Attention, Attention.

I don't really know what it was that made me swerve away from my own house at the last second, where I knew Mike would be confused and waiting, and drive straight to Kylie's. Maybe it was because I had the wrath of Hell's finest boiling my blood. Nah, but seriously... I felt stupid and confused and I just wanted to ask my best friend for help. Kylie was... is always there for me. She could help.

***
"Sounds like we've got a mess on our hands," Kylie said dreamily, her head resting in her palms. I'd just finished telling her everything that had happened to me in the last four dozen hours or so, and the words I spilled made the impact that much harder. I couldn't help crying, as hard as I fought it. My best friend only stared with pity, trying to come up with something to say.
"Kel," she whispered softly. I uttered an acknowledging cry. "D'you...want some pepperoni pizza rolls, or somethin'? I just made some...they're hot."
"You know I don't eat meat," I replied coldly. She snorted.
"Will you cut the shit, Kel? Open your mouth."
"Wha--" She wrenched my mouth wide open, cutting me off.
"See those little things opposite your incisors? Those are called canines. Your kind has had them for...oh, little over thousands of years. If you weren't supposed to be using them to rip and tear flesh, along with your incisors for convenient cutting, you'd be a damn turtle. Okay? Eat the pizza roll." She let my mouth go and turned to a tall plate of light brown rectangles.
"Okay, okay. You're right, fuck it, I'll have a few..."
"Seriously, bitch," she popped two more into her mouth. "You're like, fuckin' emaciated 'cause you don't get enough protein. What's the big deal? You've been eating meat your whole life 'til last year--"
"Because I didn't know where it came from," I snapped. "If you had any idea how people torture innocent little ani--"
"Let me tell you something, sweetheart," she snarled in a low voice, with just a dash of threat. "You got a good life. You're a snug kid, alright. Got a car... got Mike and Will if you wanted, got a family and a nice house and even enough damn snugness to choose whether or not you want a burger or a salad for lunch. The question is never 'what are we gonna eat. What little animals are we gonna leave to rot today? Its 'IF we eat'. Got it?"
"Got it," I muttered. "What's gotten into you, Kylie?"
"Common sense," she sighed cheerfully, munching through a pizza roll. "Some cousins came to visit from Throgs Neck. They're staying at my aunt's."
"E-excuse me?"
"Throgs Neck. East Bronx."
"...where?" I asked. She rolled her eyes.
"You playin' with me? The Bronx, New York. Their home bridge is famous--Throgs Neck, like the 'hood. Haven't you heard of Rikers'?"
"Of course. The jail."
"The island ain't just a jail."
"Its in Bronx County?"
"Yeah, but you can only get to it by a bridge from Queens...that is, unless you want to play desperate inmate and swim the East River," she chuckled to herself eerily. "Like I was sayin', it ain't just a jail like everybody thinks. Its still got supermarkets and shit, its not just hell for them low-life Rikers..."
"Whats your point, Ky? And drop the accent. Don't deny it; I can hear it."
"Haha, sorry...you hang around somebody long enough and their way o' talkin' sticks to ya. Sorry, I guess I just blew up at you because these kids don't...they don't have it as good," she said quietly. "After learning what its like for them, it just pisses me off a little that someone could actually stick their nose up at a good meal. I'm not exaggeratin', its nothin' third world... but its a big family, and they don't always have enough to get a good sleep at night. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah, I...I'm really sorry, Ky."
"Its okay. They're better off, anyway. That kind of life toughens people up, y'know? You'll never see them bitches cryin', lemme tell ya that..." We both laughed despite the recent tension.
"So how about I go and grab us a cold rack of ribs right out the freezer, huh? Still fresh and bloody!"
"Don't push it," I warned playfully.
"Sorry if I scared ya, Kel. I keep forgetting what a little sensitive bitch you are," she apologized. I opened my mouth to say something but she kept right on. "Now about this Mickey and Billie business. What should we do?" She raised an eyebrow and smirked; I slowly ate my pizza roll. I could taste the little cubes of meat and almost gagged. It had been forever since I ate something that used to breathe, had a face. Maybe I was overthinking it. I ate another one.
"Uh... I was thinking you'd know the answer."
"Hm... maybe...nah...well, who do you love?"
"I...I don't really know. Mike has been my best friend for years, he's always there for me. Will is just..."
"A flame."
"If you want to put it that way," I groaned. "But he chea-- he was with that girl."
"You didn't see anything heavy, though."
"No, I didn't."
"Then it could've been nothing at all," she smiled. "Why don't you talk to him?"
"What if she's-- what if he-- what if they're together?" She frowned.
"Then pretend not to care. Guys dig confidence. Just not too much... and I get the feeling you won't have any trouble with that at all."
"Ooh, Kylie made a funny."
"Shut up," she laughed. "For real, though. Who do you want to be with?"
"Will, I guess... I just hate hurting Mike. And I don't want to...well be with Will if he just wants Miss Scissored-Hands."
"Thats kinda harsh, kid--"
"Yeah I know." I growled. Kylie took a deep breath.
"Well Kel it looks like you already answered your own questions. You just couldn't ask yourself...them...I think."
"Um...sure..."
"So its settled," Kylie announced, jumping to her feet. "Tomorrow. You go talk to Billie Bird, tell him how you feel and ask him what he's thinkin'. Leave Mike out of it. You already set him down easy anyway, no reason to carry him to the top of the Empire State and let him drop."
"Spiderman'll catch him."

Kylie walked to her door, shot the bolt backward and crept out. She called from the hallway.

"There ain't no Spiderman!"