Perdetevi.

Monica didn’t sleep at all. Ricky’s room smelled like Old Spice, as though it had been used so much it had seeped into everything, and his bed was comfortable in a way that made her uncomfortable. Not to mention, she was cold. She had five blankets on her, the three clean ones Ricky had gotten for her and then two more that she’d fetched from his floor. Still, she was freezing. There was no thermostat to turn the heat up either.

The blankets she’d gathered from the floor smelled even weirder than the basement. It was a smell she could only describe as ‘boy’. Moonlight fell through the window so her eyes were able to wander about the room, over piles of clothes and the various posters and items he had spread about. There was too much stimulation in this room for her to sleep. She’d always taken the minimalistic approach but Ricky had everything everywhere.

Her lack of sleep made the next day at school miserable. Her friends asked why she was wearing yesterday’s clothes, her teachers reprimanded her for not having her homework done, and Dad had forgotten to put money on her lunch card (or maybe he didn’t have any money to put on it). There wasn’t anything that made the day worth it.

“Party tonight at Jess’s.” Dana, Monica’s friend, said to her at the end of the day. “Come with?”

“Of course.” Monica smiled; well there was one thing that made the day worth the effort.

“Fabulous. Now, clear up the rumors for me, why are you in yesterday’s clothes?” Dana was a short red head who had a knack for gathering gossip, and starting it. She was at the center of all the talk. The rumors she was talking about had probably been started by her and now she wanted the truth so she could clear them up.

“I stayed over a friends.”

“A friend or a friend.” Dana winked.

“A friend.” Monica replied, although she shivered at the thought of even calling Ricky that. Whatever he may be, he wasn’t a friend. He was a non-friend.

The tone of Monica’s voice shut Dana up; she knew when Monica wasn’t in the mood for joking or gossiping. Today was one of those darker days. There were obvious bags under her eyes and Dana hadn’t seen her smile once all day, which wasn’t very much like Monica. “I need to get going. I’ll see you at the party then, you need a ride, girl?”

“I don’t know. I’ll call you if I do.”

She didn’t.

Charlie was going and she hitched a ride with him and Ricky. Charlie made a big fuss about it, complaining that she was too young for parties. Monica was fifteen and had been to plenty of parties. He gave in after Ricky talked to him, she didn’t know what he said but it changed Charlie’s mind fairly quickly.

“If something happens to you, it’s not on my hands.” He grumbled from the front seat.

Parties were the only place Monica ever really wanted to be. She loved to observe everyone and maybe get a little buzzed. She thrived on the social aspect of it. There was a multitude of interesting people she’d met at parties. People she’d spoken to once and would never see again. They were all non-friends, just like Ricky. She would talk all night to anyone who bothered to have a conversation with her and then she’d leave and they’d leave and they’d maybe see each other once or twice at another party. But they didn’t stay in touch. Monica wasn’t interested in having a lot of friends. She liked her non-friends better. They were less of a liability.