Lonely Hearts Club

Keeping Tabs

"Kathy Bates is so fucking scary," Maggie commented, shoving a fistful of popcorn in her mouth. I flicked her ear, and she glared at me. "What?"

"Language, Mags," I snapped. She rolled her eyes.

"You curse all of the time," she complained. I took a handful of popcorn from the bowl in her lap.

"Yes, but I'm an adult," I quipped.

"I'm basically an adult," she retorted. I smiled at her.

"Well, you can start helping pay for rent then, Ms. Adult," I teased. She sighed, shaking her head.

"Sometimes I wish you weren't so lame," she replied, making me laugh. I ruffled her hair, making her smile. "So, where were you today?"

I felt my stomach drop, and kept my eyes trained on the screen, desperate not to give anything away.

"Just went to the shop to check on Will and then the video store," I half-lied. I refused to look at her.

"Oh, cool," she replied absentmindedly. "Without your van?"

Shit.

"Yeah – I wanted to walk," I fully-lied. I looked at her, grinning, trying to shift her focus. I nudged her shoulder. "Keeping tabs on your big brother?"

She smiled back and shrugged.

"I don't know – you've been all weird and squirrelly lately," she explained. I flushed and tried to keep a straight face.

"What do you mean?" I asked, keeping my tone even.

"You've just been weird and secretive. Like you're sneaking something around," she replied. She smiled and leaned into me. "You don't have a secret girlfriend or something, right?"

I laughed awkwardly and shook my head.

"No, no – no girlfriend," I said. This was the truth – while I may be taking Dolly to breakfast, that didn't mean she was my girlfriend. I would like her to be. Was that too fast? I've known her for a while, and she did spend the night in my bed. Maybe we could go back to her place after breakfast and spend some time in her bed. That would be nice.

"Earth to Eddie," Mags snapped, waving her hand in my face. I blinked hard and smiled nervously.

"Sorry – spaced out," I said. I nodded at the screen. "Quit worrying about me and focus on the movie."

"Okay, weirdo," she replied, crossing her arms and turning back to the TV. I let out a sigh, relieved I was able to get her off the scent.

We finished the movie, Maggie cheering when Paul killed Annie. I stood, stretching my arms. I ruffled Maggie's hair as I walked by.

"Night, kid," I said, smiling at her. "Don't stay up too late."

"Night – go call your secret girlfriend," she remarked. I felt my face flush and quickly went to my bedroom, trying not to draw attention to myself.

I closed the door, sighing as I started to get my pajamas together. I changed quickly and went to my bathroom to brush my teeth. I glanced up in the mirror, noticing the phone on my nightstand. Maggie's words rang around in my head as I spat the toothpaste out. I padded back to my room and sat on my bed, staring at the phone. I took a deep breath and picked the phone up to dial Dolly's number. I bounced my leg as it rang, nervous she would ignore my call.

"Hello!" she chirped into the phone, making me smile.

"I just wanted to call to say goodnight," I lamely flirted. She let out a sparkling laugh, and I grinned wider.