I walk up my front porch steps and open the front door. As soon as I step inside, Maxine yells to keep the front door open. With her yelling and my mind in shambles, I slam the front door closed and my eyes bulge at what I see next.

“Oh my god, what the hell?” I yell to her.

She is standing in a puddle of water near the kitchen. She has a hammer in hand and a look of panic in her eyes.

“Don’t just stand there! Help me,” she calls, scanning the room in search of something.

I stand frozen, unsure of what to do. “Wha…?” Just as I’m about to ask, a bird swoops and grazes my hair. I jump and scream.

Rushing over to Maxine, I kick off my heels—or, I should say, one heel and a flat. My feet trudge through the water that trickles along the kitchen tile.

Then water explodes from a pipe under the kitchen sink.

I glare at Maxine in confusion, and she smiles. “My ring.”

We duck in unison as the bird swooshes past us.

“What is going on here, Max?”

She drags her feet through the water and over to the phone, then picks it up and dials.

“Daddy, I think a water pipe burst. I don’t know how it burst,” she says, while waving the hammer in her hands.

She hangs up the phone and takes a deep breath.

The water continues to spray from the pipe, and we decide we should clean up the mess.

Red and blue towels hang from both of her arms as she rushes back from the bathroom.

“We need to stop the water!” I yell.

The kitchen cabinets are open, so I rifle through the contents. I discover masking tape, which I hold up as Maxine drops the towels.

“Here, do you think this will help?”

“Oooh, good idea. We can tape the pipe.” She smiles.

I toss the binding to her as she crouches under the sink. Her jeans soak in the water, and she frowns. I kneel as Maxine looks over my head. The dang bird flies back and attacks my hair again. What is his problem? Why’s there a bird in the house?

Maxine unravels the adhesive and tries to wrap it around the busted pipe. She winds the tape, and it makes a bigger mess. Water sprays our faces, and she turns laughing, “I don’t think this is working.”

The water is cold. I stand up and agree that tape isn’t the answer. “We need to clog up the pipe,” I suggest.

Maxine nods her head and grabs the towels off the floor. They are soaked through. She shoves a towel into the pipe. It stops the water flow, and she grins.

She stands and lets out a huge breath just as the water breaks free from the towel and continues to spray the room.

I glance over at the bird perched on the counter. He looks as though he is unsure of what to do, too.

“What now?” she asks, looking to the bird.

“I don’t know. Is your father coming here?”

“Yes, he has a contractor friend, and they will be here soon.”

I lean against the counter and face her. “So what’s with the bird?” I point a finger over to where he’s walking around like he owns the place.

Maxine turns and grabs my shoulders. “Oh Nessie, it was horrible. I was at the party, and I saw Darren. Well, we began kissing, and then his friend Craig walked over and said they were gonna play some poker. Darren just left. I called to him and he laughed and said, after he was done hanging with friends, he’d make time for me.”

Looking to the pipe as it leaks more water onto the floor, she continues. “Well, I was so upset, I came home. I wanted to have a nice quiet evening, so I opened the patio doors to let in the cool rainy air. Before I knew it, a bird flew inside. I tried to catch him—I chased him around the house and cornered him into the kitchen. I was trying to shoo him out the window with my hands.”

She glances over at the bird and sticks her tongue out at him. Waiting for her to continue, I chuckle to myself.

“As I was flailing my hands, my most favorite ring flew off my finger and fell down the sink. I ran to the garage and got the hammer. You know, my absolutely stunning ring? The one with the blue owl in the center?”

Seeing where the story is heading, I cut in to ask, “Max, did you think banging a hammer against the kitchen pipe would get the ring back?”

“Well, I tried to pry it open, and it wouldn’t budge. So I began banging it, and I guess I busted a water pipe.”

What a character. “You think?”

She stares for a moment and shrugs her shoulders.

My arms wrap around her. “Oh, Max, what am I going to do with you?”

A while later, after her father and his friend have fixed the plumbing, we sit down and relax for the first time in hours. It’s late. Her father brought over some industrial drying fans, so the house is nearly back to normal. Talent and skill got the bird out of the house, and they were even able to get Maxine’s ring. We thanked them as they finished, and now we’re exhausted.

“So I never asked, what happened to your skirt?” Maxine grabs my hem and follows the slit up.

I tell her the story about Jordan and end with Trace. Tony is another story; I don’t bother her with those details.

“Trace Weston? Be careful with that one, Ness. He’s a player.”

“What does that even mean?” I lean my head further into the couch cushion and rub my temples.

“Can we talk about this later? I’m so tired. Also, we have a busy day tomorrow.” She gets up from the couch and saunters away.

“Get some rest, Max.”

“Yeah, thanks. Good night.”

“Don’t worry about Darren. That jerk. One day he’ll realize how amazing you are.” I smile at Maxine as she waves and continues walking down the hall to her room.

I race to my room and grab a notebook, picturing Trace and his deep dark eyes, the way they stare and never break their gaze.

He’s a wonder to behold, and I do want to see him again. Although I have to remain on top of my game, so I don’t fall under his spell. “Oh, Vanessa Summers, you’re in trouble,” I mumble to myself.