Page 59 of Dirty Chorus

The windows roll down, and there it is, a middle finger and Brody popping his head out, spitting in Noah’s direction. But before Noah can even round the vehicle, Brody reverses and peels out. I sit still with my heart shutting down to a dull beat as the front door dings and Noah slides back into the booth.

“So, uh... yeah...” The waitress lets out a nervous laugh. “Are you two ready to order?” She blinks a million times.

“Yeah, I’ll take your big breakfast.” Noah’s chest heaves as he scoots back to the window, looking left and right, then slides back to the middle of the booth with his fists clenching until his knuckles turn white.

“Pancakes and bacon, please...” I stare at Noah, his eyes furious.

“Hey, what are you doing tonight?” Payton asks as I push a plethora of panties and socks around in my top drawer.

“Just hanging out with a friend.” I throw panties left and right, and each one isn’t the perfect pair that has magically decided to pull a Houdini.

“A friend?” she questions. “You’ve been messaging me all morning, and my mom finally said I can stay over.”

“Yeah... sorry, I just made other plans.” That came off harsher than I expected.

“Oh... well, you could have at least told me.”

“Shit, where the hell are they?” I complain and slam the top dresser drawer shut.

“Where the hell is what?” She asks. I hold the phone between my shoulder and ear as I scurry around my room, pacing back and forth in circles.

“My black lacy undies.” I’ve been on the prowl for the last fifteen minutes, and I’m about to grab a brown paperback to hyperventilate in.

My hair is saturated, dripping all over the floor and skating down my naked back. I’m still butt-ass naked, and Noah will be knocking on the door at any second. I’m wasting seconds I don’t have.

“Who are you hanging out with?”

“Hmm... you know just someone cool.” I put Payton on speaker and toss the phone on the bed. It’s time to go feral. I head back to the dresser and start tossing every garment out of every drawer.

“Okay...” Payton lets out a sigh on the phone. “Well, what are you going to do with this friend?” I can imagine the air quotes she's using right this second.

I yank on the other drawers as if that would magically make the sexy underwear appear.

“I’m playing poker and swimming,” I say, picking up a light pink pair with two fingers, debating if I should change my approach. I’m sure all the girls Noah’s slept with wear black. Barbie pink might brainwash him into finally touching me. I about faceplant onto the mattress. What’s wrong with me? I hate how much power Noah has over me.

“Can you just tell me who you're hanging out with?” Payton demands.

I even manhandle my laundry bin and dump it onto the floor. They're not anywhere in sight. “Just someone...”

She scoffs on the other end of the phone. “That someone being Brody?”

“No.” Maybe they're on the bed. I yank back the comforter and manage to uncover a lonely scrunchy.

“You’re such a liar.”

“I’m not lying,” I laugh. Payton is crawling under my skin, and I can’t always give her my undivided attention.

“Is Ryder home?”

“No, he’s working another double, and Mom left this afternoon. She isn’t coming home either. I’m sorry, I didn’t think you could hang, so I made other plans.”

“You're dating him again, aren’t you?” I can already picture her pinched eyebrows, her cheeks cherry red. I’m sure she's pacing back and forth in her bedroom.

“I’m not.” I lean my head back and groan.

“I can’t believe you! But I’m not surprised either. You won’t even delete the pictures of you two from Instagram. Whatever. I’ve gotta go.” The call ends abruptly, and it takes me a good thirty seconds to process her classic Payton tantrum, which is entirely her. I’ll give her five minutes, and she’ll be messaging me again.

I kick around my clothes on the floor and, voilà, the black panties I’ve been on the hunt for have emerged. I fist it with my toes, tossing it up into the air and catching it. My phone buzzes on the mattress as I plop down, stretching the soft, lacy fabric as I put one foot and then the other and let the elastic snap. It fits snugly on my hips. I snatch my phone, swiping up.