Everybody had eaten at the loft, and somehow, Helena and Maureen got stuck doing the dishes.
"Do you like Mark?" Maureen asked.
Helena's heart stopped. "Uh,"
"I know you do." Maureen said. "But I just wanted to be sure."
"Well," Helena said, "Weren't you the one that left him for Joanne?"
"Go out with him!" Maureen said. "You'd look cute together! Like your blonde hair, and your bluish eyes and your-"
Helena slashed water on Maureen. "Would you shut up?"
"Oooooo, you did not!" Maureen said, splashing her back.
Then it turned into a full-fledged water fight, throwing sponges at each other.
"HEY!" Roger yelled.
"You were the one that put us in charge of the dishes." Maureen said.
"Crap!" Helena shouted. "I'm wearing a white t-shirt!"
Maureen threw another sponge at her. "Haha!"
"You two are so dead!" Roger yelled at the two of them. "CLEAN IT UP RIGHT NOW!"
"Hey, its your house." Helena told him.
………………..
"Carrie?" Collins asked. "Do you need some help?"
"Yeah, what does condescending mean?" Carrie asked.
Collins told her. "Anything else?" He asked.
"No."
"Are you clean?" Collins said.
"I haven't done any drugs for two weeks." Carrie said.
"Swear?"
"You wanna check my bag?"
"No." Collins looked at her. "You know, you can tell me anything. I won't judge you from it."
"I know." Carrie said. "Its just, I'm not exactly ready to tell anyone yet."
"Okay." Collins said.
…………………
"Mark, do you like me?" Helena asked. She was taking Maureen's advice and going for it.
"Yeah, I like you."
"Will you go out to dinner with me?" She asked.
Mark looked up. "Um, maybe."
Helena's heart fell. "Okay."
Mark felt really bad. "Actually, where did you have in mind?"
She smiled. "Life Café where else?"
"I'll meet you downstairs at seven." Mark said.
Helena gave him a hug and went back to her room.
Mark wondered what the hell he was doing.
………………….
"What do you think is wrong with her?" Collins asked Mark.
"I don't know." Mark said. "She's stopped doing her drugs?"
"Yeah."
"Has she been cutting herself?"
"Not that I know of." Collins said. "What do think Mimi?"
"Is she pregnant?" Mimi asked.
"No!" Collins said quickly. But she had a point. Was Carrie maybe pregnant?
…………………
"Mr. Collins?" Carrie asked.
The name sounded weird to Collins ears. "You can just call me Collins."
"Okay, Collins." She said. "I'm pregnant."
God, did Mimi have ESP or something? "Uh, well, do you know the father?"
Carrie closed her eyes and shook her head. Collins actually felt like he was talking to a younger version of Mimi.
"Well, what are you going to do?" Collins said.
"I don't know." Carrie said. "My mom said if I kept it she'd-" But then she stopped herself.
"What would she do?" Collins said.
"Look, you can't tell anybody okay?" Carrie said.
"Okay."
Carrie sighed. "Sometimes my mom hits me."
"She hits you hard?" Collins asked.
"Well," Carrie said, and looked down. Then she took of her shirt, reveling a whole bunch of bruises, cuts, and burns.
Collins just stared. "She did that to you?"
Carrie nodded again and put her shirt back on.
"And if I kept my baby, she'd do the same to it while I was here at school." Carrie said.
Collins went over to the phone. "I have to report this." He said.
"Collins, no." Carrie said.
"Carrie, you can't keep living in this house." Collins said.
"I know that my mom isn't the best, but she is the only person I have." Carrie told him, and the tears really did come out this time.
"Okay." Collins said, and bought Carrie over to him. She sat on his lap, and cried into his shirt.
…………………
"911?" Collins said. "I'd like to report child abuse."
…………
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