CHAPTER 6: Do You Ever Really Crash?
"Are you shitting me?!" Louie screamed when I picked up his call. If my ringtone didn't fully wake me, that sure did.
It was noontime on a Saturday. For my body clock, it was too damn early and being met with a lecture from my best friend didn't seem like the best way to start the day.
"Hello to you, too," I casually said, yawning.
"Nuh-uh," he said abruptly. "You ain't doing that innocent shit. What the hell, Trev?"
"I'm guessing you heard about the FIFA and chill incident?" I asked, sitting up the bed.
"Yeah, London's circle of gossip girls told her about you and Cas riding home together."
"So what? You sound like a jealous ex right now," I said. "And I really don't appreciate your sister spying on me."
"That's disgusting," he said and I could practically hear his face scrunch up. "Just tell me how the hell that happened?"
"I invited her to play FIFA, you know, to see if she was the mystery writer or not," I explained.
"Then your dick fell outta your pants?"
"She was begging for it!" I reasoned out. "Why are you even mad about this? At least I now know that Cassidy isn't the one."
"Oh, so you're still keen on finding this mystery girl?" he asked.
My eyebrows furrowed at the question. I thought it was obvious. "Of course," I answered. "Why would you think otherwise?"
"Because you fucked another girl!"
"She was all over me. What else could I have done?"
He scoffed. "Uhm, I don't know. Maybe you could have not slept with her," he deadpanned. "I thought you were done with all the sleeping around thing when you found the diary."
"The diary girl's great and all," I defended, "But I have certain needs that can't be fulfilled by just reading a notebook."
"You have issues, man. I don't even know why I stick with all your crap."
I smiled. I knew Louie would put up with all the crap I drag him into. He's just that great of a friend.
We've known each other since 3rd grade when he thought he could take me on a fight. Well, turns out he can. I went home with a black eye and a missing tooth that afternoon. But the following day, I acted out my revenge plot of throwing day-old tater tots at him. He ate them.
He thought the tater tots were a peace offering and I was too chicken to tell him otherwise. We've been best friends since that.
"Anyway there are two girls left and one of them's Kaye."
"Then go find out if it's really Kaye," he advised.
"I would but I haven't seen her all week," I said.
"Then go to Emma. If you find out that she's not the mystery girl, then you know that it's Kaye since there aren't any girls left," he pointed out.
I groaned. Emma Grange. The brief, blurry memory of my morning after with her was totally whacked. "As much as I would like to know that Emma isn't the mystery girl, I can't go to her."
There was a pause on Louie's end of the line. "Why?"
I laughed dryly. "I've done a fair amount of stupid shit in my life but this one tops them all," I said, chuckling even more. "Yeah, I ain't telling you this one."
"Are you serious?"
"Yup," I replied simply.
I heard him groan. "Look," he said, "I'm coming over. I'll bring you and Lally some food in exchange for details."
I mulled it over, and just right then, Lally shouted from downstairs, "Trevor! We're out of poptarts!"
I sighed.
Louie must have heard that because he asked triumphantly, "Waffles and hot chocolate?"
×××××
15 minutes and one full stomach later, I was convinced to tell Louie about pretty much the most asshole-y thing I've ever done. It was a horrible memory that I am in no way proud of, but best friends don't keep secrets.
Especially when your best friend is saving you and your sister from famine.
"Spill," he said, sitting on a bean bag chair next to my door.
"Okay," I sighed. "It starts out with your basic morning-after routine. I woke up with not much recollection of what happened the night before. Then, I found a girl sleeping on my bed."
"Emma," he said. "Isn't she a sophomore?"
"Yes."
"Wow," he said, blinking. "You really have no borders."
"I do not," I agreed shamelessly. "Anyway, that day, dad coincidentally went home earlier than usual. He went knocking on the door and I was still hungover. Obviously, I was not on my right mind yet so I panicked. My dad can't see a naked girl on my bed while I was left in charge of Lally. Can you imagine how awkward that would be?"
"Yes, yes. Continue," he prompted.
"So there I was, panicking, and Emma just woke up. Now, bear in mind that I was still freaking the fuck out and I had no place to hide her since my closet has no door and the space underneath my bed is so dirty, it might as well be a dumpsite," I paused. "So..." I trailed off.
He raised an eyebrow. "So?"
I sighed and pointed to my balcony.
A hint of amusement covered his face and also a slight hint of terror. "You made her climb down from your balcony?"
I sighed even more. "No, there was no ladder there before--"
"You pushed her off the second floor balcony?!" he exclaimed, cutting me off.
I nodded reluctantly. What did I say? This was a terrible, terrible memory. "That's not the worst part," I mumbled, shame seeping through my face.
Louie's mouth fell wide open. "What could be worse than getting thrown off a balcony?"
"Getting thrown off a balcony buck-ass naked."
He face-palmed so hard, it was surprising he didn't get a concussion. "Are you kidding me?" he said, groaning.
"I told you it was horrible!"
He started pacing around my room. Whenever he would catch a glimpse of the balcony, he would wince or curse out loud. "Shit, man! I can tolerate you as a complete slut but not as an asshole."
"Hey! We've all done stupid things in the past."
"Yeah, but I never did something that could potentially kill someone!"
"It was fall season! She landed on a pile of leaves!" I defended.
"Oh, so that makes it all better," he deadpanned.
"What do you want me to do?" I questioned. "It's been two months!"
"Did you at least apologize?" He glared at me.
"Yes," I said, matter-of-factly. "I mouthed it to her when I hurled her clothes down at her."
Louie gave me a flat look. "You're gonna apologize to her properly."
"Fine," I said. "I'll do it when I see her." When his glare didn't budge, I said, "I promise."
Then, he was convinced. "So what are you gonna do now?" he asked.
I shrugged. I didn't know where Kaye was. I sure as hell wasn't going to Emma's place. She lived in the southside of town. It was a pretty ratchet neighborhood and I wasn't in the mood to be mugged by a couple of southie goons.
Louie pitched in an idea, "We could ask London. Maybe she knows something about the girls."
I thought for a while and an idea hit me. "I'll call Sage. Maybe she knows something about Kaye."
He looked at me incredulously. "But I just said that we could ask London. I could call her right now," he said, confused as to why brought up another person.
"No, no! Don't call London," I responded, snatching his phone away when he was about to dial.
"Why not?" he asked. "She's just my sister. It's not like she'll kill you."
I searched my brain for an excuse and finally came up with a reasonable one. "I just don't want to drag more people into this issue. And I already told Sage but not London. So, please?"
He sighed. "Sure."
I dialed Sage's number and she answered after the fourth ring.
"Yo!" Sage's voice came through the speaker. There was a noise coming from the background which sounded like people talking and some stomping.
"Hey, Sage." I greeted.
"What d'you need, Jettison?" she answered quickly.
"Whoa," I said, sounding offended. "Can't I just call a pretty girl for no reason?"
She scoffed. "Look, I know you need something so just go straight to the point."
"Okay. We need some information," I fessed up. "Can you come over?"
"I can't," she shouted, the noise on the background getting a lot louder. "I'm practicing for a play!"
"A play?"
"Yeah. It's a musical!" she chirped. I almost forgot how big of a broadway geek Sage was. "I'm playing one of the lead roles!"
"Uh-huh," I responded inattentively. Honestly, I just wanted the 411 on Kaye that Sage could provide, seeing that she is a gossip writer. "Where's the rehearsal?"
"You know that local theater near the Dairy Queen?" she said.
"Yup," I answered. "We're coming over."
"Wow, you must really need this information," Sage commented. "Who's it about?"
"Kaye Montgomery."
She chuckled. "You picked the right girl."