-tiled counter. "Who is it?" I interrogate in a curious habit.

"I don't know. I think it was one of your professors from your school," she said, handing me my phone as I snatched it away from her. Luci was stunned, but I didn't care to clarify anything to her because my mother was one of my biggest worries today.