Stories to Keep You Awake at Night

The Favour : Part 1

Tess stood at the mirror applying her eye liner. It was Saturday night and, although she didn’t officially have any plans, she was sure that, at any moment, she would get a call inviting her to go out somewhere.

She stepped away from the mirror suddenly, evaluating her work. She’d never been any good at applying make-up. She wasn’t even sure why. Both her mother and her aunt routinely wore the stuff. Surely she must have picked up some of their finesse with a pencil or a brush somewhere along the line?

“If you’re going for that whole raccoon look, you’ve got this down,” she murmured as she gazed at her reflection.

She was just getting ready to lean in closer to the mirror once more in a futile attempt to fix the mess she’d made, when her phone suddenly lit up next to her on the vanity. She automatically sighed with relief. It was after five. She was starting to worry that no one would call. Without even looking, she answered the phone.

“Hello?” she asked, trying to hide her enthusiasm. After all, she didn’t want to seem too eager and desperate.

“Hey,” said a familiar voice.

It was Kelli. Tess didn’t know whether to be happy or leery. Kelli. She had a reputation as a manipulator, mostly because she was a master when it came to the classic bait-and-switch tactic. She was the sort of girl who’d invite you out and pay for your iced tea at the fast food restaurant, but then ask you to cover her shift at the church garage sale the night before the event. She’d call you and ask you to see a movie, and even pay for your ticket, but then turn around and ask you to drop off one of her friends… conveniently forgetting to mention that his house was nearly an hour away. In short, Tess had reached the point where she almost preferred to just say “No” to all of Tess’s invitations because she didn’t want to deal with all of the strings attached.

“What’s up?” Tess began, trying to keep her voice neutral.

“Whatcha doing?” Kelli inquired in a sing-song voice.

“Putting on my make-up,” Tess answer cautiously. She certainly didn’t want to come right out and admit that she had nothing going on.

“Oh, so you have plans?”

Tess knew it was a loaded question. Kelli was either going to suggest something for them to do together or she was going to try to unload some responsibility. It was always a roll of the dice.

“Kinda,” Tess replied vaguely.

“Well, watcha doing?” she asked pointedly.

“Why do you wanna know?” Tess returned, just as abruptly.

“Why are you being so secretive?”

“Because I’m talking to you,” Tess answered somewhat sarcastically.

“Oh come on, I’m not that bad, am I?”

Tess tried not to feel ashamed. After all, had Kelli not been so manipulative she wouldn’t have felt the need to lie to her, right?

“No,” she lied, “I just always get suspicious when you start drilling me with questions.”

“I’m not drilling you. I’m just asking you what you’re up to,” she replied sweetly.

“What do you want Kelli?” Tess asked, trying to cut to the chase.

There was a long pause. Here it comes, thought Tess. Here comes the ridiculously insensitive request. Tess often wondered if Kelli suffered from some emotional disorder that made it impossible for her to feel any empathy for others. How else could she explain Kelli’s complete lack of common decency or tact? Kelli thought nothing of asking someone to pick up one of her cousins from the airport within hours of their scheduled arrival time. Or, she’d ask to borrow clothing that still bore the tags and return them ruined. Then, when she’d ask to borrow something else, she always seemed confused as to why she was refused. Tess couldn’t imagine being so clueless. Then again, she was the sort of person who wrung her hands if she had to ask someone to borrow ten bucks.