Page 35 of Connectio
“Of course I am.”
“It’s as if you somehow arranged it.”
“Maybe I did.” Carly holds her hand out and inspects her nails. “Maybe I came here first thing this morning and broke the tap on purpose.”
I laugh. “You? Get up first thing in the morning? Ha! If I don’t wake you, you’d probably never wake up.”
“True.” She shrugs. “Okay, so I didn’t arrange this. We both know that, which means the universe did.”
“The universe?”
“Yes, the universe wants you and Will to get to know each other.”
“Why?”
“Because he has a penis and you have a vagina.”
“Ugh! I don’t have time for this. I need to go and… teach.”
Stepping around her, I reach for the door, when she clasps my arm and yanks me back. “You can’t go back looking like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like Alice Cooper.” Carly spins me to face the mirror.
“Oh my God! My mascara!” I wipe the black smudged pools under my eyes.
“You just made it worse. You need makeup remover.”
“No shit!” I wipe some more. “It’s not like I have any here at school.”
“I do.”
“What? Why?”
“In case a pipe bursts like a cock and comes all over my face.”
I close my eyes for the smallest of seconds. “How are we even friends?”
“Because you need me.” She pulls a near-empty wet wipes packet from out of her pocket.
“How—?”
“Don’t question my genius. Just do something with that”—Carly lifts her hand toward my face and moves it in a circular motion—“and fix your hair. You look like a Troll Doll.”
I smooth down my frizz. “I do not.”
She purses her lips, eyes wide, and steps backward out of the room to leave me to my devices.
Sighing at my reflection, I agree; I do look like a Troll Doll. But before I can even decipher what the hell I’m going to do to fix it, the door opens once more and Carly pokes her head in, removes the clip from her perfectly styled hairdo, and tosses it to me before blowing me a kiss and leaving.
I smile and gather my hair into a bun.
She’s right; I do need her.
* * *
Opening the classroom door,I step into the room, and the children all look up and giggle.
