Page 48 of Like A Moth To A Flame

“Hello?”

“Hey, Nessa!” Amelia’s bright and sunny voice erupted from the speaker, and I sighed. It had been so long since I’d heard her voice and the instant I heard it, I was teleported to a different world and mindset. She had a way about her to lift my spirits even when the clouds were the darkest and heaviest. “Whatcha doing?”

“Making coffee,” I said, looking over at the microwave. It had gone off at some point, and I missed it. “You?”

God, was I really that out of it?

“Drivin’,” Amelia said. “How ya feelin’?”

I sighed. I couldn’t tell her the truth. How the fuck would I explain that? Just as I opened my mouth to answer, I burped, and the liquor in my belly sloshed painfully.

Oh shit, that had been a mistake.

“I’m good. I’ve had one hell of a week. Sorry, I didn’t text you back. I’ve been super busy.”

“I understand! I can’t imagine how hard it’s been. I just thought I’d check in.”

“Ugh, christ. So much has happened.”

“All good, I hope!” she said. She was distracted. I could hear it in her tone. “Anyway, I’m on my way! You can tell me all about it over dinner and a movie.”

I stayed quiet, my jaw dropping open and my heart skipping a beat in my chest.

On her way? Amelia was coming… here?

That was a bad idea. She had radar, and she’d know something was up, and then I’d have to tell her, and—

“No! Dude, that’s a two-hour drive! I can—”

“Already halfway there! So get a shower and throw on some makeup! We’re going out! You need to get out of that gloomy house and have a good time! I can hear the depression justdrippingoff of you.”

Before I had the chance to protest or complain, the line went dead in my hand, and I groaned.

Welp. I guess that answered that. There would be no moping around today. In a daze, I fumbled up the stairs to the shower, stripped off my clothes, and got in. It was cold at first—damn old pipes—but quickly became sweltering.

Good.

I liked my showers hot, just like my coffee.

It had meant to be a ‘just the essentials’ shower, and quickly evolved into an ‘everything shower’, because I needed it. Kind of like a factory reset on an old, laggy phone. I need to feel fresh and new. I needed a fresh start.

I scrubbed, ending with quickly washing my hair, using Dad’s old dollar store shampoo. It wasn’t the best, and I knew it, but he had somehow kept his hair until the day he died. If it worked for him, it could work for me until I got something better.

Just as I finished twisting off the taps, I heard my phone’s merry ringtone and threw back the shower curtain. Wrapping a towel around myself, I reached over and picked up the phone.

“Yep?

“Hey, I’m on Main Street!” Amelia’s cheerful voice called to me, and I sighed. She was like one of those tiny, shivery dogs that came in all the time at the clinic—perpetually happy. “Where do you wanna meet me?”

“Uhm,” I thought, swinging the door shut and dropping the towel. Usually, I’d just dress with the door open, content that no one was there. After last night, I’d never trust that again. “Mae’s Dinner?”

“Cool beans,” Amelia said with a giggle. “You gonna be long?”

“Twenty minutes?” I said. “How thehelldid you get here so fast?”

“Speeding,” Amelia said simply. She was shameless, and it brought a smile to my face. “Now hurry up. I amstarved.”

Without waiting for me to retort, she hung up. God, she was so hyper all the time, and part of me wondered if that was why we got along so well. I was slow and bitter. She was happy and peppy.

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