“KO! How are you doing?”
“I’m all right,” she said unenthusiastically.
“What’s the matter?”
“Em, I need a favor,” she said hesitantly.
“What’s going on?” I asked, worried that there was something terrible lurking.
“I hate to ask, but Pop needs me to stay and help out, so I was wondering if you could stay at the house for a little while longer,” she said, exhaling on the other end. I could feel the stress flowing through the phone line.
“Yeah, of course,” I said. “Are you sure that’s it?”
“Nah, it’s all the family stuff, but you know how that goes,” she said, deflecting the question. “How’s lover boy?”
“No idea,” I said without further comment.
“What the hell happened?” KO demanded. “I thought you two were having hot sex and heading in the right direction!”
“Charlotte and William happened,” I said, knowing that KO would immediately understand. “It was a mess, and I yelled at all of them. I haven’t heard anything from Blake since.”
“Why don’t you call him?” she asked. “Explain the fact that you are the only normal person to come out of a family of passive/aggressive abusers. I’m sure he’ll totally understand!”
“You’re kidding, right?” I laughed. “Not a chance in hell I’m calling after he met my nightmare.”
“I don’t get it,” KO said. “Why?”
“His family is totally normal!” I cried. “My family is beyond fucked up. No good can come of it now that he’s seen that nightmare. Just forget it.”
“I think you’re wrong, but hey, you know best,” she said, with the verbal equivalent of a shrug.
“Look, I’ll stay here, but you’re going to have to let me pay the mortgage or something,” I said, changing the subject abruptly.
“You can pay the utilities,” KO said tersely. “I’ve got the mortgage and insurance taken care of.”
“Then at least let me buy you some furniture or something,” I said. “This place is like a Spartan training facility.”
“I like living in an uncluttered home,” she said.
“A couch? A chair? Something?” I pushed. I knew she wanted a little more than she had, but, like me, she was too proud to accept help. “I mean, I’ll buy it, and if you hate it, I’ll take it with me when I move out. How does that sound?”
“Fine, I guess I can’t stop you, can I?” she chuckled on the other end. “Do what you will.”
“I miss you, my friend,” I said, suddenly feeling very alone.
“Yeah, I miss you, too,” she said quietly. “It’s hard being away from my real life. It’s just…hard.”
“When do you think you’ll be back?”
“No idea,” she said. “Pop needs help, and I’ll stay until he doesn’t.”
“All right, well, call if you need anything,” I said. I could hear KO’s grandfather calling for her on the other end.
“I gotta go,” she said. “Talk soon, chick!”
After she’d disconnected, I stood staring at the phone for a few minutes, thinking about what she’d said about calling Blake. I pulled up his number and started at it before powering down the phone and taking my coffee to the bathroom so I could shower and get ready for my first day back.
There was a light dusting of snow on the ground, and everything looked clean and fresh as I drove into the high school parking lot. I was early, but I wanted to get a chance to prepare my classroom for the new term without the interruption of my colleagues.