"Hello?"
"Thank God you picked up," I sighed into the phone out of pure glee. Someone wasn't answering my phone calls, so at least Todd would. "What are you doing tonight?"
"David didn't tell you?"
"David hasn't told me anything since we fought on Tuesday at work," I explained.
"Corinna's having a party tonight. I'm sure you're invited," Todd told me. "You wanna come?"
"Uh, I don't know," I laughed to myself, looking down at my childhood t-shirt with a rainbow on it, which was tight around my shoulders and stopped right at my belly button, and my fleece Mickey Mouse pajama pants. "I'm already in my pajamas."
"Okay, get out of them," Todd chuckled. "C'mon, you have to come now. It's already planned in my head that you're coming."
"I don't think David will be too happy to see me there," I awkwardly picked at the hem of my shirt, chewing on my bottom lip.
"Since when did Mona fucking Greene let anyone tell her what to do?"
You know, he had a point. I always prided myself on not bowing down to anyone, and David took that out of me. He may not want me at the party, but when have I ever cared about doing what other people wanted?
"I'll be at your house in thirty minutes. Is that when the sun goes down?"
"Eh, like forty five. You want to take pictures?"
"Yeah, at that purple-ish screen in town? You know the one I'm talking about? The billboard thing that Natalie Mariduena posted a picture in front of a couple months ago? Hers was cool, but I think it'd be cooler if it was almost dark."
"Can I just meet you there in thirty minutes? Like, at the parking deck? I'll drive us to the party," Todd told me, and after careful consideration, I decided that would be okay. Todd promised he wouldn't drink, so if things went south, I at least had a get away.
My hair was already brushed and my makeup was already done from school earlier, so all I had to do was slip on a tight black dress (and a denim jacket on top since it was freezing outside). Pairing the outfit with some tights and my Doc Martens, I decided I looked good enough. I didn't want to look like I was trying to get David's attention; I just wanted to do it.
I brushed my teeth again and applied a bit of lipgloss before saying a quick goodbye to my grandparents, telling them I was going to Corinna's for a girl's night
and I'd probably end up sleeping over. It wasn't totally a lie, and I only felt a little bit guilty.
I met Todd on the top floor of the parking deck, where he was leaned over the short wall, looking down at the city.
"What's up, Todrick?" I smiled as I climbed out of my car, locking it behind me.
"Why's David mad at you?" he asked, turning around to face me. He lead the way over to the elevator so we could head down to the billboard.
"Because he's an idiot. Seriously, I should be the one mad at him," I told him. "He went behind my back to talk to my Houston friends about me and accused me of a lot of shitty stuff. He's giving me the silent treatment until I get over said shitty stuff."
"What is the shitty stuff?"
"He claims I have an eating disorder," I told Todd after a brief pause. Todd was my best Vernon Hills friend. I could trust him. "I'm on a diet. Anyway, he brought up the time my friends thought I had an eating disorder, which is super shitty. Counting calories is just smart, not anorexia. He's so fucking dramatic, and now he's mad at me because I told him I'm just on a diet."
"So... are you guys gonna break up?"
I was glad Todd skipped right over the eating disorder bit of the conversation. I thought he was too uncomfortable to talk about it, which was fine with me.
"No," I laughed in response, tossing some hair over my shoulder. "I mean, I'm not breaking up with him. He, on the other hand, might be planning to break up with me."
"Are you kidding?" Todd rolled his eyes as if I'd just said the most ridiculous thing in the world. "He said he loved someone for the first time in seven years less than a few weeks ago, and you think he's going to break up with you because you're on a diet?"
"I don't know," I shrugged, breathing out a sigh of relief when I spotted the billboard. It was an insurance billboard, one of the electronic ones, that was almost a purple-y pink color. It was very nightclub-esque, and it would look amazing in pictures. "How did Natalie stand to not get the writing in it?"
Todd and I stood on the side of the road taking pictures for over thirty minutes until I had some good ones without Gloria Katina's smiling face behind me. I took some of his as well, and when we both decided we were fine, we headed back to his car so we could go to Corinna's.
If I were being completely transparent with you all, I guess I'd have to say I was nervous. I tried to convince myself that David didn't control me and that I was invited to this party just as much as the next girl, but something in me still said no. Maybe I shouldn't poke the bear. David was mad already, but at least it was more of a neutral mad where he just pretended I didn't exist. Did I really want him to yell at me just so I could prove a point? Well... maybe a little.
"Mona, get out of the car, you freak," Todd chuckled, and I realized we had been parked at Corinna's. I was kind of in my whole world the whole ride; I hoped I didn't ignore Todd too much. "Hey, if you don't want to go, I can take you back to your car."
"No, I want to go," I climbed out of his Range Rover with a sigh.
Here's the thing: I knew that my being with Todd would irk David. He was convinced, for some reason, that Todd was secretly in love with me. Any sane person could see that wasn't even close to true, but David had been a little cranky ever since Todd started working at Plato with me. I had to say, it was strategic, the way I wrapped my arm through Todd's and leaned my head against his shoulder as we walked up to the already crowded house. If I was here to make David mad, I was going to make him very mad.
Todd led us through the front part of the house, which wasn't as populated, to the kitchen and back room, where the sliding glass doors were open to the outside world. Did these people know it was freezing outside?
"Oh my god," I rolled my eyes, pulling back on Todd's arm to stop him from moving forward. "Look at fucking David."
Todd twisted his body to peer at David, sat on one of the couches with Gabbie perched on the arm above him, her legs across his lap and her hand just resting in his hair, her fingers lightly scratching his head.
"Let's go get you a drink, Mona," Todd awkwardly laughed, pulling me in the opposite direction. "Corinna's in the kitchen anyway."
"He's such a fucking douche," I angrily laughed, willingly following Todd towards the kitchen. "He is mad at me for three days straight just so that he has the opportunity to flirt with Gabbie! Like, just break up with me! It's ridiculous."
"To be fair, it looks like she's doing all the flirting," Todd glanced over his shoulder at them, something I didn't have it in me to do.
"Yeah, but if that was me, I'd shove him off the guy off the couch. David literally has zero respect for me. Do you think he still wants to fuck her?"
"Gabbie?" Todd furrowed his eyebrows. "No. He gets to fuck you. He has the Mona Greene privilege right now. No way he's fucking that up for Gabbie, who he's fucked a million times already."
"You know, Todd, wording it that way doesn't really help."
I was just thankful to see Corinna and several unopened Four Lokos on the table. I cracked one open and chugged a bit before finally relaxing. Todd, Corinna and I discussed which picture I should post to make David regret ever being born.
monagreene: why window shop when u own this??
It was a good thing he had my post notifications on.
ugh olivia brower is um ACTUALLY stunning im dead
xoxo abby