Creatura by Nely Cab

tell her the truth.
    “At the city library. I went there after I came home from school.”
    “What were you doing at the library if you were feeling dizzy? We don’t even have any projects due.”
    Nothing got past Andy. How was I going to get myself out of this one?
    “The dizziness had passed already. I was fine. I wanted to check out a book, you know, to have something to do for the rest of the day.”
    “Oh,” Andy sounded satisfied with my explanation. “So who’s this guy?”
    “He’s new in town; a senior at our school. His family bought The Ebony Estate.”
    “WHAT?!” Andy jumped off the bed.
    “Calm down. He’s very down to earth.” Not.
    “Is he cute?”
    “He’s quite… uh… handsome,” I said nodding slowly with one brow raised.
    “Oooo, someone has a crush,” Andy giggled, pointing at me.
    “I do not,” I said defensively.
    “Then why bring up the subject of the new, ridiculously gorgeous, rich guy in town? Hmm?”
    I rolled my eyes. “He doesn’t have any friends. I thought he could hang out with us until he made some.”
    “We’re doing social work now?”
    “It’s called being hospitable.” I used David’s word.
    “Whatever.” Andy raised her hands. “He’d just better not be a total douche.”
    “That’s not nice, Andy,” I gave her a slight scornful look. “He’s really nice.”
    “Fine,” Andy shrugged.
    Andy left later in the afternoon leaving me with nothing to do. I kept myself entertained by listening to music on my IPod. That grew old after about half an hour. My mother was still not back from her shopping excursion, so I popped a DVD disc into my computer and nestled myself into bed. Half way into the movie, I heard the front door slam. I paused the video and jumped out of bed.
    “What’d you get?” I said helping Claire with some of her bags.
    “Just a few things: blouses, skirts… office clothes.”
    “Can I see?” I said laying the shopping bags on her bed. I didn’t wait for her to answer. I started pulling clothes out from the bags and displaying them on the bed.
    “ What is this ?” I was shocked. “Mom, Grandma Eva has sexier clothes than this. I’m never letting you go shopping on your own again.”
    Claire had bought herself the most conservative clothing I had ever seen. She was going to look like a nun; dark colors, no contours—most of it had to go back, if I had my say in it.
    “What do you mean return it, Isis? I got good deals on this stuff. It suits me just fine.”
    “Well, to each their own,” I said wrinkling my nose. “By the way, long polyester skirts went out of style a few decades ago. Didn’t Cosmo teach you anything?”
    “I’ll return the skirt, but I’m keeping the rest of the stuff.”
    “Whatever. I’m not the one dating my boss.”
    Claire gave me a rude stare.
    “Fine. I’ll return it all, but you’re coming with me,” she threatened.
    We gathered all the clothes and drove to the mall. We spent the late afternoon and part of the evening shopping for tasteful clothes my mom could wear. Why she didn’t have any fashion sense was beyond me. After shopping, we took in a movie and dinner at a sit down restaurant near the shopping center.
    At home, we watched T.V. for about an hour. Claire fell asleep on the sofa as usual. I woke her so that she would find her way to her bed. I settled in my own bed with my journal, but couldn’t think of anything to write.
    I wondered why David hadn’t called being as he had said he wouldn’t let me out of his sight. Maybe the argument with his mother had made him change his mind about studying me. Whatever the case, I was sure I’d see him on Monday at school.
    I decided I should stop thinking about him before it became a habit. I put my thoughts to rest and fell sleep.
     
    The sound of my phone ringing made me sit up on my bed. I reached for it and answered in a voice that closely resembled Elmer Fudd’s.
    “Hello?” I hoarsely mumbled.
    “Good morning, my