Great Girls(Victoria Pedretti)

C. 7🕰

Luci and I headed back to our Grandma Etta's house, which she inherited when she died. She told me that her grandmother, Bernice, after she passed, left behind her cat named Gatsby for Luci to care for. I hadn't met him yet as I was too busy occupied listening to "Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Know."

"So, what do you think?" Luci asks me with a large bag of animal crackers tucked in her overalls pouch as she was sitting with her legs crossed. I was adjacent to her with my legs spread out on her round rug that was very similar to Earth, a place I sometimes think is very much overrated.

My mother thinks I'm crazy for thinking such a thing. But, if you're like me and you've lived on Earth for more than five years or ten, you and I both know it's not the greatest. Besides, global warming is still happening; it's a thing. The fact that some people cannot accept the facts and the evidence provided is ignorant.

Honestly, if life on Mars is absolutely and one hundred percent sustainable and aliens permitted humans, who need a permanent vacation from our world, then I'm on board. I just hope they have wifi and food.

"I think it sounds like..." I paused for a second to answer Luci's "complex" question, but I couldn't focus because I was beginning to become hungry. Out of nowhere, my stomach growled. What can I say, perfect timing?

I frown in embarrassment while Luci's lips go up, exposing her large teeth and her pink gums. She looked like a little kid, but I found it cute.

"Oh, my gosh. That was so uncalled for, but it was funny." She says, putting her hand on my shoulder. I felt my body spit out a burst of sparks as I placed my hand on the back of my neck, a habit of mine whenever I "think" that someone is flirting with me.

I recall the last time and the most recent time that I thought someone was flirting with me, and that was when my mom and I went shopping at Salisbury's, an organic vegan store that just opened four minutes away from my house.

My mom was already in the car, getting the engine started, and I had put the last grocery into the truck. I yelled at my mom through the open door of the boot, "She's good!"

Mom, whose hand is sorting out the non-heavy paper bags placement in the back seat, gives me a thumbs-up without looking up. I turn my back to grab the blue shopping cart as the sound of the truck shutting down performed through my ear.

Pushing the cart towards the sign that read "Shopping Cart Return Here," a boy in a black windbreaker and khaki pants with black Nike trainers. He caught me heading in the direction of the rack and shouted, "It's okay! I got it!"

My heart raced once he extracted my cart out from under my grip. His smile was beaming like a trophy. I was so sure that he was being a gentleman until I realized that his jacket had the same logo as Salisbury's when he spun around. My mouth hung open as I felt a tinge of embarrassment hit me over the head. Thank God he didn't see my face after that.

"How about I make you some soup? I just learned a new recipe on Pinterest," Luci infers, getting up from the floor to take the needle off of the record. My eyes trailed from her floral wallpaper to the red clock on the wall.

My eyes widened in fear at what I would face when I get back to my dorm: a pissed off Claudia and winter wonderland.

I moved my head to the left where the window was in Luci's room. The sky wasn't the only white thing outside. Slim blankets of snow occupied the street of Lowry Lane. You would've thought we were in Alaska.

"Oh, fuck me," I stated, rolling my eyes in irritation as I got up from the rug. As soon as I picked up my denim jacket in a hurry, I heard the record scratch, and what do you know, Luci looks at me and says, "Excuse me."

Her countenance was solemn. I was nervous about moving a muscle because the space between us was uncomfy. Just when I couldn't make matters worse, I resorted to my little British accent that I had often chosen to seek refuge and solace in uncomfortable situations.

"Right, then," I muttered, putting my arms through the sleeves of my jacket.

"You're leaving? It's only instant ramen that I'm making except I decided to spice it up a bit, throw in a boiled egg and some meat, tofu if you're vegan." "I am. I just...I promised my roommate that I would close the window when I got back from class around four-ish because of the snow. And well, I'm not exactly there. I hope I'm not coming off as rude." I chuckled.

"No, by all means. Please, go, and while you're at it. Get something to eat before the snow starts to get heavy."

a/n hey, angel cakes. i am so sorry that this chapter was a bit shorter. my plan was to write more, but i figure that i should do that for the next chapter when you meet salinger's mom.