Hey Monday

i n t r u d e r s

-noah- 

It was about midnight, and I was uncomfortable. Very, very, painfully uncomfortable. 

Kate was sitting on one side of me, clutching on to my hand. Ellen was across the living room in the RV, standing with a hand on her hip and a catty expression on her face. Her newest boy-toy, some idiot named Logan, was sitting on the couch with an anxious expression. You could cut the tension with a knife. 

"Why," Ellen began with a sigh, "are you here?" 

Kate pushed a strand of sleek black hair behind her ear. "Oh, well, um. I really missed Noah and I could tell that he missed me too, from the texts and everything. So I decided to, uh, join you." 

"You assumed it would be okay with me? With Noah? You just assumed?" Ellen asked, voice full of ice. 

"No," Kate frowned. "Noah said it was okay."

Ellen snapped her head over to me, expression one of pure fury. I was scared, but I just shrugged. 

"I thought she would be good company." 

This had all taken place when Kate had first texted me. She had mentioned how mundane and boring life was in Oregon, and remarked how cool it would be to come with us. Then Ellen started ignoring me and being cold, pushing off my affections and things like that. I was getting sick of it, so I just invited Kate along. By the end of that day, her bags were packed. She'd taken her car and left it somewhere- I don't even know where- and now here we were. 

"So let me get this straight. Kate decided that it would be a good idea to come join me and Noah on this trip. Noah said okay, sure. And, do you expect to move into the same house as Noah and I?" Ellen asked Kate, who shrugged.

Ellen sat down and put her head in her hands. This whole trip, her entire life plan, was crumbling to nothingness. I felt terrible and I wanted to comfort her, but she was beyond mad at me. Nothing I could say or do could fix this, nothing. And it wasn't even my fault.

Not completely my fault, anyway.

I mean, I couldn't believe that I'd actually invited Kate back into my life. She was gorgeous, though- smooth ebony skin with a perfectly clear complexion, and piercing brown eyes that could make any man melt.

Ellen looked at me while Kate and Logan were looking elsewhere. She locked eyes with me, gave me a sad gaze, and shook her head.

"I need you two out of here," she said coldly to Kate and I. "Now." 

Kate stood up and took my hand. "Let's go back here, babe," she murmured in my ear, leading me to Ellen's back bedroom. I felt her glare at me from behind but I didn't turn around

 "So... do you think this might maybe be a bad idea?" Kate asked quietly. "I mean, you and Ellen have been best friends since forever. I don't wanna cause trouble or anything." 

"No, no, no," I assured her in what I hoped was a steady voice. "Ellen loves you, this'll be great." 

Kate gave me a hopeful smile and took a seat on the bed. "Hey, what's this?" she asked, pulling out Ellen's polka-dotted inspiration notebook. 

"Oh, that's Ellen's," I said nonchalantly. "We probably shouldn't look at it." 

But Kate had already opened it up and was flipping through the pages. "Is she like depressed or something?" 

"No," I said, surprised. "Why?" 

"Because of this," Kate replied. She held up the notebook- there was a sketch of a wrist, one that was battered and cut several times.