Authors: Casey Elliot
*****
Monica was late for work.
Again
.
This time, it hadn’t been her fault really. Usually, when she ran late for things, it was because her roommate was hogging the shower or the bus driver hated her guts and refused to wait if she was even a second late at the stop. Monica’s life was a series of missed buses, late shifts, and overall crappiness. She was used to that.
What she wasn’t used to was her friend Felicia stopping her before she got through the Starbucks door and giving her the world’s biggest puppy dog look.
“No,” she said automatically.
Felicia gasped and pouted. “You don’t even know what I was gonna say first!”
Monica held up a hand. “No, but I do know it is going to be a favor that will either waste my time, give me a massive headache, get dog fur on places in my furniture I didn’t even know dog fur could get stuck to, or all of the above.”
Felicia rolled her eyes. “Are you still mad at Mr. Puff for shedding all over your closet? He told you he was sorry!”
Monica shook her head. “No, you sent me an e-card with his picture on it that said ‘I’m meowy sorry.’ That is
not
the same thing.”
She tried to step around Felicia, but her path was blocked once again. It wasn’t afraid. Felicia stood at a towering 5’7’’ in her pink heels while Monica was a measly 5’2’’ in her Starbucks-mandated flats.
Monica threw her hands in the air and sighed. “Fine! Fine. What is it this time? Need me to drive the getaway car in a bank heist? World domination? Need someone to hold your bag while you try on dresses at Macy’s?”
“That last idea sounds fun,” Felicia admitted, “but no, none of those things. I have a massive problem…”
Monica raised her eyes, concerned. “Oh?”
“a Dean Warren-shaped problem.”
“Oh.”
“He’s got another one of his walking charities at the school and wants me to look after him. For six months!”
With Felicia distracted, Monica stepped around her and inside the Starbucks. Felicia was right on her heels the entire time, still talking.
“That’s six months of showing some French creep who doesn’t know how to say ‘kiss ass’ correctly around while my social life suffers! Can you believe that?”
Monica slipped on her apron and rolled her eyes. “That sounds tragic for you, Fe. Really, it does.”
Felicia actually waited for Monica to clock in before she started rambling again. “So, you understand why I absolutely cannot do this again. You know what happened last time.”
Oh, Monica remembered alright. Last year’s transfer student has been a Russian downhill skier from Moscow. He’s been nice enough, Monica assumed, but he had made the egregious mistake of making out with Felicia, and then hooking up with Kelsey Ainsley the following day. Felicia had taken him to task for the slight, and Monica had been left on the receiving end of increasingly frantic and upset Facebook messages and texts.
“How do you know this guy will be like the last one?” Monica asked, hoping to reason with Felicia; though from past attempts, she knew the process to be utterly futile. “Maybe this guy is nice? You won’t know unless you hang out with him.”
“I’m done hanging out with foreign jerks for money, Monnie.” Felicia sighed, reached into her purse, and pulled out her compact. Monica waited patiently while she fixed her lipstick before she started ranting again. “And, do you know the absolute worst part about all of this?”
“No, but I’m sure you’re about to tell me.”
“He kept hitting on me! He kept trying to butter me up. Ugh, I swear to God all we get is horny foreign dudes looking to hook up with American chicks abroad. Why don’t they go to, like, Aspen or something for that? Why come to a school at all?”
Boys were already drawn to Felicia, so Monica had no idea why she would be so shocked and upset by it. She was beautiful, and popular, and her dad had many connections. Though she could be judgmental and more than a little stuck up at times, Monica knew she had a goodness to her that came through when she was with people she trusted and cared for. She had been the one to take Monica under her wing for her first year at Spencer. She’d given her tips on what clubs to join, which boys were “good ones”, which frats to avoid, and a bunch of other helpful knowledge she was glad she had been privy to during her first year.
Even if these days, being friends with Felicia felt more like a part-time job than a real friendship, she was grateful to have her. And, though Felicia had many, many friends, all of whom would be happy to do things like pet sit her dog while she was in Rome or hold her purse while she tried on shoes, she always came to Monica first. Maybe it was because Monica had always been a bit of a doormat where friends, especially Felicia, were concerned. She had a hard time saying no when someone she cared about needed something. Maybe Felicia was just taking advantage of that. Monica honestly couldn’t be sure. Something told her that Felicia was grateful for having her too.
As if on cue, Felicia’s eyes lit up. “Monnie, can I ask you something?”
The sugar-sweet voice she used was the first red flag in order for Monica to know she wasn’t about to like where this was headed. God, was she going to ask him to pet sit Mr. Puff again? She needed to remind herself to get a restraining order from that maniacal Chihuahua.
“Depends on the something,” she said. “Plus, I’m about to be, like, ten minutes late for work, so—”
“Oh, don’t worry. The manager is my dad’s friends’ son. I’ll tell him to cut you some slack.” She waved off Monica’s concerns.
“So, that something?”
Monica sighed and rubbed her temples. Well, she could say no, she knew. She had way too much on her plate at the moment to be taking on whatever task (or heaven forbid, task
s
) Felicia wanted her to take on. She had a chemistry exam coming up that she was already freaking out about, her car was finally getting out of the shop in the next week and she had to find a way to make payments, and her parents were visiting this weekend.
I should just tell her I have too much to do, Monica thought. She’ll understand, right? No, not right; this is Felicia we’re talking about. She’ll throw a fit and wonder why I hate her and want to see her fail, but it would be worth it, right?
“Well?” Felicia prompted. She sounded clearly annoyed that Monica hadn’t rushed to say yes like she normally did. Monica debated waiting longer to watch her stew, but ultimately decided against it. With a long-suffering and hint of self-hatred, Monica said, “Okay, okay. What do you need me to do?”
*****
Eliott received a text from Felicia telling him to meet her in the courtyard. It had surprised him since it had been nothing but radio-silence between them since their last messy encounter. Still, the short, direct, ‘
meet me in courtyard @ 3
,’ had piqued his interest enough for him to show.
Almost fifteen minutes had passed since he sat down, and still no sign of Felicia. He was starting to think that maybe she stood him up as some kind of prank when he heard someone calling him.
“Eliott? Eliott Mathis?”
He turned to see an unfamiliar girl standing across from him. She was short with long brown hair and dark brown eyes. She shifted awkwardly on her feet; her cheeks stained pink.
When he didn’t answer immediately, she repeated, “You’re Eliott Mathis, right? The transfer student? Oh God, did I get the wrong—”
“No! No, I am Eliott,” he assured her. “Who are you?”
The girl offered her hand to him. He took it and shook, but was too stunned to put on the act of kissing it. Her hands were as soft as her smile.
“I’m Monica. I’m a friend of Felicia’s,” she explained.
Eliott scowled at the mention of her name. “Felicia sent you here? What, is she too good to tell me off in person?”
Monica didn’t look surprised by the anger in his voice. “Felicia can be a little… much, but no, she didn’t send me here to start any trouble. She actually asked me if I could guide you today. I don’t think she wanted you to be left totally alone.”
He seriously doubted that was the case, but it was hard to be angry at Felicia for bailing on him when she had sent someone so beautiful in her place. Monica had a gentleness to her that drew him in immediately.
He tried to focus on her words instead of the brightness of her eyes. “So, you… you will be my guide? Does the Dean know about this arrangement?”
Monica looked sheepishly down at her shoes. Eliott thought the gesture was unfairly cute.
“He, um, might not?” She said. “And please, please don’t tell him. Felicia will get into a lot of trouble if you do.”
“Why should I care what happens to her. She was very rude to me.”
Monica smiled fondly. “She’s not so bad once you get to know her, I promise.”
She seemed to really believe what she was saying. Eliott almost doubted his impression of Felicia; almost.
Monica sat next to him and fiddled with a loose lock of brown hair. Close up, he could smell her light perfume and see the light dusting of freckles on her arms. She caught him staring and blushed. He looked away, embarrassed.
She cleared her throat and flashed him a smile. “Okay, so we’ve got the whole place to explore. Where do you wanna go?”
Eliott mulled over the question. It was true he hadn’t had much of a chance to see the city since he’d arrived and he didn’t know where anything was. He tried to go exploring on his own a couple of days ago, but had just wound up more lost than anything else.
“I want to see the local color,” he said. When she tilted her head at him questioningly, he tried to find the words to clarify. “I want to… see the sights, buildings, nature?”
She beamed at him in recognition. “Oh! Yeah, we can totally do that. If you don’t mind being dragged around, I have a few places I love going to I can show you.”
He smiled at her. She was really cute when she was excited. “I do not mind at all. It will be nice to finally see where I will be staying for the next six months, yes?”
She laughed and nodded. “Yeah! Okay, first question: how do you feel about the best Chinese-Mexican fusion food you’ve ever eaten? Wait, don’t answer that. I want it to be a surprise.”
The thought of Chinese-Mexican fusion food… did not sound appealing to Eliott at all. Honestly, he was a little homesick for some French cuisine, but Monica looked so excited about the idea that he could only smile and nod.
“Okay then,” he said, “surprise me.”
Before they went for food, Monica took him on a ride through town. He saw more of the city in the span of two hours than he had over the course of two days. She took him to her favorite park, and her favorite place to shop, and a little bodega outside of city hall that sold the best pretzels in the county (according to her). He hadn’t had any other pretzels in the county to compare, but eating those pretzels with her tasted like the best thing he had ever had.
When they were tired from walking and riding the bus, she took him to the fusion place as promised. He let her order for them both, and when the waiter left to get their food, they were left in companionable silence.
“So,” Monica said to break the ice. “You’re from France, huh? What part?”
“Nice,” he said.
She laughed. “Really, is that what it’s called?”
He blinked in confusion before he realized the joke. He laughed. “You know, I had never thought about it in that way? But yes, it is called Nice.”
“Is it… nice in Nice?”
Eliott choked on his soda. She laughed and leaned over to pat him on the back. When he had calmed down, he shook his head.
“Yes. Well, I think it is anyway,” he finally answered. “You should visit it someday. It is very beautiful.”
She laughed softly. “I don’t think a trip to France is in my future unfortunately. I’ve got student loans coming out of my ears.”
He hummed. Coming from a wealthy family, he sometimes forgot that things were more expensive for other people than it was for him. “Oh, okay. I did not think about it like that. Still, I hope you get to go. It really is nice in Nice.”
They laughed again. Eliott found himself really wishing she could see his city some day; maybe even while he was there too.
They chatted some more about what Eliott hoped to get out of his transfer experience, and a while later, the waiter brought their food. Eliott had to admit that it smelled good, and when Monica prompted him to take a bite, he gave her his approval.
When they finally left the restaurant, the sun was just beginning to set. Eliott was full and happy as he listened to Monica list the places she’d take him the next time they went out. She was so eager about the whole idea, as if she was the one being taken on an adventure instead of him.
When they reached the outside of the private dorm room that Eliott was staying in, she turned to him with a wide smile. “Oh, and the museum! It won’t be as fancy as the one you’re used to, but I think you’ll be pretty impressed.”
He smiled and nodded; an inexplicable fluttering in his chest. “Yes! Uh, yes; of course. That sounds fun. I would love to spend the day with you again.”
She blushed a pretty pink and ducked her head. When she looked back up, her smile was small and secret.
“Awesome. So, I’ll see you tomorrow then?”
Eliott thought that Felicia abandoning him had felt like the worst blow at the time. Now, he wished he could get a hold of her, just to send her his thanks. “Tomorrow it is.”