Lola McAffrey's Great Disappearing Act

Cori Charles was in Love

It was five after five and Cori still wasn't here. I was getting worried that she was going to bail on me. Liv wasn't home yet either. I stared out the window and down the street until my eyes started to cross. Finally, the Mom Mobile came into sight. I raced down the stairs and outside. When the van stopped, I jumped inside.

"You owe me, Lollipop." Babs looked a little angry. She turned around and scowled for extra emphasis.

"Don't listen to her," Cori added. My Cori. The Cori I've known and loved for years—not that new Cori I couldn't figure out. "She willingly drove here because she's meeting a guy at the mall. A real winner, I assume." Babs flipped both of us the finger with a sort of effortless flowing motion. She had to have had a lot of practice to make it look that effortless.

"Okay. I'm just glad you showed up. You're a real lifesaver." I smiled at her. She smiled back. I couldn't contain myself. Old Cori was back!

"So, what is this all about?"

I looked at Babs sitting the front. She was sort of paying attention to the road, but mostly bobbing her head to the music that was just a bit too loud, but this time I was thankful for that. If Babs heard why I insisted Cori come here, I would never hear the end of it. "It's a bit of a personal matter."

Cori's smile disappeared. "Please don't tell me you called just to go on a tampon run with you." While that's not what it was about, I was getting the feeling that telling her the truth might be close to an equivalent situation.

"No, nothing like that. I just... I had to do some serious last-minute shopping and Aunt Liv couldn't go. This is important, I promise." If I knew Cori as well as I knew Cori, she wouldn't have even left the house without a change of underwear available. She was meticulous to a fault.

Cori sighed. I wasn't convincing enough. "You said this was about the project. Why are you lying to me?"

I had to think quick. "Look, the whole project would be fried if I was spotted by anyone shopping at the mall. You are here to help me maintain the integrity of the project." There was nothing. No expression to read, no tells to decipher. "I'll be quick, I promise."

"You know, I had stuff to do tonight. I can't be here holding your hand every time you need to take a little trip outside your aunt's front door."

"I know that. This isn't what this is. I just..." I didn't have anything else. I was getting her out of all her activities just to be the friends that I thought we were. Before these last few days, I was convinced that Cori would do anything for me. Sitting in the car next to her, I wasn't so sure.

Parking at the mall was a nightmare. We seemed to have found the last space in the entire lot, and even then, I wasn't so sure that it was a legal parking space. Immediately Babs turned to us as we exited the car and said, "If I see you before seven-thirty, you are going to get it."

"Promise?" Cori teased. Babs took off with her cheap silver heels clacking along the pavement. Then Cori turned to me. "So, where are we going?"

"Underwear shopping." There. I said it. I was ready for the backlash.

There was no yelling. No demand for more respect than the simple task of purchasing undergarments. There was just pure, unadulterated laughter.

"Did I say something funny?"

"Oh, wow, Lolz. You seriously made this seem like life or death. You know you could have just asked for a ride back to your house."

She didn't know I had already thought through that scenario. "My parents are out of town. If I sneak back in there and someone saw me, I could cause more trouble for the project than it's worth."

"I guess. Let the undie shopping commence." We laughed and locked arms. There we were, best friends once again.

I didn't waste any time picking out a few pairs of my favorite undergarments so we could get in and get out without someone catching me. It took no more than fifteen minutes, but the real task after that was trying to find Babs so we could get out of the mall, and I could get back to the quiet safety of Aunt Liv's apartment.

We walked the length of the mall, but we didn't spot Cori's sister anywhere. Knowing the rumors that had plagued her for years, she was probably risking being caught in a compromising position in some random dressing room with her boyfriend of the week. While we looked around for her, I was still hiding my face, making sure I didn't make eye contact with anyone from Walterton, Chesterville, or anyone that looked remotely my age. Which at six o'clock was a bit difficult.

"I need food," Cori announced. She turned left and started power walking toward the food court. If anything was going to go wrong with this trip, the food court would be my downfall. I followed her anyway, knowing it was crawling with high school kids feasting on fruit smoothies and fries. I hung back a little as Cori snaked through the line for fast food sushi. I wasn't really hungry myself. I was too worried that I would be found out by someone. I told myself I was being silly, but then—I spotted him.

Brent Tolliver was right there, ordering an extra-large of everything from the burger stand. Not only was he from our school, but he was in our psych class. He was the last person that needed to see me here.

I took matters into my own hands. No matter what, I had to protect the project. I ducked behind the trash cans in the far corner of the food court, as far away as I could get from Tolliver without completely abandoning Cori. But as Cori left the line with her California rolls, she spotted Tolliver. Tolliver spotted her. They smiled at each other. They started talking as they headed for the nearest table. I knew Cori was probably suffering having to spend time with that clown, but I was powerless. I would have to wait until he went off with his food to find his bros before I could get back to Cori.

Whatever I thought was going to happen didn't happen. Cori and Tolliver sat together, just the two of them and enjoyed a meal together. Not just tolerated a meal together, but they enjoyed each other's company. This was an important twist in my observation of Cori. She didn't like hanging out with people who breezed through life, present company excluded. She wanted to surround herself with those who had ambition. She would settle for nothing less. But with me out of the Walterton loop for two whole days at that point, I was beginning to see missing pieces of the Cori puzzle I was trying to reassemble. Tolliver seemed to have Cori tied in knots.

As I kept spying on their impromptu date, it hit me. Cori Charles was in love with Brent Tolliver.