Birthday Girl

I kicked off the air conditioner hours ago, so it’s a comfy

seventy-five by now, but I pull out my hoodie from my bag in case I want to cover up later. Grabbing my phone, I leave the hallway light on and climb on the table, scooting down enough, so I have room to lie down. Tucking my arm under my head, I yawn and check the volume and battery on my phone, making sure I have enough power to last in case something goes wrong while I’m alone here all night.

Like Jay coming back.

I find my app that makes a box fan sound and play it in hopes I can get a little sleep, but I’m not hopeful. I don’t feel secure, so I can’t relax.

Closing my eyes, I feel the weight of fatigue on my lids, and the pleasant feel of exhaustion. It’s the kind you know you deserve, because you worked your ass off that day.

But after twenty minutes, my mind is still racing. My body is done for the day but not my brain.

When my cell rings, I’m pretty sure it’s a sign I’m not meant to sleep tonight.

I bring it up to my eyes, squinting at the bright light.

Pike.

I knit my brow. “Hello?” I hold it to my ear, yawning again.

“Hey,” he says as if he didn’t expect to reach me. “I…a….I just saw it was after three, and no one’s home, so I just wanted to check in. Make sure everything’s okay.”

I turn on my side, still using my bottom arm as a pillow, and hold the phone to my ear with the other hand.

“I’m fine.” I smile at his concern and joke, “Do I have a curfew or something?”

“No,” he replies, and I can hear the humor in his voice. “You guys stay out and have fun. Do your thing. I just…” He pauses for a long moment and then continues, “You know, you don’t worry about things you’re not aware of. When Cole didn’t live with me, I didn’t always know where he was or what he was up to, so I didn’t think about it all the time. You two living under my roof now, I seem to be worrying constantly.” He breathes out a laugh. “That bar is shady. I just wanted to make sure you got out of work safely and everything’s cool. I’m just…checking in.”

I don’t take offense to his remark. It’s not my bar, after all, and yes, it is a dump.

I’m tempted to see if he wants to come and get me after all, since he’s awake, but my pride won’t let me. I don’t want to be a problem. And I definitely don’t want to be responsible for making waves between him and Cole. I can fight my own battles.

“Yeah. Everything’s cool,” I lie, adding some tease to my voice. “I’m not a kid, you know?”

“You kind of are.”

I snort. Well, kid or not, I guess it’s nice to have someone looking out for me.

“Did you call Cole, too?” I ask.

But he doesn’t answer. Instead I hear a loud slam and some shuffling. “Shit,” he barks.

My eyes open wide, alert. “What’s the matter?”

“The damn microwave doesn’t work right,” he growls. “I knew I shouldn’t have replaced it just to match the other new appliances, dammit. It won’t pop popcorn.”

I narrow my eyes, but I want to laugh so badly. He gets so worked up. “There’s a Popcorn button,” I remind him.

“I pushed it!”

“Twice?”

“Why would I have to push it twice?” he retorts like I’m stupid.

“Because the size of the bags you use take three-point-five minutes of cooking,” I point out.

“I know that.”

“Well, on your new microwave, pushing it down once only gives it two minutes of cooking. For the smaller bags,” I clarify. “You need to push it down twice to get the right time.”