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Even if Randy wasn't going to Heather's house--at least he would get a cookie out of it. She didn't want him to come anyway. She'd moved on. The way she'd moved on from love six times before. She just left. Randy wasn't that special. He was just another boy to give a cookie to.

Laundry

They sandwiched in beside the box of laundry detergent they both could've used. It'd been three years since they talked and although Ted was nervous Sheila had enough nerve for the both of them. They drank cans of beer as Matt drove. Each mile got better. The detergent smelled fresher. Cleaner. Their relationship rose and dropped after each tree they passed. Sheila smiled and told Ted "Everything will be fine, don't worry." But Ted knew that when Sheila said these exact words there was much to worry about.

She stayed in the house lately. Not because she enjoyed being there--just because the outside scared her. The people walking dogs and the children in football jerseys. Fall was like a window closing. She loved the cold, but couldn't stand the chill.

Night

Sometimes at night, she'd wait to hear the motorcycle down the street. She hoped it would come tonight. Not to take her away, but keep her feelings at bay. And there they would be. Just far enough to not get hurt.

A girl decided to go to an estate sale on the far side of town. She looked through the dresses, electric scissors, and hiking the western hills. When she came upon an orange booklet about insects, she thought of her father. He’d had one similar and read it in his easy chair on Sunday evenings. It had a sticker of five dollars on the inside. When she walked up to pay the man who sat in a blue camping chair he used an electric calculator (again, one that was like her father used to have) to come to a total of $2.50. The girl was surprised. And the man said, “Was that not what you thought?” And the girl said, “I didn’t realize it was half off, but that’s even better.” After she left she second-guessed her own words. Why is it better? She thought. Why is it better to be half off?

They sat at the dining room table hoping to find a solution to Heather's drug problem. This of course was no issue to Heather herself. She knew the solution: more drugs. Her father was concerned about her embarrassing the family again. He'd gone through her room three more times since she'd figured out the first time. Her lamp shade was twisted just a tad to the left and a letter from her boyfriend was folded one more time than she had originally. Heather found this behavior from her father embarrassing. She'd told him: You want to know embarrassing? Try running away from your family.

Rose waited for Teddy under the red “C” of Chandelier’s Grill. The way she stood, hugging her purse to her chest and looking down at her boots every few seconds, she could have been mistaken for a nervous woman, perhaps waiting for a first date or meeting a married man she intended to sleep with after a cocktail and an avocado salad. Every few minutes she’d turn to read the menu posted in the front window, changing her face as she scrolled through the appetizers, smiling at the soups, frowning at the salads, raising an eyebrow at the main dishes, nodding at the vegetarian selection, so the woman inside waiting to seat customers wouldn’t think she was staring in at her. Teddy had suggested Chandelier’s Grill after their conversation on the phone last week when Rose admitted she’d been frequenting a drive-thru taco shop that was located between the two condos she owned. She’d laughed and told him it was convenient and cheap, two C's she loved. That’s when Teddy gave her directions to Chandelier’s and told her this was another “C” she could get used to.