Loveseat Nights

8

monday, feb 8

The door opens and the first thing Mona says is “I don’t think I can do tonight. I’ve got a sorta-kinda date.”

“What?” I gasp. “Mona Lieber is going on a date? Oh God, where are the flying pigs?”

She glares at me. “I appreciate the support, but I really have to start getting ready.”

“Who is it?” I ask. “Tell me, I want to know. Besides, I can tell you if he’s only using you to get laid.”

“Get out of my doorway, Adrien.” Her menacing look is all the incentive I need to step away. The moment I do, she slams the door.

“Well, that went well,” I mutter to myself.

Suddenly, the door opens again. “Okay,” Mona says. “I need help.”

“I knew you’d reconsider,” I say. “So who’s the rather unlucky guy?”

She shoots me another icy glare and says, “Colton Clomfeld.”

Oh. This is bad.

“Why the hell did you accept a date with Colton?” I bark.

She gapes at me. “When did my personal life become your business, Adrien?”

“When you decided to hitch a date with Jackass Clomfeld!” I blustered.

“I don’t appreciate your attitude—”

“He’s a pea-brained jock. I’m pretty sure 68% of his brain usage is breathing.”

“Who I date isn’t your business—”

“You shouldn’t hang around jerks!” I say, throwing my hands up in the air. My brow furrows and I ask, maybe a little too harshly, “Wait, I’m confused, why did Colton ask you out on a date?”

Mona’s face turns tomato red and I feel like smoke is going to come out of her ears any second.

“You know, you’re right,” she replies coldly. “I shouldn’t hang out around jerks.” With that, the door slams on my face.

“Does this mean our agreement is off?” I yell at the door.

When she doesn’t come back to welcome me into her home, apologize for her rashness, and cancel her date with the biggest jerk in school, I step off of her placemat and start walking to my car.

What’s Colton’s motive with Mona? This doesn’t make any sense, I think as I speed through the highway back home. It’s not that Mona’s a bad catch or anything, even if my tone probably indicated I thought otherwise; Jackass Clomfeld rightfully deserves his name after years of fooling around with girls and dumping them at the worst possible time. No matter how much of a prick Mona is, she doesn’t deserve whatever Colton is about to throw at her face.

When I open the door to my house, I can already feel the anger seeping into me. Mom starts yelling the minute I walk in.

“Where have you been?” (Just doing drugs, Mom.) “This happened yesterday, too, Richard.” (Dad pretends to read the newspaper.) “You can’t keep driving off to nowhere every day, Adrien.” (Nowhere, huh? Sounds a lot better than this hellhole.)

“Sorry,” I mumble, setting my backpack down. “I told you I was going to the library. It’s a lot quieter there.”

“It’s quiet enough here,” she says. “You have a cell phone. Use it. I don’t want to hear this nonsense about no time to call me; it only takes one minute. You have to use your brain, Adrien.”