Phonecall 18

11 PM.
The phone rings.
I'm having more and more trouble sleeping.
I answer the phone.
"...what?"
"Well, that's not exactly the greeting I was expecting."
That voice.
"Laura?"
Well, I haven't heard her voice in a long time.
"Lace?" I said shakily. "Lacey, is that you?"
"Oh good, she recognizes me. I feel special," replied Lacey in that superior/sarcastic tone I know so well. "What's up, home-slice? How's the home away from home?"
I found a smile was slowly inching it's way over my face. "Lace! What's up? I haven't heard from you in ages!"
Just so you know, Lacey A. is one of my bestest, bestest friends. I associate her with the Devil in a pin-striped suit.
She was also the only one able to control me in elementary/middle school.
She still kinda is.
"Laura, what number is your apartment again?"
Erm...
"Number 49....why?"
"Oh, no reason. Hey, can I call you back in say...five minutes?"
"Uh, sure..."
Then she hung up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Five minutes later*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*knock knock*
I opened the door.
To see Lacey.
My jaw dropped to the ground.
"Uh...Lace? What are you doing here...?"
She stepped inside and grinned evilly at me. "Well, you must be tired or sick or something to not have expected this," she replied.
Lacey is similar to Mercedes and I.
Dark clothing, likes dying her hair, air of being awesomely creepy.
I learned much from her.
"This place is surprisingly tidy," she said as she eyed my apartment. "Knowing you I'd expected it to be some sort of disaster zone."
I laughed. "Well, everyplace in here is neat except the bedroom."
She rolled her eyes. "I guess things really don't change all that much. SO." She plopped down on the couch. "I've been conversing with Mercedes."
"Yeah...?"
She smirked and laced (haha) her fingers together beneath her chin. "Who is this 'Johnny' that I hear so much about?"
Uh oh.
I sat down on the floor. "Damn you and your information network..."
She shrugged and smirked again. "Hey, it is what it is." She leaned forward. "Now spill."
And yes, I 'spilled'.
Otherwise Lacey would have hit me. She does that sometimes.
*Bestest, bestest friend.
"You've been leading one hell of a crazy life lately," she said when I was done.
"Why so surprised?" I asked. "You'd think a person such as myself would have a crazy life as norm."
"No, your life has always been normal," she replied. "It's you that's crazy."
I nodded. "Tru-hey, what are you doing here, anyways? I mean, seriously."
She crossed her arms and pouted. "What, I'm not allowed to visit an old friend that I haven't seen in what, nearly two years now?"
"C'mon, you didn't cross the country just to come see me."
"Hey, aren't I supposed to be your papa? I heard you found a man and I've come to scare him shitless."
(A little joke here: I consider Lacey more of a 'father' then my bio-dad or my step-dad. Mostly because she likes to interrogate the guys I hang with.)
I sighed. "Lace, I don't like him like that..."
She tutted. "That's not what I heard..." she sang. "From what I heard from Sadee, whenever you guys hung out...hmm...how'd she put it again...she said you acted the same way you used to act around Jordan."
My face got warm. "And," she continued, "You and I both know that she doesn't tend to exaggerate."
"I reject this reality that you seem to be living in," I muttered. "Besides, Johnny and Jordan have very little in common."
"I think you're in denial."
"You think too much."
Lacey smiled then. Not the 'oh, how funny' smile, but a smile that I've come to know as the 'you shall have pain' smile. "Would you say that again?" She asked in a rather scary tone.
(I am terrified of Lace sometimes...for good reason.)
"Um...no?"
"Good..." Her smile grew and became slightly more genuine. "I still want to meet this guy, no matter how much you say you don't like him 'that way.' He sounds like a very interesting person."
"Eh...."
Too much action.
"Um, Lace? Where are you staying?"
Her smile fell away very quickly. "This little roach motel thing..." She shuddered. "A literal roach motel..."
Well, that wasn't very nice. "Why don't you come stay here? I like having company."
She jumped up suddenly and pointed at the ceiling. "I shall get my things!" Then she dashed out.
Leaving me with the oddest sensation.
Something like realizing that I'd been manipulated.
Ah well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The more it waited, the more impatient it got.
What was it looking for, anyways?
That Something.
It was so hungry it was nearly starved.
Not by the way of food or digestion, just...
Oh, but it was hungry...