TTFN (9 page)

SnowAngel:

hey, zo-ster. i saw u talking to doug today. r u guys becoming better friends?

zoegirl:

i guess so, yeah

zoegirl:

at work on saturday, this one little girl kept hugging him and telling him she loved him. it was so cute.

SnowAngel:

doug IS pretty lovable, i must admit. sometimes i think, “why in the world don't i just decide to like him?” in some ways it would be so easy—and i know he'd make the perfect boyfriend.

zoegirl:

except i don't think a person just “decides” things like that.

zoegirl:

anyway, there's the small and horrible fact that you're moving to california …

SnowAngel:

but maybe if i had a boyfriend, that would make it better. like, he could pine for me and send me flowers.

zoegirl:

*i'll* pine for u, angela. i'll pine for u like crazy!

SnowAngel:

i know, i know. just …

zoegirl:

just what?

SnowAngel:

well, u pining for me is good. i thoroughly expect absurd amounts of pining. but do me a favor and don't pine for anyone else, ok?

zoegirl:

huh?

SnowAngel:

doug, i mean. as in u and doug.

zoegirl:

you're telling me not to pine for doug???

zoegirl:

where in the world did *this* come from?

SnowAngel:

omg, it's insane, isn't it? it's just that i saw the way he was looking at u in the hall today, and i got this very weird feeling about it.

zoegirl:

what do u mean, the way he was looking at me? do u think maybe …?

zoegirl:

never mind

SnowAngel:

oh, zoe, forget i said anything. i'm just fragile cuz of everything that's going on with me. it's like, i can't handle any more rejection!

zoegirl:

but angela, you've never been the slightest bit interested in doug. anyway, you had your chance with him last year.

SnowAngel:

but he wasn't as cute back then

zoegirl:

anyway, even if i *did* like doug—not that i do, because like you said that's insane—but in what way would that equal rejection?

SnowAngel:

like i said, forget it

SnowAngel:

i'm gonna go before i say anything else stupid. bye!

SnowAngel:

maddie, a realtor came to our house today.

mad maddie:

oh god. what'd she say?

SnowAngel:

that our house is lovely. i hate her.

SnowAngel:

she's gonna send over a “stager” to put in fake plants and stuff, and we're supposed to pop popcorn before any showings so that the house will smell buttery.

mad maddie:

man, that's nuts

SnowAngel:

she also said that altho sales are usually slow in the winter, there's a small peak in december. i wanted to stab her eyeballs.

mad maddie:

well … maybe there won't be a peak in december. try not to think about it.

SnowAngel:

maddie, my dad flies out TOMORROW. how am i supposed to not think about it?

SnowAngel:

i'm so furious at him, but at the same time i don't want him to leave.

mad maddie:

he is a very bad man. i'm furious at him too.

SnowAngel:

i'm exhausted. i wanna talk more, but first i wanna lie down. power nap. i'll call you in a while!

SnowAngel:

my dad's officially in california. tonight he'll sleep in the new apartment, and tomorrow he'll wake up and drive on new streets to get to his new job. how wrong is that?

zoegirl:

i'm so sorry, angela. i know how you must feel.

SnowAngel:

no u don't. u would never be in this situation, cuz your dad's, like, the CEO of his company. he's the one who would be doing the firing, not the one who would ever get fired.

zoegirl:

well, he *could* get fired if the stockholders voted him out.

SnowAngel:

yeah, fat chance

zoegirl:

angela … what's going on? do you *want* my dad to get fired?

SnowAngel:

aaargh *bonks head on desk*

SnowAngel:

no, i don't want your dad to get fired. but i don't wanna move, either. i told mom that i'd rather live in a box outside the mall. i told her i wanna stay here and live with my aunt sadie.

zoegirl:

that's a brilliant idea! could you do that—you know, for real?

SnowAngel:

mom wouldn't even consider it. she was just, “angela, don't be silly.”

zoegirl:

that sucks

SnowAngel:

i know, especially since aunt sadie's the only person in my family who's been the least bit supportive thru all this. i talked to her tonight, and she was like, “don't tell your mom, but i think it's too bad jeff took that job without even considering the other options. a girl shouldn't be uprooted from her friends during her junior year of high school.”

zoegirl:

so so so so true

SnowAngel:

yeah

SnowAngel:

that's all i wanted to say, really.

SnowAngel:

maddie, i've got something terrible to confess. i went shopping today cuz i was super depressed, and—er—i seem to have bought a shirt-on-shirt. please don't hate me!

mad maddie:

huh?

SnowAngel:

it's sooooo tacky, i know. *ducks for cover*

mad maddie:

what, pray tell, is a shirt-on-shirt?

SnowAngel:

it's … u know, a long-sleeve shirt with a short-sleeve shirt on top of it, only the long-sleeve shirt is a fake-out, cuz except for the sleeves and collar it doesn't really exist. it's the layered look, so i can look slouchy-cool w/o half-trying.

mad maddie:

oh, angela, no.

SnowAngel:

but it's really really cute! the long-sleeve part is white and the short-sleeve part is baby blue to match my eyes.

mad maddie:

next thing u know, ur gonna be buying fake vintage t-shirts from old navy. ppl will say, “ooo, where'd u get that great shirt? have u really been to bob's hawaiian luau?” and u'll blush and stammer and say, “uh, no, i found it at a thrift
store,” which will be such a lie! UR LIVING A LIE, ANGELA SILVER!!!

SnowAngel:

well, it's my aunt sadie's fault. she's the one who whisked me off to the mall. she said i needed some good old-fashioned girl time.

mad maddie:

that's nice, altho it's a little unnerving that your aunt sadie considers herself a “girl.”

SnowAngel:

as opposed to what, a man?

mad maddie:

as opposed to a WOMAN. as in, a grown-up adult-acting person our parents' age. not that u'd know it to look at her.

SnowAngel:

i know—isn't she adorable? she shops in Gap Kids cuz the jeans there r cheaper, and she's tiny enough that she can get away with it. i wanna be just like her when i grow up.

mad maddie:

or when u fail to grow up, as the case may be. lemme guess: your aunt played hooky from work to take u shopping.

mad maddie:

did i nail it?

SnowAngel:

maybe

mad maddie:

and did she have all sorts of funky barrettes jammed in her hair? and was she wearing her hipster shoes with the mile-high platforms?

SnowAngel:

so? what would u recommend—turning all matronly and wearing rubber-soled orthopedic loafers? *shudders*

mad maddie:

i'm just giving u a hard time. u know i think your aunt sadie is cool.

SnowAngel:

we had so much fun at Claire's, trying on all the tacky jewelry. i bought a sparkly dragonfly pin to go with my shirt-on-shirt.

mad maddie:

well, aren't u clever

SnowAngel:

why, yes i am

SnowAngel:

hey, i'm gonna rewatch season one of “orange is
the new black” since it's about prison and since i'm … well … you know. wanna come watch?

mad maddie:

oh, that reminds me. chive posted something funny on his blog. hold on and i'll copy it so u can c …

SnowAngel:

chive has a blog?

mad maddie:

a deadjournal, yeah

SnowAngel:

what's a deadjournal?

mad maddie:

it's like a livejournal, only better. instead of having “friends,” u have “fiends,” and your blog's called your grave. the whole site is called the cemetery.

SnowAngel:

sounds goth

mad maddie:

nah, just antiestablishment

mad maddie:

here's his post. it's not about “orange is the new black.” it's about reality shows. but it's still funny:

 

Hey, I know. Let's take a group of twenty-something “actors” and let them pretend to live their lives as if they don't know they're being filmed. Fake-boobed Jersey girl gets punched in face? Check. Famous “model” throws a tantrum in small room crammed with a dozen other famous “models”? Check. “Hunky” bachelor falls in love with not one but TWO lovely ladies? Check.

 

But so what? It's all in the name of “fun”!

SnowAngel:

why is he so obsessed with putting things in “quotes”?

SnowAngel:

anyway, how does “chive” know so much about reality shows if he doesn't watch them?

mad maddie:

i know, that's what's so funny. chive LOVES reality shows—he just rags on them for the hell of it. in fact he thinks u should move to orange county instead of el cerrito. then you cld be a “TV STAR”!

SnowAngel:

um. okay.

SnowAngel:

i'll run away and live in an alley on hollywood blvd.

mad maddie:

u, run away? and be separated from your straightening iron?

SnowAngel:

i could stash my straightening iron in my backpack. public bathrooms have electrical outlets, u know.

mad maddie:

no they don't

SnowAngel:

yes they do

mad maddie:

no, angela, they don't. trust me.

SnowAngel:

well … then i'd find a library and do my hair there. there are definitely outlets in libraries, cuz ppl use their laptops there.

mad maddie:

i can c it now. to the right are the studious computer folk, working hard on their papers, and to the left is angela, plunked down on the floor and straightening her hair.

SnowAngel:

and the problem is …?

mad maddie:

sorry, darlin, u wouldn't last a minute as a runaway.

SnowAngel:

*sticks out tongue*

SnowAngel:

so r u gonna come watch with me or not?

mad maddie:

i can't—i told chive i'd hang with him. we're gonna watch “doctor who” and down a shot every time someone says “the doctor.”

mad maddie:

but tell those prison hotties hi for me!