Roommates with a Player

Chapter Thirty Eight: Recruiters

            Over my music, I heard the soft rumble of thunder outside. I wondered idly if it was raining where Emma was…

            The harsh shrill of the doorbell made me jump.

            Who could be at the door? Maybe it was one of the nurses from the retirement home coming to try and persuade us to shut Mom up in one of their facilities. They seemed to be coming more and more often now.

            I waited patiently for Mom to answer, but when the second chime whistled through the house, I knew she wouldn’t be answering the door.

            With a sigh, I switched off my music and headed down the hall and to the door. When I was halfway down the stairs, the doorbell rang again, this time sounding more urgent. I swiftly jogged the rest of the way there.

            I opened the door and was greeted by two unexpected visitors.

            “Hello?” it came out sounding more like a question than a greeting. “Can I help you two ladies?”

            They looked extremely familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on their names. Two different girls stood on my doorstep, shivering from the cold rain that drizzled from the sky. One girl, the more attractive one of the two, had a determined look in her snake-green eyes. Her blonde, curly hair resembled a lion’s mane the way it draped around her oval shaped face. The other one, the shorter one, wouldn’t meet my eyes. Instead she looked at her shoes. Her hair was a sleek black color and it barely touched her shoulders. A pink color bloomed across her cheeks. She vaguely reminded me of Emma.

            “Nathan, we need to talk!” the blonde blurted out, her voice a notch too loud.

            I gaped at her, astounded on how she’d said my name like she’d known me my whole life.

            “I-I’m sorry? Do I know you?” I asked.

            Instead of a reply, she barged inside, dragging her friend by the hand. I followed after, trying to grasp my mind around what these two strangers were doing inside my house.

            “I smell cookies!” the blonde sang, heading toward the kitchen.

            I darted past them just in time to block the entrance to the kitchen. The blonde girl marched right up to me and gave me a hard glare.

            “Excuse you,” she spat. “You’re in my way.”

            “No, I think you’re in my way, missy!” I shot back, amazed at my assertiveness.

            She backed off.

            “Uh,” the other one perked up. “Don’t mind Hailey. She can be a bit…feisty sometimes.”

            “Wait,” I suddenly matched their faces with names. “Hailey? Maggie?”

            “That’s us!” Hailey exclaimed, and before I had time to react, she ducked underneath my arm and made a beeline for the fresh-baked cookies Mom had just pulled out of oven.

            Maggie stood frozen next to me, letting out an embarrassed giggle.

            I instantly remembered these two. I felt a bit guilty that I hadn’t immediately recognized them; they always seemed to be at Emma’s side. Blurry imagines of the trio together played in my mind: eating together at lunch, riding in the car together, slapping congratulatory high fives after Emma had pulled off that prank on Ricky.