Emergency Contact(31)
Sam enjoyed texting Penny. They talked about work, sleep, food, random facts. It didn’t need to be anything important. Their last text had been what to eat for breakfast. Since Penny had seen him at his lowest, there was no reason to act cooler than he was. It felt easy, a bit like summer camp—their texts had no bearing on their actual lives. It helped that she didn’t seem to tire of him. No matter how dumb his questions.
Would you watch a documentary about a cat?
She texted back immediately.
Totally
Cats rule And then:
Some are assholes tho
There’s this super cool guy that lives under our porch now What else?
That’s pretty much it
K then maybe
At 2:34 p.m. Sam had cleared the tables, wiped them down, and steam-cleaned the espresso machine.
I have to make a documentary for a class Ah
Ergo cat
Sam enjoyed it as a response. Ergo: cat. He couldn’t call what his new friend would say next. He tried to remember the last time he’d slipped so easily into conversation without the added diversion of skateboarding or drinking or sex. Talks with Penny felt good. Wholesome, normal, and curiously productive since they mostly discussed schoolwork. They were lab partners.
EMERGENCY PENNY
Today 6:01 PM
Would you read a short story on zombie food Or nah?
Is this a legitimate concern of yours?
Maraschino cherries
are the undead
OK
Riveted
Please continue
Perfectly healthy stone fruit are drowned in calcium chloride + sulfur dioxide
BOOM
Total ghost food
It’s how come they’re see-through Hmm . . .
I admit my interest is waning
They gave me one on my pudding
Get it off
It’s so gross
I can’t touch it
Today 9:12 PM
Hey
?
What about a doc on a guy who’s sick?
What kind of sick?
Terminal disease
YES!!
YES!!?
Sounds depressing af
Into it lol
Healthcare is so messed up Sam wondered if Penny was super political or something. If she was aware of what was going on in the world outside her dorm. Sam was bad at politics the same way he was bad at sports. It was all made up. The more yelling there was about it, the more it seemed like a distraction from what was really going on in the world.
Totally
Sam Googled “American healthcare system” to brush up.
It makes me sick
NO PUN INTENDED
It’s sad
We criminalize the poor
Everything is broken
OK calm down
Don’t tell me to calm down I regret typing it I’m sorry
I know girls hate that EVERYONE hates CALM DOWN
Not just women (don’t say girls) OK
I’m sorry
Anyway
Healthcare What if the guy took matters into his own hands drives to Mexico for drugs Go on
He meets this other sick dude They start a drug ring And . . .
They sell it to poor people/downtrodden/no healthcare OMG
Is this the plot to Dallas Buyers Club?
Sam laughed in real life.
Today 1:45 AM
Top 5 fav things in the world don’t think about it just type Isn’t it a little late to be texting?
Shit were you asleep?
No
But I could have been
I can’t sleep for shit lately Me neither
OK
Top 5…
This feels like a trap
It’s not
I promise
No judgments
I don’t know your life
Your struggles
YOUR JOURNEY
Sam had been thinking about his favorites in bed. He loved the smell of the air before a thunderstorm. Or how Texas weather was so crazy and the landscape so flat that you could see the driving rain in a clean, straight sheet when everything that lay ahead of it was sunny.
Pringles
Pringles?
Sorry I’m eating Pringles
They’re so good
When’s the last time you had a Pringle I forgot about them
I’d miss them when I’m dead You’d miss Pringles when you’re dead?
You said no judgment
Wow
Well?
I guess it’s too late for texting But not for Pringles
It’s never too late for Pringles Then Sam texted Lorraine. Five weeks late and counting.
Last time they’d talked she promised to get a blood test and that was almost a week ago. She’d been flaky when they were together, but he couldn’t believe she’d leave him hanging about such a huge deal. This was literally life or death. Bad enough that Lorraine often said literally when she meant figuratively.
Sam stared at the screen, willing a bubble to appear.
Zip.
PENNY.
“Is this sheer?” Penny stood in front of the mirror in a white, knee-length cotton dress.
“Only when you’re backlit.”
“Is it slutty?”
Jude scoffed. An odd sound between a bleat and a laugh. “I don’t think you’re capable of slutty,” she said, sitting up in bed. “I mean,” she continued, “you’re wearing virginal white.”