TTFN (15 page)

zoegirl:

hey, angela. is it too early for me to be texting? i can never remember the time difference.

zoegirl:

angela?

zoegirl:

okay, guess that's a yes. but i just wanted to tell u that i mailed you a present today—snail mail! old-school!—so you should get it soon, hopefully by christmas eve.

zoegirl:

i love you, angela! text me!!!

SnowAngel:

hey, zo. sorry i missed u yesterday—i was sleeping in. it's like all i do is sleep these days, and i'm STILL tired.

zoegirl:

that's okay. i would have called u back last night, but i picked up a shift at Kidding Around.

SnowAngel:

was doug there?

zoegirl:

he was, yeah

SnowAngel:

i had a dream about him, isn't that weird? it was actually about BOTH of u. u had dyed your hair blond to impress him.

SnowAngel:

which leads me to ask: u haven't started liking him, have u?

zoegirl:

*angela*

SnowAngel:

i'm sorry, i'm sorry *grimaces*

SnowAngel:

why am i so needy? is it just cuz i'm stuck 3,000 miles away from u guys, and i feel like everything's being torn apart?

zoegirl:

you're being silly. nothing's being torn apart.

SnowAngel:

i hope not

SnowAngel:

so have i mentioned that life sucks? i told mom AGAIN that i wanna move back to atlanta and live with my aunt sadie, but she was like, “u haven't given california a chance. ur gonna love it, u'll see.”

zoegirl:

maybe you will. i can see you as a california girl, all tan and beautiful. hey—maybe you'll learn to surf!

SnowAngel:

???

SnowAngel:

seriously?

zoegirl:

sorry. just trying to be optimistic.

SnowAngel:

u know what i miss that i didn't even realize i was gonna miss? magnolia trees. i never knew how much i loved them until i moved here.

SnowAngel:

it is a barren wasteland of sadness. that is where i live now. *single tear*

zoegirl:

i love magnolia trees too

SnowAngel:

plus i HATE our apartment. i still have boxes all over my room. isn't that depressing? it's like i can't bear to make myself unpack.

zoegirl:

sorry you hate it, but describe it anyway so i can see you in my mind.

SnowAngel:

it's tiny. it's beige. there's wallpaper in my room with stupid rosebuds on it, and i can hear traffic thru my window. mom says rentals here r super-expensive and we're lucky dad found a three-bedroom place, but i disagree.

zoegirl:

have you met anybody else in the apartment complex?

SnowAngel:

no, and i don't want to. the family below us has a kid, but she's five. she speaks korean.

zoegirl:

she's five years old and she speaks korean? impressive.

SnowAngel:

no, i meant she speaks korean cuz she IS korean.

zoegirl:

oh

zoegirl:

well …

SnowAngel:

yes, zoe? if u can put a positive spin on my sucky life, then believe me, i wanna hear it.

zoegirl:

um … at least it's almost christmas?

SnowAngel:

at least it's almost christmas. *sigh*

mad maddie:

dude! chive gave me a nickel bag of pot to celebrate the birth of christ. isn't that righteous?

SnowAngel:

what a guy

SnowAngel:

but don't u think that's sacrilegious?

mad maddie:

i gave him a cool marble pipe i bought at the head store in little five points. oh, and i made him a fantastic playlist that for the record was way more complicated to make than it shld have been. why does iTunes make it so hard to gift playlists instead of individual songs???

mad maddie:

we're gonna make use of it all tomorrow night—if i can escape the fam.

SnowAngel:

maddie, tomorrow's christmas eve. u can't smoke pot on christmas eve!

mad maddie:

why not? the three wise men followed a frickin STAR all the way to Bethlehem. ur telling me they weren't under the influence of a certain illegal substance?

SnowAngel:

tsk, tsk

SnowAngel:

i think u need to start going to church with zoe, young lady!

mad maddie:

yeah, that'll happen

SnowAngel:

does this mean u've learned how to smoke it in a way that doesn't hurt?

mad maddie:

i wouldn't say that, exactly. that's why i bought the pipe—it's supposed to make it a smoother ride. but anything'll get better the more u do it, right?

SnowAngel:

uh, i guess

mad maddie:

it's bound to

mad maddie:

btw, chive says u can score some really good pot in california, so keep your eye out for me.

SnowAngel:

yeah, that's what i need, to get busted for drugs on top of everything else.

mad maddie:

whine, whine, whine. nobody actually gets busted for buying pot. you only get hassled if ur a big-time cocaine dealer or something.

SnowAngel:

omg, u haven't tried COCAINE, have u?

mad maddie:

angela, chill. pot is my drug of choice, thank u very much.

mad maddie:

so check it out: i bought your christmas present, and you are going to LOVE it. wanna know what it is?

SnowAngel:

a totally rockin marble pipe?

mad maddie:

haha. no, microwavable slippers.

SnowAngel:

aw, maddie, thanks!

SnowAngel:

and what, exactly, will i do with these microwavable slippers?

mad maddie:

microwave them, of course! the bottoms have these pouches of rice or beans or something in them, and when u microwave them, they get roasty-toasty. they're for cold feet, u goof.

SnowAngel:

ooo, they sound wonderful. it gets really chilly here at night, like unbelievably so. and our apartment is always freezing.

mad maddie:

i'll put them in the mail tomorrow—that is, unless i don't. but i'll mail them soon, i promise.

SnowAngel:

no rush. i haven't even picked out anything for u or zoe.

mad maddie:

so what's up with zoe these days? i haven't seen her all vacation.

SnowAngel:

why not?

mad maddie:

dunno, just haven't. it's not for any BAD reason.

SnowAngel:

well, she's fine as far as i know. she's working a lot, it sounds like.

SnowAngel:

with doug

mad maddie:

why do u say it like that, “with doug”?

SnowAngel:

i dunno. i can't get him out of my mind.

SnowAngel:

u don't think there's anything going on between him and zoe, do u?

mad maddie:

did zoe say there was?

SnowAngel:

no, of course not. i'm just being silly.

mad maddie:

listen, i've g2g. i've gotta stash my pot somewhere so the moms won't find it. i'm thinking the box from the set of “thank u” notes u gave me when we were thirteen. perfect, yeah?

SnowAngel:

gee, i'm touched

mad maddie:

why did u give those to me, anyway? i mean, c'mon. thank u notes?

SnowAngel:

i don't know, cuz they were cute. they were decorated with strawberries.

SnowAngel:

do you have any left?

mad maddie:

i have every single one of them left, and u know why? cuz they're cute and they're decorated with strawberries, fool.

mad maddie:

but the box makes a PERFECT hiding spot for my pot.

SnowAngel:

cute little strawberries, cute little baggie of pot …

mad maddie:

organic! yeah!