Hey Monday

b r e a t h i n g

-ellen-

"We need to have a bonding night," Evelyn said as we sat at dinner. We were all lounging around in our respective spots- Evelyn and Morgan on the couch, me draped across the chair, Logan in the passenger seat and Noah eating as he drove.

"Bonding night?" Morgan asked inbetween spoonfuls of chicken noodle soup. "What's that?" 

Evelyn shrugged and put her hands in her lap. "You know, like a little girl's night. A get-to-know-you kind of thing. It'll be fun." 

I set down my empty bowl and nodded. "Yeah, sounds cool. I'm in." 

"Me too," Morgan replied. "I mean, I'm just so surprised that none of my other friends could take me in- I don't think they really want me. But I'm so glad that you guys took the fall for Jordan." 

I rolled my eyes. This must have been the eighty-fifth time she'd apologized since we took her in, and I still didn't think it was necessary. None of us really minded, and Morgan was a great person to hang out with. She had a great sense of humor and this cute little laugh that sounded like tinkling bells. 

"So," I said casually after I'd slurped up the last of my soup. "Why did Jordan kick you out, anyway?" 

Morgan's eyes grew wide and she dropped her spoon to the ground with a clatter. 

"Whoa," I said, picking up the spoon for her. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want." 

Morgan winced and shook her head profusely. "Sorry, no, I'll tell you. Jordan was- is- the definition of an asshole. He'd do these awful things- make me have sex with him every night, check through my phone, he'd hit me if I did something he didn't like and he didn't want to look at me unless I had all my makeup on." She paused and sniffled a little. "But he was hooking up with like, a million other girls anyway. He wouldn't even call me by my name- it was just "sexy" or "tits"." 

"That sounds awful," Noah called from the front. The three of us exchanged glances- how much had he heard?- and Morgan stood up worriedly. 

"It was," she said with a quivering voice. "But I never left him because I always thought it was my fault, that I was doing something wrong and that's why he was always so violent. Plus, he was a big drinker, even though I'm only nineteen and he's twenty. He always found buddies to get him some whiskey." 

"Well, it wasn't your fault," Noah said passionately. I squinted curiously at him- I didn't remember him being so nice in the past. Then again, maybe he just wanted to get in Morgan's pants. 

Evelyn stood up and ushered Morgan and I into the bedroom. Once we were all situated, she leaned in and began to speak in a hushed voice. 

"So Morgan and I are currently the only ones single," she said, writing their names down on a stray sheet of paper. "And the avalible boys at our expense are Noah and Kale from Indiana." 

"Kale from Indiana?" I shrieked, immediately getting hushed by Evelyn. 

"Yeah, we got his number, remember?" Evelyn asked. I rolled my eyes and said nothing- there was no way that I was seeing Kale ever again. 

Morgan wrinkled her nose in momentary confusion. "Why is this important?" 

Evelyn shrugged. "It's just good to know your potential suitors. I know that you're not going to want to date anyone for awhile, and that's fine, but any guy would be lucky to have you." 

Morgan blushed furiously and looked down. "Thanks," she mumbled. 

I yawned, looking over at my clock. It was only five PM, but I was pretty exhausted. "Hey, can we get this bonding night on?" I asked. "I'm going to crash soon."