Chapter Thirteen
Ellie
A soft rap on the door has me jumping out of bed and checking the time.
He said noon!
Running into the bathroom, I dig around for a hair tie and pull my hair up on top of my head as the rapping continues to get louder and louder.
“Coming!” I holler as I search through last night’s clothes to find a bra.
There it is.
I slide it on as the knock becomes a pounding. Hurrying, I down a cap full of mouth wash, not even bothering to spit it out. I run to the door, sliding to a stop.
I take a second to calm my breathing, place a hand on the frame and slowly open the door. “I thought you said—”
“About time!” Rain pushes past me, bag in one hand and a drink in the other. “I’ve been basically walking the streets all morning picking up goodies for you.”
“Is that for me?” I point to the cup in her hand.
“Uh-huh!” She smiles. “I’ll give you one guess as to what it is.” Rain waves it in front of me as she plops down on the bed.
I climb on and sit cross-legged in front of her, ready for whatever she has for me. “Ginger tea with two teaspoons of honey?”
“Oh shit! Are you playing this weekend?” She doesn’t wait for my answer. “I made sure to check with Jake this morning. Called him up and demanded to know your schedule. He said you were off, but maybe he was telling me to fuck off.” She sticks her hand out for me to take the cup.
“I’m off the whole weekend, but I’m pretty sure the f-bomb was dropped before the off.” I let out a little chuckle, grabbing the cup.
“It’s your favorite,” she replies while digging through her bag full of presents.
“Caramel Macchiato with coconut milk, extra caramel, extra whip?” I question, even though I already know the answer. I love those things, but my old voice coach used to swear drinking milk creates phlegm—a huge no-no on performance day. All the research I had done said otherwise, but I wasn’t about to chance it.
“Yup!” She bounces up and down, apparently finding what she was looking for. “And LEMON POUND CAKE.”
“Sweet!” I reach out, but Rain yanks her hand back. “They only had one, but since I’m an amazing friend,” she tosses it at me, “I’m going to let you have it.”
Leaning toward her, I inhale and bust out in laughter. “You had a sausage, cheddar, egg sandwich, didn’t you?”
She puts her hands up and shrugs. “I couldn’t help it. Last night they made me eat this leafy stuff with vegetables.”
“You mean a salad?” I tear off a piece of lemon loaf and pop it in my mouth, then let a moan escape.
“That too, but I’m telling you, last night was some weird shit. Even for my parents.” She sets the bag down in front of me. “They had me wrapped in a white sheet, toga-style. Which, I do have to say, I looked really good. So, if you know of any toga or Halloween parties, I’m game. Anywho, that is neither here nor there.” She hops off the bed and lies on the floor. “They had me lying in the middle of the garden. Like this.” Rain then sits up, rolls over and sits on her knees and continues, “And then they did this whole worshipping thing, where they bowed down, but when they came up, they squealed like pigs and their hands were flailing everywhere.” She continues to mock them, causing me to spit my coffee everywhere.
“Rain!” I laugh.
“Welcome to my life.” She climbs back on the bed. “Aren’t you going to open the rest?” She nods toward the bag.
“I was waiting for the show to finish.” I give her a big, toothy grin while I dig my hand into the bag and pull out the first item. “Kitchen Lemon Soap! My favorite!” I bounce up and down, causing the bag to fall over and the rest of the contents to fall out.
I can’t help it. I love all things lemons. Candy, cookies, cake, soap. Hell, I even love lemon-scented cleaner.
“You idiot!” She tosses the empty bag over her shoulder.
“Hey! You better pick that up. I’m my own housekeeper now,” I tease while I go through the rest of the gifts. “Vanilla ChapStick.” I pop off the lid and glide the balm over my lips, smacking them together.
“I figured you may need some more since I never see you without it.”
“I’m on my last stick. Thanks.” I lean over, placing it on my nightstand. “Let’s see. A package of my favorite picks and a box of condoms.” My eyes widen in surprise. “Rain! What are these for?”
“Oh, baby girl, if I have to explain that to you, then we have some bigger problems.” She cranes her neck, trying to look into the kitchen. “Do you have any bananas?”
“Rain!” I smack her arm. “I know what they are for.”
“Whew! That could have been uncomfortable.” She takes a deep breath and exhales. “Okay.” She slaps the bed. “I have something else for you.” She pats down the down comforter. “It has to be here somewhere.” Rain lifts up her leg. “Here it is.” She pulls out a small, black bag. “And here you go.”
Looking between the bag and her, I ask, “What’s this?” I take the bag and open it to find a new cell phone. “Rain!”
“I hate that I can’t text you in the middle of the night.”
“You just hate you can’t track me on that app you installed on my old phone.” I laugh, ripping open the box.
“Hey, it was for your protection.”
“Sure.” I realize that just yesterday she had barely enough money for a taco. How in the hell could she afford all this? “Rain?”
“Mmm-hmm?” She hops off the bed, picking up the bag and the rest of the trash.
“Where did you get the money to pay for all this stuff?” I hold up my phone. “This phone probably cost—”
“It’s one of those disposables, but they assured me that when and if you decide to go with a provider, your number will switch over.”
“You asked questions. How grown-up of you.” I nod. “But seriously. Where?”
“Geesh. Why can’t you just take the gifts and shut up.” She reaches for the condom box. “Maybe I’ll just keep these.”
“Not a chance.” I grab them and throw them in my nightstand.
“Ohhhh, so Mr. Rough Hands really is Mr. Doable?” Rain smirks.
“Changing the subject. Nice.” I put my hands on my hips. “The money?”
“Fine.” She huffs. “Last night my parents got into their special herbs. You know, the ones that have their own ‘special’ house?”
“Ohhhhh!” I nod, curious as to where she is going with this. Her parents have been known to light up a time or two—a day.
“Well, this stuff must have been good because I was joking around and told them I needed three hundred dollars to donate to an El Nino Go Fund Me page and they gave it to me.” She starts laughing hysterically. “You get it? You’re El and your bank account is Nino.”
“You dork. Nino is boy in Spanish. I think you meant nada.” I fall back into the pillows and let out a sigh.
“Same difference.” She comes to lay by me.
I turn my head to take a look at the girl who has become like a sister to me, a no-questions-asked friend. As crazy as she is, I can’t imagine her not being in my life. “Thank you for everything.”
“It’s just a phone, and I did it for purely selfish reasons.” She reaches over, grabbing it from my hand.
“Hey!”
“I’m programming my number in,” she defends herself, before puffing up her hair, making a face, and snapping a cute selfie for her contact image.
“Seriously if it weren’t for you, I don’t know where I would be right now.” I can’t help but recall the day I lost everything.
“I can tell you. You would be homeless or hijacking your way to Nashville.” She climbs out of bed and starts to grab her things.
“You mean hitchhiking?” I call after her.
“Yeah! That too.” She slings her bag over her shoulder. “Listen, I have to get going. Do you want to meet up later?
“Actually, Lee is coming to pick me up at noon.” I roll over, pulling the comforter with me.
“That’s an hour from now.” She holds up her phone. “You better get a move on it. You still smell like last night.” Rain pinches her nose, while continuing. “Love ya! Text me.”
“Back at ya!” I call after her.
As much as I want to lie here, the need to see Lee is greater. Rolling out of bed, I head to the bathroom where I already have everything laid out. Glancing in the mirror, I notice I look different.
Content.