Carpe Diem

(1984)

(My writing is a little sketchy since I haven't actually sat down and wrote something for several months. Please let me know how I did so I can work on making it better!)



What had she gotten herself into? Kayla didn't think that the guy she hooked up with at The Galaxy would ever show up at her front door. She didn't even remember telling him where she lived!

Kayla took a long drag from the cigarette between her fingers and turned to Ren, who sat quietly on the edge of her bed, holding a pillow against her chest. "We can't have him downstairs all night. He'll figure out we're talking about him and then he'll leave."

Ren ran her hand across the pillow, watching the color of the soft fabric sway.

"Ren, I need help! Won't you say something?"

She raised her head and said quietly, "He's cute. Why not go on one date?"

"Why not? Ren, I don't even know him! He probably thinks I'm easy anyway."

"Well... You did sort of pull him into the bathroom."

Kayla rolled her eyes and paced across the room, one hand on her hip and the other holding the cigarette to her lips. "I don't even remember his name for Christ's sake!"

"He's downstairs, you know. You can ask him."

Kayla closed her eyes, thinking of a way to approach him without sounding like a total bitch. Hey, I'm sorry for leading you on, but I can't go out with you. God, she thought, this is going to be hard. He didn't do a thing wrong and she was about to crush his heart, and all because she had a little too much to drink.

She plopped down on the bed, spreading out her arms and let out a heavy sigh. "What do I tell him?"

"Just go on one date. You owe him that much, right? If it doesn't work out you can dump him. At least you gave him a shot."

There was a knock at the door.

Kayla jerked upright and looked over to Ren, a look of utter horror on her pale face. She jumped off the bed, knocking pillows onto the floor, and stumbled to the door.

He stood with his arms tucked into the pockets of his jeans and his head down, his eyes focused on his snakeskin boots and the gray carpet beneath them.

"Hey, I was just on my way to meet you downstairs." She faked a smile and pulled a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"I wanted to say goodbye." he said, looking over Kayla's shoulders at Ren, who was now at her vanity pretending to fix her hair even though it was perfect.

"Actually," Kayla hesitated. "I figure that one date won't be so bad. How about Saturday at six o' clock?"

He smiled shyly. "Yeah,"

Kayla couldn't help but smile back. There was something about him that intrigued her. She couldn't put her finger on it now, but she would find out Saturday night.

"Goodbye," she said.

He raised his hand in a wave and nodded his head before turning and disappearing down the hallway.

Kayla shut the door and turned to Ren, her cheeks flushed. Ren slammed down her hair brush and said, "You did it!"