only if for a night [ahkmenrah]

05 ▷ take 2

"DEREK CALLED THE landline while you were in the shower," said Savannah as they climbed out of her old Chevy.

"How did he get our home phone number?" Emily asked, a worried look on her face. She shivered — though she wasn't sure if it was the cold or the fact that Derek still wasn't leaving her alone — and pulled her coat tighter around herself.

Savannah shrugged, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear. "Probably the phone book? Or maybe Alice gave it to him, since I'm pretty sure she's the only one I've given it out to..."

Emily shoved her hands in her pockets, curling her fingers over the solid shape of her cell phone. "What did he want?"

That was when Savannah rolled her eyes. "What he always wants. He asked me if you were home, so I told him I hadn't seen you since last night."

Emily stopped dead in her tracks, almost making the person behind her smack straight into her. "Why did you tell him that? He's gonna get all worried and come looking for me now, you know what he's like! He came to our apartment the other day, for God's sake!"

Savannah grabbed Emily's arm and made her keep walking. "So, instead of just ignorin' him forever, why don't you just tell him you're not interested? Clearly that boy can't take a hint."

Emily groaned. "But that's hard."

"I know you don't like upsettin' people, sweetie, but sometimes you just have to."

She sighed; she knew Savannah was right, but she hated to reject people. And Derek was nice enough, just ... not boyfriend material. And if she was honest, his constant attempts to reach her were getting annoying. Just to be safe, she turned her cell phone off before she went into class, resolving to put Derek's interest in her to rest.

x x x

Emily ended up snoring through most of her classes — she'd later put it down to not having enough coffee — which was so unusual that her history professor asked to see her after class.

   "This isn't like you, Emily," Dr. Bowman said, closing the door to her office. She rounded her desk and sat in the chair behind it, directly across from Emily.  "You're usually so attentive; you've never slept through one of my classes before. Is there something going on that's affecting your sleep?"

   Emily sighed and dragged a hand down her face. "Yeah, um. I got a night job."

   Dr. Bowman's eyebrows shot up her forehead, eyes seeming huge behind her thick glasses. "A night job? Where?"

   "The Museum of Natural History. It's only three nights a week, so it shouldn't drag my grades down or anything, I just thought it might help with my dissertation."

   Dr. Bowman sighed, tapping a finger on her desk while she thought, then she said, "As long as it doesn't become a problem. But your dissertation had better be good if you're sacrificing three nights of sleep a week."

   Emily nodded slowly. "Oh, um, I need some time off in a couple of weeks." She bit her lip, wondering if she should tell her professor the real reason behind it, before deciding that Dr. Bowman could be trusted with Meg's story, though she didn't like telling people who weren't Savannah. "It's my sister. She's got breast cancer, and I promised that I would go see her while she's being treated."

   "I'm sorry to hear that. How much time will you need?"

   "I'm not sure yet. Maybe a week? She's in California."