“Miranda dear, are you okay?” I wiped the tears from my eyes and looked up to see the concerned face of Maria looking down at me. “Listen, if you aren’t going to be able to handle this, I’ll see if I can get you two new people.”
“No… no, I can do this. I mean I will do this. You saw his face Maria, you saw the pain he’s been going through. I have to help him and Eve fall in love, for his own sanity. Even if it means risking my feelings.”
Maria smiled and helped me to my feet. “That’s incredibly admirable of you Miranda. Now hurry up and talk to Eve before she falls asleep.”
“All right. Good-bye Maria.” I took a deep breath and walked through the door to Eve’s hotel room. I found her sitting down on her hotel bed, looking at a glossy picture of Brian and sighing sadly. So, she already has a crush on Brian, I thought to myself. That’s a plus.
Eve suddenly whipped around, her green eyes darting quickly around the room. “Is anyone there?” she called out fearfully.
“Actually, yes.” As I stepped into her field of vision, she jumped back and screamed. “Calm down, I’m not here to hurt you. My name is Miranda and I’m…” I knew I wasn’t allowed to tell her what I was really there for, so I decided to lie a little. “I’m your Guardian Angel.”
Eve looked at me suspiciously. “Oh really? Then where were you the time I decided to get drunk and slept with Ron? Or the time I got caught shoplifting at Macy’s? Or the time-”
“All right, all right, I’m not your Guardian Angel. But I am here to help you win over Brian.”
“Yeah right,” Eve scoffed, pushing her glasses up her nose. “Look, I have one hundred dollars in my wallet if that’s what you want. Take it and leave already, you’re wasting my time.”
“Wasting your time? From what I saw, all you were doing was looking longingly at a picture of a guy you have no chance in hell with because you’re wrapped up in how fat you look in that dress, or how ugly you are.” I moved closer to her and Eve inched backwards on the bed. “You know, you could be really pretty.”
“What do you mean, could be? I know I’m pretty, and don’t need anyone else to tell me so.”
“So then why don’t you let your hair out of that tight ponytail you wear and take off those glasses?” I suggested.
“Look, I don’t need to take beauty advice from a mugger.”
I groaned in frustration. “For the last time Eve, I’m not a mugger!”
“How did you know my name?” she asked, wide-eyed. “And come to think of it, how’d you get in here in the first place?”
“Okay, this is the last time I’m going to explain this to you, so listen good. I am an Angel. I am trying to help you out by hooking you up with the man of your dreams, Brian. You do want that, right?” Eve nodded. “Good. Then I’ll wake you up tomorrow morning and-”
“Hold on a second. If you really are an Angel, wouldn’t I go right through you?”
“Yeah. You wanna try it?”
“Okay.” Eve cautiously got up and came closer to me. When she was arms distance away, she reached out her arm and went right through my abdomen. “Wow… that’s so cool.”
“Hardly.”
“Well okay Miranda, how are you going to help me get Brian? Are you gonna appear to him in a dream or something?”
“No. That’s against the rules,” I informed her. “Instead, I’m going to help you get ready tomorrow morning. Do you own any make-up?”
“I have foundation, powder, eye liner, lipstick, and mascara, all of which I’ve never even used. Why?”
“Because tomorrow I’m going to do your make-up for you,” I replied.
“How can you do that if my hand can go right through you?”
“Your hand can go through me, but I can still touch you,” I explained. “You wouldn’t happen to own a pair of contact lenses, would you?”
“Yeah, I do. But they’re a pain in the ass to put in so I don’t use them.”
“Don’t worry, I know how to put them in. I used to wear them when I was living. So, I’ll see you in the morning, say six o’clock?”
“All right. Miranda, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, what?”
“How did you die?”
“I… really don’t want to talk about it right now.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, it was something I shouldn’t have said.”
“No, it’s all right,” I assured her. “It’s just something I don’t like thinking about too much. I’ll let you go to sleep now. Good-night Eve.”
“Good-night Miranda. See you in the morning.”
I silently slipped out of the room, wondering what to do until the morning. I wandered down the hallway, and then walked into a random room. I saw Kevin lying in bed with a girl I knew somehow…
“Hurry up Kat!” I yelled down to my best friend as she struggled to climb up the tree that led to our secret clubhouse. “I’ve been waiting ten years for you to get up here!”
“Stop… lying,” Kat panted as she pulled herself through the doorway. “Why did we have to come up here, couldn’t we just go in your room?”
“If we did that, there would be no point in coming to the secret clubhouse dummy,” I informed her. “And one of my bonehead brothers might hear our plans.”
“Plans for what?”
“For becoming blood sisters.”
“Blood sisters?” Kat wrinkled her nose. “Eww, that’s gross!”
“No it’s not. I prick my finger with a pin, and then you prick your finger with a pin. When we start bleeding, we rub our fingers together and then we’re blood sisters.”
“Why would we do that?”
“So that way we’re best friends forever. So what do you say, you wanna do it?”
“No, that stupid. I got a better idea. Let’s make a pact!” Kat reached into her knapsack, pulled out a notebook and pen, then shoved them into my hands. “Here, you write it.”
“Okay.” After a few minutes of writing I was done. “Wanna hear what it says?” Kat nodded eagerly. “’We, Miranda Greene and Katrina Anderson, solemnly swear that as of April 24, 1985, we will be best friends forever and ever until the day we die.’ You like it?”
“Yeah, it’s good. Now all we have to do is sign our names.” Kat grabbed the pen from my hands and scrawled her name on the bottom. When she was done, I did the same. “There, now we’re best friends forever!”
“Forever… forever… forever.” The words of Kat echoed in my head as I realized who the girl with Kevin was. Katrina Anderson, my best friend since Pre-School. The girl who helped me through all my teenage traumas. The girl who was single-handedly responsible for hooking up Brian and me. She was the sister I never had, and I missed her more then life itself.
“I’m really worried about him Kat, I just don’t know what to do anymore,” Kevin sighed. I moved further into the room and sat down on the bed to better hear their conversation.
“Kev, don’t worry about him so much. Brian’s an adult, he knows what he’s doing.”
“Maybe, but I was hoping that you could talk to him, so that he knows he’s not alone.”
“What do you mean?”
“You were her best friend Kat, obviously you must be feeling what Brian is.”
“True… I miss her so much that it hurts.” Kat started getting misty-eyed. “She was my best friend Kevin, more like my sister.”
“I know baby, that’s why I think you should talk to Brian. Please?” he begged. “You know I never ask for favors unless it’s really important. I’m afraid that Brian is going to end up doing something he’ll regret.”
Kat nodded. “All right, I promise I’ll talk to him in the morning. Good-night Kevin.”
Kevin leaned in to kiss her. “'Night sweetheart.” He shut off the light next to him and they fell asleep. I smiled at the couple and left the room.
