Calling Maggie May by Anonymous

you’re in trouble, I want to help. Whatever it is. Like you said, we need to look out for each other.”
    Ada didn’t answer a moment as she weighed this over. “I did say that, didn’t I?” she said at last. She took a breath. “Okay, then, if you’re sure. Meet me at the pickup spot. I’ll explain in the car.”

Fri, Dec 12
    Wow. I have so much to tell. I’m not sure how to put it all in words. And some stuff I’m not sure I want in words. . . .
    But what does it matter? I had fun.
    I can’t believe I gave up so easily before. Maybe I just need to stick close to Ada. . . . She’s my lucky four-leaf clover in all this. I wish she ran this business instead of Miss Irma. Then it would all seem like no big deal.
    But I’m getting ahead of myself, and I do want to get all this down.
    I met Irma’s car outside the school and slid in next to Ada. She looked stunning as always in a charcoal dress with red detailing, which somehow made my patterned top and skinny jeans seem plain and boring. Ada explained then what the favor was about: A client wanted two girls at once.
    I breathed a huge sigh of relief when she told me that, which I think surprised Ada. I guess she expected me to be shocked, and . . . Well, okay, it is a little weird. It’s not exactly something I ever pictured myself doing. But when she told me she needed a favor, I figured it must have something to do with Miss Irma, and I assumed she double-booked again or something. So I thought I was going to have to do another date on my own, which made me really anxious. I mean, I’d do anything to help out Ada, but I really wasn’t excited about that.
    So when she told me what she needed and I realized that she’d be by my side and I didn’t have to go into this alone . . . That was just so much better than what I’d been picturing. I was still nervous, but I felt like nothing that bad could happen as long as Ada was there.
    Turns out Miss Irma had set up the date for Ada and another girl, Jen, who Ada’s friends with, but Jen couldn’t do it today. I wanted to know why, and at first Ada tried to be vague, but then she stopped herself.
    â€œNo, you know what?” she said, almost to herself. “Youshould know what happened to Jen. I want you to know.” She turned and looked at me very seriously, her eyes dark and stormy. “Jen has a drug problem. She was doing smack last night even though she knew she was working today and knew I’d be furious with her. And I am. Not about the work, though.” She sighed. “It’s only because I worry.” Ada paused a moment to collect herself, then went on.
    â€œShe was strung out this morning and could barely stay awake. Then her asshole roommate convinced her that the best way to deal with this problem was to snort a bunch of Ritalin. Jen should know better, given what happened to Ella last year. . . .”
    Ada shook her head in sorrow and disbelief, but all these people were little more than names to me. Suddenly, she grabbed my hand, and the grip in those bony fingers was surprisingly tight and forceful.
    â€œYou have to promise me,” she said. “I mean it. Never get mixed up in that stuff, okay? Don’t kid yourself that you can handle it. It will destroy you. You have to keep your head about you in this business or it will eat you up.”
    None of this meant much to me. The closest I ever came to drugs was when my parents let me have a sip of champagne at a cousin’s wedding, or the day they legalized marijuana here and I smelled something weird and pungent when I walked near thepark on my way home from the bus stop. That world didn’t seem to have much to do with me. But I tried to return her serious look while I nodded.
    Ada explained then that since Jen was out of commission, Miss Irma was going to find someone else to go, but Ada