Maria

Cat leans her head against my shoulder, as we curl up under the blankets on her comfy couch. We're searching through Netflix looking for something to watch, except Cat keeps on looking down. She is fiddling with her honey blonde hair, tracing her other hand over the pillow she holds in her hand. 

As we pass by some movies, Cat's face lights up as she sees Tall Girl.

"I heard that one's really crappy, let's watch it!" Cat says in glee, flashing me a bright smile. 

"But...it's crappy?" Cat just shrugs. I roll my eyes, still flicking through movies. 

"Do you have Hulu?" I ask, looking down at Cat. Her pale skin is barely seen through the blankets, pillows, and her own hair. 

Cat nods yes, and I hand her the remote as she gets me onto Hulu. 

"Have you ever considered cutting your hair?" I say, putting a piece of hair behind her ear. Cat just shrugs.

"When I was little I wanted to be like Rapunzel. I used to play with Masha, and she would be Mother Gothel. Her hair has never grown past her shoulders." Cat says, again playing with her hair. After a few moments of Maria's scrolling, a phone dings. 

"Oh - that's me!" Cat exclaims, grabbing her phone from the glass coffee table in front of her. It has a pastel green case, and a few worn stickers of hearts, some it appears Cat made herself. Cat opens her phone, and the text is from Alex. I start to spy on what she's typing. 

"Maria, Alex is trying to get me and Betsey to talk. What should I do?" Cat is looking nervously down at her phone. 

"Say...say something like 'Sorry, I don't feel I'm in a position to discuss matters of that anture with you right now.' Alexander will just keep trying, though. He's non-stop." I take out my own phone. 

"In the meantime, we can plan a party." I give Cat a mischievous grin, and she stares at me for a few seconds, before hitting send. 

~~~

Kitty

 I accompany Maria in her many party-planning duties, which are much harder to host than the formal dinners I help host with my mother. Instead, it is calling up friends, and slyly mentioning a party, rather than sending out invitations. 

Maria, right now, is arguing with her boyfriend in his car. I'm on her porch, with its rickety wooden chair and chain-link fence. The outside of the house implies a shoddy structure, and the lawn with barely any living grass is a sign that Maria, as well as the rest of her family, is poor. 

"Asshole!" Maria shouts, as she leaps out of the car. As James speeds away, she throws her shoe at the car, missing it by a few feet. 

I run to her. I berate her with assurances and  the fact that, no, this doesn't mean she can't go anywhere. I tell her my mother can driver us places, that sometimes the person you're dating...isn't the best.

I cannot shake the fact Maria is crying more so out of a lack of travel than anything else. 

"Maria...shh, shh, it'll be okay," I hug her close to me, feeling her curly black hair against my fingers. We sit like this for awhile, her just sobbing into my shoulder. I can't believe her boyfriend - that Reynolds guy - could just treat her like that!

"Would you like go inside your house, or back to my house?" I ask her, still holding her in my arms. In typical movie fashion, it begins to rain. I can feel Maria's hand clenching my bare arm, as she looks up at me. 

"Y-your house," she mumbles. 

"I-i'll call my - oh, no, hmm..." It occurs to me all my rides have been from Eliza's mom, also Kitty, or Reynolds, or my mother. The latter is out of town, the former would be all too awkward, and Reynolds is, to quote Maria, an 'asshole' so no. 

"My sister!" I exclaim, whipping out my phone and calling Mary. "My older sister, a freshman in college, lives a few minutes away," I say to Maria, as my sister picks up.

"Kitty?" a soft voice answers. "It's 10 pm.." 

"I was just wondering if you could pick me up, and my friend," My sister just groans. I could see her roll her eyes just through the speaker.

"You owe me, Masha!" I command, and I can hear rustling in the background. I tell her the address, and she says 'see you,' and hangs up.

A few minutes later, I see Mary's signature white Prius in the distance. 

~~~

"So, why are you out so late? This neighborhood is dangerous." Mary looks at me sternly through the mirror. I just shrug.

"Party planning..." I murmur. Mary perks up. 

"Oh, like for Halloween? I was always the organizer for parties, you know, before I graduated." She says, as if high school was a memory long forgotten. 

"And who is this? I thought you were besties with Betsey...ooh! That rhymes!" Mary and I have not talked for a month or so, and I guess I forgot to tell her.

"This is Maria, her boyfriend broke up with her. We're having a sleepover at my house!" I grin, and Maria looks over at me.

"What?" She whisper-yells. "It's 10pm!" I whisper-yell back.

"You know it's so tough when someone breaks up with you. I'm terribly sorry," Mary pouts her lips. Maria's red crop top and large overcoat cannot hide her body language: she is awkward.

"Oh, we're here!" I exclaim. I tap on the window, and Mary waves as we hop out of the car. Maria links her arm with mine as we walk up the steps to my front door. I unlock the house, and the TV is still on. 

"I'm gonna go upstairs to change into some pajamas, you can borrow some of mine." I climb up the stairs, tracing my fingers over the railing. Maria hangs up her black overcoat on the coat rack and follows me up. My door is the farthest down the hallway, and is the smallest bedroom in the whole house!

As we walk into my bedroom, I flop onto the bed. My walls are decorated with posters and my desk and drawers are scattered with trinkets: a bobble-head here, a snow-globe there. My desk houses my laptop and sketchbooks, and the room is lit up with fairy lights. 

"Okay, so these are my pajamas, choose one set!" I say, opening my drawer. Most of them are pastel, and Maria just picks out some simple black ones. I take out my pastel green loose shirt and baggy pants. 

I begin to change and Maria quickly turns beet red. She scurries into my bathroom, and shuts the door. Odd.

After changing, I knock on the bathroom door. 

"You okay in there?" I say, and Maria just lets out a "Still changing!" She opens up the bathroom door after a few seconds. 

"Let's watch some movies, I have some Halloween ones somewhere..." I search through my bookshelf, the bottom shelf is reserved for movies. 

"Maybe we should just watch something on Hulu..." Maria mumbles, and she sits down on my bed. 

"Okay!" I sit next to her, sitting cross-legged. 

My story almost has 1k reads on here, I'm so excited! This chapter was longer than expected, as well as the wait!

Anyways, thanks you guys! I hope you like the new chapter :)