"You know Karen, she's probably just off with her friends." Mary Anne said, comfortingly. Her familiar voice had calmed Kristy, but it wasn't easing her mind.
"That's what I'm afraid of. You know those kids she hangs out with, Mary Anne. She's probably off smoking pot or sleeping around or something. What went wrong, Mary Anne?" Kristy sighed and leaned back against her bed.
"I don't know, Kris. For a while she seemed to be adjusting to the divorce, and then, I guess we just lost her." On her side of the phone, Mary Anne was seated at her desk, her text books open in front of her. She was in her junior year at Hunter College, and had finally declared elementary education as her major. It had taken over a year for her to truly adjust to college. Mary Anne had always been shy and quiet, and adjusting to living in a dorm with three other girls had taken some getting used to. Once she'd begun to adjust, though, Mary Anne had decided college life suited her completely.
"Thanks a lot, Mary Anne. I really just needed to hear something reassuring tonight." Kristy stood up and walked across the room, and started searching for the giant t-shirt she normally wore to bed. She really hated living at home while everyone else had gone away to college, but being with her mother during the divorce had seemed the right thing to do at the time. Plus it was nice to be there when Dave, or Karen, or Karen's brother Andrew, needed her. By the time a few years had gone by, Kristy was so comfortable at the University of Connecticut she no longer had a desire to transfer.
"I know, and you know I'll always be here. It does make me long for the days when I could just pull up my blind and flash my problems to you with my flashlight." Mary Anne thought longingly to the code cleverly designed by Kristy, back before Mary Anne was allowed to talk on the phone in the evenings.
"Yeah, those were the days. Except for those outfits. What were we thinking?" The two of them giggled, and Kristy was glad she'd called her friend. "So what do you hear from Dawn these days?" Kristy asked. Dawn was Mary Anne's other best friend, and stepsister, who'd been living in California since the end of their eighth-grade year.
"She and UCLA were made for each other. She's majoring in film production, c you believe that?" Glancing at the clock, Mary Anne knew she should hurry the conversation along, but it wasn't that often she got to hear from Kristy, and she refused to rush it.
"Little Miss Hug-the-Earth is doing films? You mean nature documentaries, right?" Kristy turned off the light next to her bed, but didn't even pull down her sheets. She just lay on top of her bed, listening to her best friend's voice.
"Nope, real true dramatics. She's doing pretty good, it seems. In fact, she's already starting on her senior project, and it's not due until next spring!"
"Her senior project? But she's only a junior! I guess she finally learned procrastination is not the way to get out of college." Kristy joked.
They talked for about ten more minutes, when Kristy finally sighed.
"I guess I should let you go." she said, sadly. She really missed Mary Anne, and resented the whole crowd for leaving.
"Yeah, I hate to, but my first class is an eight o'clock. Tell you what, I'll call you this weekend." Mary Anne said, finally turning off the lights and shutting her book. She could study more tomorrow before class started.
"OK, I'll talk to you then. And thanks, Mary Anne. I really needed this." Kristy stood up and walked to her window, willing Mary Anne to appear in the one next to hers.
"Hey, no problem. Don't worry about Karen. She'll be fine. She's only fifteen, but she's tough."
"I know. That's what I'm afraid of."