Dance With the Devil

I woke up the next morning suddenly from the loud obnoxious barks that Jack was making at some innocent squirrel through the living room windows. In a daze, I looked over to the clock, hoping that I wasn’t late. It was a bit past five o’clock in the morning. I still had plenty of time before I had to go and pick Nick up for school. I yawned and reluctantly sat myself upright on the couch. With my movements, Jack came trotting over to me, eager for me to give him his breakfast. I reached over onto the coffee counter and grabbed my phone to check for messages, despite the fact that it was five in the morning and any sane person would still be asleep.

I did have a missed call though, from Eli. It was from an hour ago, and I figured that it wasn’t that out of the blue. Eli was an insomniac, so it wasn’t that odd for him to be awake at the weirdest times. Knowing he’d still be awake, I dialed his number as I walked into the kitchen to get Jack’s dog food out. Eli answered on the third ring.

“You’re up early.” His voice was tired yet it sounded very awake at the same time. I grabbed the can of dog food and put it under the can opener.

“Blame Jack.” I heard a slight giggle from his end. “So, what’d you call for before?” Jack hopped up at my side in his impatience as the can spun in little circles.

“Guess whose back in school.” Eli’s voice was skeptical to me, yet it hinted at his normal foolishness. I thought for a moment as I took the can out from under the machine and picked up Jack’s bowl.

“I dunno. Who?”

“Aw, you’re not even gonna try to guess?” I dumped the dog’s muck into his bowl and placed it on the floor for him. Within seconds, Jack was suddenly a vacuum. I walked out of the kitchen and back into my living room, at the foot of my stairs.

“Eli, it is five in the morning. I barely have enough brain activity right now to think correctly.” I could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke.

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

“Couch, actually. Mom slept in my bed last night.” I aimlessly looked down at myself, noticing how much of Jack’s hair had gotten on my clothes while I slept. He shed like it was his job.

“Why?” Eli had known my mother since he was young, and I told him practically everything, so I was certain he knew the answer to his question. But despite that, I told him.

“Oh you know. Just another crazy night on the town for her.” I began heading upstairs to my room, to see if she was still there.

“Man, I hate seeing your mom like that.”

“Yeah, well. Hey mister, you got off subject. Tell me whose back in school.” He chuckled a bit.

“You sure you wanna know?” When I got upstairs, I turned left to my room. The door was shut, the way I hadn’t left it last night.

“Good god Eli, you know I hate when you dance around things. Yes, just tell me.”

“I don’t dance.”

“I’m going to slap you.” Eli laughed wholeheartedly. I couldn’t help but smile to myself; I liked making people laugh.

“Alright, alright, little miss prissy; Autumn Enderman.” I had put my hand out to knock on my bedroom door, but paused when I heard her name.

“What? Since when?” My mouth hung open a little bit. Autumn and I go way back. In middle school, we were best friends. We went everywhere together, we told each other everything, we did almost everything together, and we were practically sisters. Then freshman year we got into a huge fight that pretty much destroyed every single inch of the foundation that our friendship was built on. Since then, she’s hated me with every fiber of her being, for reasons unknown to me. I did everything to save our friendship while she just let it burn, and even fueled the fire. From what I had heard since the beginning of senior year, she had been transferred to a private school for our last year.

“Since today.” Subconsciously, I began to pace back and forth down my hallway; something I tend to do while I’m thinking.

“I thought she got transferred?”

“Nope. She was just on vacation with her family.” I sighed heavily. I walked into my mother’s open empty bedroom and sat down on her bed.

“That’s fantastic.”

“Yeah I thought you’d like to hear that.”

“How’d you even find out?” I got up and started pacing again. In my current mood, I just didn’t want to stay still.

“Brittany told Mikayla.” Brittany was Autumn’s little sister and Mikayla was Eli’s. They were both in the same grade, and they were good friends. I groaned loudly.

“This is just perfect. At the beginning of the year, my teacher said that she was supposed to be in my biology class. And now that she’s back, guess who I’m going to have to see every day? Ugh. Eli?”

“What?”

“I hate my life.” I said in a mockingly whiny voice. He snickered, though I could tell he tried to hide it.

“You’ll live.”

“What if I don’t?”

“I’ll come to your funeral.” I could hear the sudden warmth in his voice; it was a reassuring sound, like things were going to be ok. I don’t know how, but Eli always had the touch in his voice when he said things the right way. I smiled beside myself.

“Gosh, thanks.”

“Uhm, Kar?” His voice suddenly changed to one that sounded guilty.

“Yeah?” I answered confused.

“There’s one more tiny little thing I forgot to tell you.” My suspicions rose. I trusted Eli with everything I have, but I still get unsure about a lot of things.

“Go on.”

“Austin’s coming with her.” My mouth dropped wide open and I nearly screamed.

“Austin Puttorit? What? No! He can’t!” Austin was Autumn’s boyfriend, and literally the biggest douchebag I had ever had the non-pleasure to meet. “Dear god, for all that is good and holy please tell me you’re kidding.”

“I wish I was. I really do. He’s in one of my classes.” I happened to glance at the clock in my distress, and realized that I should start getting ready soon.

“That really sucks, Eli. Looks like both our classes are going to be hell this year.”

“Yep I guess so.” I sighed. This morning had not turned out the way I had thought.

“Well, I have to go get ready. So, I’ll talk to you later, ok?”

“Ok. Bye Kar.”

“Bye.” I hung up and threw my phone over on top of my mother’s bed; I was standing in the doorframe. I put my hands on my head and covered my eyes, as if I could make all this go away. I took my hands away and looked at the clock again. It was nearing six, and I really needed to start getting ready. I walked over to my room door and knocked lightly on it. When I heard nothing inside, I opened it slowly and poked my head in. I saw my mom lying on my bed, where I had left her last night. I walked over to the bed sat on the edge; feeling a sense of déjà vu for last night, I tried to nudge her awake. “Mom?” I said softly, trying to be calm. She turned slightly and opened one eye to me.

“What?” I heard her muffle under the covers.

“You’re in my room…I need to get ready for school.” I heard her grunt from under the layers of sheet.

“Just get your clothes and get ready in the bathroom.” I furrowed my brows at her slightly.

“No, I always get ready in here. My makeup and straightener and curler are all in here. I’m not just going to move it all just because you're too lazy to walk a few feet.” With her one eye exposed, she glared at me, though I didn’t falter. I was tired of always abiding to do what she wanted just because she was drunk or hung over or didn’t feel well.

“You don’t talk to your mother that way.”

“You’re not acting like a mother.” She didn’t say a word, nor did she make a move. She just stared at me. I knew I hit a nerve though. My mother’s biggest fear was being alone; losing me. I knew she was doing everything in her power to not let me down, but she was. And now she knew that. I’m all my mom has left, and I can’t imagine the pain she’s going through right this second. I suddenly regretted my harsh words.

With a small quiver of her lip and a glimmer of water in her eyes, she pulled the blanket over her head and wrapped the rest around herself. She then got up, and walked out into her room, slamming the door. I wanted to say something as she was walking away, but my mind was filled with empty words.

Despite the fact that my morning had just gotten noticeably worse, I put my feelings beside myself and started to get ready.

As I picked out my clothes, I realized that I hadn’t done my laundry the night before, simply adding to my horrible morning. I honestly wanted to hit something. I dug through my drawers and ended up pulling out my old Green Day shirt I got when I was 15 at their concert. I picked up my black skinny jeans and wiggled them up my waist. I grabbed two socks; both mismatched and slide them on along with my Vans. Looking at the clock, I saw that I was running out of time quicker than I wanted.

Quickly, I ran to my personal bathroom in my room and turned my straightener on. I had naturally wavy hair, but I hated how it looked. While it heated up, I quickly did my makeup and teeth and brushed my hair. I began to straighten even before it was fully heated to save time.

By the time I was done, it was 6:10. I had to be at Nick’s by 6:30. I grabbed my keys and checkered black and white book bag, and I ran out the door, without saying a word to my mother.