one missed call

sixty - six

north flew down the stairs, grabbed her coat and was about to pull the door behind her when something blocked it from closing.

it was a wheel.

"and where are you going?"

"dad," she bit her lip, "i'm just going out."

"you do realize what time it is?"

"quarter to twelve..."

"that's past curfew."

"dad, we never even had curfew before!" she threw her arms up in exasperation.

"well we do now," his voice was silent but challenging. she decided not to test him.

"please dad... i just want to say goodbye to someone before we leave tomorrow."

he stared at her, "north..."

"please. i wouldn't bother to ask if it wasn't important to me."

he sighed, "is it that weird friend of yours?"

she froze for a moment, "how... how did you know?"

her father crossed his arms, "i've seen him around, of course."

"you have? you know who he is?"

"of course! it's...what's it again—bert? or was is ben?"

she slumped her shoulders in relief but couldn't help but feeling a little guilty about not giving ben a thought until then. "yeah, ben. i'm going over to his house to say goodbye."

"well you make it brief. we're leaving at dawn."

"yes, sir."