TTFN (14 page)

zoegirl:

three finals down, two to go!

SnowAngel:

zoegirl:

i hear you. it's like, yay that we're over half done, but the pressure's still on.

zoegirl:

i've been mowing my way through my mongo bag of snack-size snickers, which i convinced my mom i have to have in order to study. i don't know how it started, but now every year at exam time she stocks up on snickers and coke.

SnowAngel:

while my mom, on the other hand, asks questions like, “have u cleaned out your closet yet? the moving truck will be here tomorrow afternoon, u know.”

zoegirl:

do you have to be there for that? because maddie and i want to take you out, since it's your … you know.

SnowAngel:

since it's my last night in atlanta?

zoegirl:

yeah. we want to spend every minute we can with you.

SnowAngel:

at least someone does.

SnowAngel:

other than you two, do you know that hardly ANYONE has acted the slightest bit devastated that i'm moving? they act sad for like a second, and then they're all, “omg, have u finished your take-home yet? have u memorized the formulas for chemistry?”

zoegirl:

people just don't know how to handle it, angela. everyone hates it that you're leaving.

SnowAngel:

it's like when u get a haircut and u go to school all self-conscious and waiting for ppl to comment on it, and then no one notices at all. that's what it's gonna be like when i'm gone.

zoegirl:

not for us, angela

zoegirl:

you will leave a hole the size of france.

SnowAngel:

me again. my mom says it's fine if i go out with u guys tomorrow night. she said she already assumed that's what i'd be doing.

zoegirl:

good!

SnowAngel:

i can stay out as late as i want, which i guess is nice of her.

SnowAngel:

but it's not enough.

zoegirl:

no, it's not.

SnowAngel:

mad maddie:

we're done!

zoegirl:

yay!!!

mad maddie:

do u have the candles & food & quilt?

zoegirl:

i do. do you have the pictures?

mad maddie:

yes ma'am, in my backpack.

zoegirl:

she's going to cry, you know. we all are.

mad maddie:

NO WE'RE NOT. c ya at collier park!

mad maddie:

woot! woot!

SnowAngel:

oh god, i JUST turned my paper in. i'm the last person left in the room.

mad maddie:

meet me at back parking lot!

SnowAngel:

YEAH!!!

zoegirl:

omigosh, maddie.

mad maddie:

i know

zoegirl:

she's *gone*. she's really gone.

mad maddie:

do u have to say it like that?

zoegirl:

but it's the truth. as of exactly one hour ago, angela doesn't live here anymore.

mad maddie:

i don't know how to

mad maddie:

i feel so

zoegirl:

wrong?

mad maddie:

yeah

mad maddie:

w/o her, everything feels wrong

SnowAngel:

well, here i am in crudballs california. i cldn't txt before now cuz stupid me cldn't find stupid charger and … yeah.

SnowAngel:

r u there, zo?

SnowAngel:

ohhhhh. it's, what, after midnight there? so yr probably in bed, while here i am, not even in the same TIME ZONE as u anymore!

SnowAngel:

i hate this so much, zo.

SnowAngel:

and guess what? my bracelet broke. i snagged it on the corner of the ticket counter at the airport, and the leather snapped and the silver part flew off and i couldn't find it anywhere and now it's ruined, just like my whole entire life.

SnowAngel:

so just in case u were wondering, let me enlighten u:

SnowAngel:

i

SnowAngel:

don't

SnowAngel:

b

SnowAngel:

lieve

SnowAngel:

maddie?

SnowAngel:

oh, ma-a-a-a-ddie!

SnowAngel:

great, even UR asleep.

SnowAngel:

i lost my “believe” bracelet. ask zoe, she'll tell u what happened.

SnowAngel:

i want it back, mads.

SnowAngel:

i want my life back.

SnowAngel:

god, i feel so alone.

zoegirl:

hey, mads. i talked to angela this morning. she's incredibly sad, big surprise.

mad maddie:

fill me in

zoegirl:

she hates her apartment, for one thing. and she hates el cerrito.

zoegirl:

it's so weird imagining her in a brand-new place. i keep telling myself it's true, but it doesn't *feel* true.

mad maddie:

i know what u mean. i drove by her house yesterday, even tho i know i shouldn't have. it looked so … empty.

zoegirl:

i bet

zoegirl:

she told me again how much she loved our moonlight picnic, though. and the photo album. she said looking at it is the only thing keeping her sane.

mad maddie:

that was a good time

zoegirl:

i don't know if i'd say it was a “good” time, but i know what you mean.

zoegirl:

i told you we'd be sobbing, though. even u, miss i'm-so-tough-maddie. sometimes i think you're the biggest softie of us all.

mad maddie:

oh please

zoegirl:

in a good way!

mad maddie:

ok, well, enough of this drama, cuz i'm off to meet chive. wanna come?

zoegirl:

no thanks. i guess i feel more like being alone.

mad maddie:

u deal with things your way, i'll deal with them mine.

mad maddie:

laters!

SnowAngel:

maddie maddie maddie! hey, maddie!

mad maddie:

a-boogie! wassup?

SnowAngel:

FINALLY! omg, i've been trying to reach u forever!

SnowAngel:

u haven't been avoiding me, have u?

mad maddie:

WHAT?

SnowAngel:

u haven't texted me, and u haven't returned my calls. i thought maybe u were sick of me cuz i'm such a downer all the time

mad maddie:

don't be crazy—i've just been busy.

mad maddie:

so what's new in el cerrito?

SnowAngel:

my pillow got lost in the move. isn't that just dandy? the movers arrived this morning, and my pillow wasn't in the truck!

mad maddie:

that high-tech squishy pillow from the sleep store?

SnowAngel:

it's the only good pillow i've ever had in my life. now i have to use this crap pillow that mom ran out and bought me at some crap store, and it's one more thing in my life that utterly sucks. it's thoroughly and wrongly fluffy, and i'm never gonna be able to sleep again, i just know it. i tried it out on my bed, and i can hear my pulse thru it!

mad maddie:

wtf?

SnowAngel:

it presses on my neck wrong. it jams up against my carotid artery or whatever the hell it's called, and it makes my pulse ring in my brain. thump! thump! thump! that's all i can hear!

mad maddie:

ur losing it, lady

mad maddie:

repeat after me, “it is good to have a heartbeat.”

SnowAngel:

not if u have to HEAR it all the time. i HATE hearing my pulse!

mad maddie:

so sleep on your back!

SnowAngel:

i can't sleep on my back. i can only sleep on my side.

SnowAngel:

r u purposefully trying to upset me?

mad maddie:

er, i don't wanna name names, but someone is freaking …

SnowAngel:

*folds arms over chest* zoe would understand.

mad maddie:

one sec, something just came on tv that i wanna watch

SnowAngel:

ur watching tv while i pour my heart out? tv's more important than ME?

SnowAngel:

maddie?

SnowAngel:

maddie!!!

mad maddie:

good god, i just saw THE most horrifying newsclip. u can catch on fire at the gas station if u touch the gas pump with too much static electricity—did u know that? they showed this girl putting the nozzle in her gas tank thingie, and then she got back in her car while it was pumping. she was wearing a sweater, and apparently it rubbed against the seat and got her all staticky. she went back to grab the pump … and KAPOW! she burst into flames!

SnowAngel:

is this supposed to cheer me up? “sorry u lost your pillow, but at least u avoided self-immolation”?

mad maddie:

sweater girl survived, but the news guy said that other people have actually died.

mad maddie:

damn.

mad maddie:

u be careful, u hear?

SnowAngel:

why do i need to be careful? i don't even have a car. i wanted a car, but instead i got to move to california, remember?

mad maddie:

well, when and if u DO get a car, don't get back in it while ur in the middle of pumping gas. and touch the side of the car before u grab the gas pump again. that way the static electricity will flow out of u.

SnowAngel:

thanks for the tip *regards friend sourly*

SnowAngel:

do u have anything else to say?

mad maddie:

umm … don't wear fluffy sweaters when u go to the gas station?

SnowAngel:

gbye, maddie!!!