Chat Freak

by Terry Brown

  “I’m very proud of you, Morgan Lucille.”

  “Don’t ruin it by calling me that.”

  “See you in the morning then.” Mom bent to kiss Morgan’s cheek. “Don’t be too long now.”

  “’Night. I won’t.”

  Morgan didn’t even look at the clock when she finally stretched and logged off. She didn’t want to know how late it was.

  “Good morning, you sleepy cyber head.” Dad shook Morgan’s covered feet. “We’re leaving for the airport. Listen to me. Are you awake?”

  “Mmmph,” Morgan grunted before rolling over.

  “Listen. It’s important. Remember what we told you. The art gallery will call for your mother about the show. And we’ll call often, here and at Jamie’s. We love you.”

  “Love you, too. Good night.”

  “Good morning, Jellybean,” Dad poked her side, and then he was gone.

  As Morgan lay there, listening to the sound of her parents driving away, she realized that Alex had also left for Texas at 6:30 A.M. on a bus and had never called to say good-bye. That wasn’t like her. Was she mad, too?

  The house was sure quiet. Her parents were gone. Jacob was gone. Alex was gone. And where was Maya? Morgan sat up, groggy. She decided to get some orange juice and clear the cobwebs out of her head. She grabbed her laptop out of the den on her way.

  When Morgan reached the kitchen, she spotted a note in the middle of the island. “I’m @ Gnosh. If all you’re going to do is surf the Net, come to work. Maya.”

  Morgan grabbed a banana and some juice before plugging her laptop into the teen line’s phone jack. She had to check on last_wish before she did anything else. She sat back, soothed by the familiar pattern of clicks and whirs. She felt like they were waking up together to face the day.

  She clicked her e-mail icon and watched it load thirteen pieces of mail! And only two pieces were junk mail. Obviously, not everyone had abandoned her. She had eleven messages to read and respond to. Friends were waiting to hear from her! This rocks, she thought silently.

  Morgan first clicked on the e-mail from ANNA:

  Jellybean, I took your advice and talked to my mom about her not worrying so much about my eating, but it didn’t really help. Now she’s MEASURING my food and writing down everything I eat! And get this! She says I have an eating disorder because I’m obsessed with food! She’s the one obsessed with my eating habits and making me think about food 24/7. I don’t know what to do anymore. My dad even got in on the act. I can’t deal with both of them doing this to me.

  Morgan hit Reply and wrote:

  Dear ANNA, I’m sorry your parents are on your case even worse. It sounds to me like it’s your mother who is obsessed. Maybe she doesn’t have enough to do. My mom has hobbies and teaches. Maybe you could help your mom find something better to do with her time, put her focus somewhere else. Then she might leave you alone. Good luck --Jellybean

  Just then, someone pounded on the back door, making Morgan slosh orange juice in her lap. “Good grief,” she muttered, dabbing at her T-shirt with a dishcloth. She opened the back door to find Jared on the step, his hand raised to pound again.

  “OK! I’m here!” Morgan exclaimed. “You were loud enough to wake the dead.”

  “I wondered if I would have to do just that.” He stomped into the kitchen. “I see you’re not dead.”

  “Why would I be?”

  “There had to be some reason why you didn’t show up last night.”

  “Oh!” Morgan gasped. “Jared, I’m sorry! I totally forgot.”

  “Where the heck were you? I called for two hours and couldn’t get through.” He turned when a quiet ping! announced that Morgan had more mail. “So that’s what you were doing. What are you, some kind of chat room addict? You waste your time with fake friends while people in real life are waiting on you.”

  Morgan reached over and closed the mailbox. “That’s not fair. I got some bad news last night. It’s a long story, but I don’t get to go to New York after all. My parents already left, but Maya isn’t going till Monday.” She proceeded to tell him about the woman who fell off the garage roof. “And since I can’t go to the aquarium on Coney Island now, I started researching on -line last night for the project. I’m sorry I forgot the meeting.” Morgan ignored the sick feeling in her stomach over the lie she’d just told her best guy friend in the world.

  “No, I’m sorry,” Jared said. “That’s rotten luck about your trip. And I should never have called you an addict.”

  “It’s OK. How about if the three of us meet this afternoon, like at three o’clock at the library? Will that work?”

  “Yeah, and I’ll call Ty. Say, did you send in the money to Adopt-A-Seal?”

  Morgan paused. She’d forgotten that, too! “I mailed it this morning. I’ll collect Ty’s share this afternoon. We should get something back next week, in plenty of time for our presentation.” Man, that was two lies in less than a minute, Morgan thought. What was the matter with her? She’d totally spaced off the adoption thing, but she’d mail the money right away after Jared left. She remembered putting the money in the front of her geometry book. Luckily, she’d had a geometry assignment and brought the book home.

  “See you at three then.” Jared opened the kitchen door and ran right into Maya. “Hello, Magnificent Maya.” He waved and bounded down the steps whistling.

  Maya smiled briefly, and then wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Isn’t that what you wore last night? Did you sleep in it?” She shook her head. “Since you’re not doing anything, we need you down at the Gnosh. I only came home long enough to change my shoes. Fashionable is killing me,” she said, kicking off her clogs.

  “Um, sorry, but I can’t go right now.” Morgan glanced quickly at her laptop, then away. “I just told Jared I’d meet him and Ty at the library to work on our group project.”

  “Well you can just un-tell him!” Maya’s index finger was just two inches from Morgan’s nose. “Get yourself dressed right now. Five minutes. Then you’re coming with me.”

  Morgan bit her lower lip. She couldn’t go off and leave all those e-mails unanswered. She didn’t want her friends to think she was neglecting them.

  Wait. Idea!

  “Fine, I’ll work lunch, but I need to go to the library after the crowd thins out,” Morgan said. “And you know, you don’t have to order me around.” She disconnected her laptop and took it with her when she went upstairs to get dressed. She buried it in her school bag under a couple of books to take to the library.

  She was on the way out her bedroom door when she remembered the Adopt-A-Seal money. She grabbed her geometry book off her desk and shook it, but no money fell out. She shook it again then riffled through the pages. Nothing.

  Oh no, what did I do with that money? Morgan hoisted her school bag to her shoulder. She’d gotten so spacey lately. It was getting harder and harder to hide.

  chapter. 5

  Morgan trudged into the Gnosh Pit on Saturday morning . on the heels of Maya’s running shoes. “I’ll just dump my books in Dad’s office, then I’ll grab my order pad.”

  “Make it snappy.”

  Morgan saluted, but Maya had already headed to the kitchen, waving at several people already occupying booths. Morgan whipped into the office, bent to stash her bag under the desk, and then paused in mid-motion when she saw the phone jack. Sliding down the wall to a squatting position, Morgan made a quick decision. I’ll only take a minute, she promised herself.

  Unzipping her bag, she pulled out her freshly charged laptop, disconnected the office phone, and then plugged in her computer. She’d just check her most important mail, and then race to the counter to help. Right away, a message from ANNA caught her eye.

  Help, jellybean! I took your advice and tried to get my mom interested in a hobby so she wouldn’t have so much time to focus on me. I thought she might like to go on walks or bike rides with me, but she even turned THAT into an eating disorder lecture! She claims it’s just an exc
use to burn off what few calories I consume. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS WOMAN? Now she wants me to see a counselor. I think SHE’S the one who needs help! Now what? ANNA

  “Hey, Morgan, come on!” Jamie called. “Where are you?”

  Morgan slid down farther behind her dad’s desk and held her breath. Jamie walked past the office and knocked on the rest room door. “Hurry up in there!” she called. “We need you out front!”

  Morgan waited till Jamie went back to waiting tables, then typed quickly:

  ANNA, I’ve only got a minute, but I wanted you to know I got your message. I’m sorry about your mom! Talk about paranoid. Well, you tried. It’s not your fault she didn’t want to go on walks with you. It really does sound like your mom needs to see a counselor instead of you. Would your dad help her find someone to talk to? In the meantime, try to do your walking or biking when she’s not around, so she doesn’t worry. You’re not doing anything wrong. Everybody exercises, or least they should! Gotta run. Write back! Jellybean

  Morgan left the rest of the messages in her in-box unanswered. She felt determined to help both last_wish and ANNA, but right now she needed to get out front before Maya came and dragged her out by her hair.

  Morgan paused at the cash register to grab a pencil and order pad, then moved next to Jamie. “OK, I’m set. Which tables are mine?”

  “If you’ll take the booths along the window, Maya and I can handle the tables.” She peered closely at Morgan. “You OK? You were in the rest room a long time.”

  Morgan nodded, but rubbed her stomach. “Must have eaten something that didn’t agree with me, but I’m fine now.”

  “Good! We need you!” Jamie rolled her eyes. “Just look out for Benny this morning. He’s on the warpath about something.”

  Oh great, Morgan thought, that’s all we need. Even in his best moods, their gruff cook, Benny, was as sour as old grapes, as her mom said. He came in early every day to prepare the food, mixing salads and baking pastries and muffins. Then he stayed to cook up the orders since none of them were legally old enough to cook yet. Benny rarely said more than ten words in a whole day, most of them being variations of “get out of my way!”

  Morgan moved to the first booth at the window and started taking orders. The jumping preschoolers wanted blueberry pancakes and their mom a mushroom omelet. Morgan nodded, smiled, and wrote their order, all the time thinking about ANNA and last_wish. If only she could help more. They seemed to be counting on her.

  In the kitchen, she handed her order to Benny, and then hurried back to the second booth of junior high kids, then the third booth of three jocks in baseball caps turned backward. After taking orders for all the booths, Morgan glanced over her shoulder, and then raced back to the office. She was still plugged into the phone line, and she logged on quickly to GlobalBuddies.com. Eagerly she scanned the names of the people in the room, spotting last_wish near the bottom of the list.

  She clicked on “private message” and began writing.

  jellybean14: Hi! I’m @ the restaurant helping out. It’s a real bummer, but I have 2 stay home and help run things while my family heads off to New York. But I was thinking. How about if I put a big box or can by the cash register with a sign asking 4 donations 4 U and UR mom?

  last_wish: that is so awesome! are U sure it’s ok?

  jellybean14: sure, my dad won’t mind. We have a March of Dimes donation box. Actually, 2 get more people involved, I could just ask lots of people to send $$

  last_wish: it’s great that U care so much. but my mom wouldn’t go 4 either idea. last fall i said we should ask 4 help, right after my dad split.

  jellybean14: your dad left?

  last_wish: yeah, he said he couldn’t stay & watch me die. anyway, mom started working double shifts @ the factory, which is killing her. i’m worried about her. i asked her if i could ask 4 cards 2 B sent 2 us & if people would just include $l. i thought if we got enough cards that my mom wouldn’t have 2 work so hard 2 pay the doctor bills

  jellybean14: that was a great idea!

  last_wish: mom didn’t think so. she said it was like begging, & we were NOT charity cases.

  jellybean14: i can C her point. my parents would say the same thing.

  But, Morgan thought suddenly, it wouldn’t prevent her from posting the notices and asking for money on their behalf. Since no one would be home to collect their mail all during break, she could have all the cards and money sent to the restaurant. Then she’d send it anonymously, all at one time, to last_wish and his mom. Morgan grinned just thinking about it.

  But her grin disappeared a moment later. “Morgan! Get out here!” Maya yelled. “Your food’s ready!”

  Morgan quickly signed off, and then raced out front. Several of her orders were sitting under the warming lamps.

  “You sure you’re OK?” Jamie asked, worry lines forming between her eyebrows. “If you’re sick, you should go home. You haven’t been yourself for days, ever since the meet actually.”

  Morgan felt guilty over her concern. “I’m really OK.” She grabbed the three warm breakfast plates and hurried to the first booth. She set the mushroom omelet in front of the young mother, then the matching meals in front of her bouncing children. “Can I get you anything else?” she asked.

  “Mom!” the little boy yelled, yanking on his mother’s sleeve. “I wanted pancakes! Where’s my blueberry pancakes?”

  “I wanted pancakes, too!” cried the girl in pigtails.

  Morgan looked down at her order. She’d written two orders of blueberry muffins, and that’s what she’d given them. Yet . . . something in the back of her mind echoed that these kids had ordered pancakes. They were raising such a ruckus that Maya came over.

  “Need some help?”

  “No, I just—” Morgan began.

  “We asked for pancakes! Where’s our pancakes?” the girl cried.

  “I’m sorry,” Morgan said to the woman. “I’ll be right back with those blueberry pancakes.” She took the muffins and headed to the kitchen, but not before she saw Maya roll her eyes.

  Morgan worked hard to keep her mind on her job for the next couple of hours, but she found herself spacing out as she imagined the look on last_wish’s face when the hundreds of dollars— or even thousands—arrived from her in the mail!

  On Saturday night, Morgan actually looked forward to the group chat in the evening. Even though Maya had been snippy with her all the way to the bank and home, Jamie had been really nice.

  When she entered the TodaysGirls.com site, Morgan read Amber’s next Thought for the Day for Easter week:

  For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son. God gave his Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. John 3:16

  Can you imagine love that BIG? What a sacrifice God made for us! Awesome!

  Even though she believed God did it, Morgan couldn’t imagine letting a child of hers die for anyone. Why did it have to be that way?

  Morgan typed in her alias and password, and then joined her friends in their private chat room.

  rembrandt: cool passage, Amber

  faithful1: thanx. good 4 Easter

  jellybean: I like Easter ok. but wouldn’t it B a much better story if Jesus didn’t die? it’s so morbid nycbutterfly: duh . . . sort of the point of the thing

  faithful1: it WAS morbid, M. but Jesus had 2 die, 2 save us. something really good came out of something really bad.

  chicChick: i’m here. Sorry i’m L8. i’ve just been so busy, it’s been so exciting! i’m back in my hotel room now. U should see the furniture.

  TX2step: hi y’all from afar!

  jellybean: U made it to Texas!

  TX2step: left @ 6 this mornin’ & got 2 TX @ 7 tonight. majorly boring bus ride.

  chicChick: well WE just went 2 the kewlest restaurant. overlooked the river. cutest waiters! they had towels over their arms and everything! most of them spoke english. their accents are so attractive.

  rembrandt: liking p
aris, then? sounds like it.

  chicChick: no. LUVing it.

  rembrandt: I would luv all the art!

  chicChick: going 2 the louvre tomorrow, Jamie. i’ll get a postcard or a print of some painting 4 U. this is such a beautiful, romantic city! wish you guyz were here!!!

  jellybean: howz texas, Alex?

  TX2step: good, but R computer is down. lightning storm blasted it. I’m on @ library. otherwise, fine

  jellybean: good thing some of U will B having fun. i’ll B @ the Gnosh all week U know . . . so my sis can do the city. so much 4 saving the seals!

  nycbutterfly: as if U even like the city

  faithful1: hey, I’ll make sure we have a blast this week

  jellybean: doing what? the dishes?

  faithful1: ha! it’s the holiday! maya & morgan--come 2 Palm Sunday services with me tomorrow, ok?

  nycbutterfly: U got a deal

  jellybean: OK, me 2

  Morgan yawned as Bren gave a long-winded account of some French waiter who wanted to take her dancing, and Morgan’s mind wandered to last_wish’s financial condition since his father abandoned them. If only she could help more! If only—

  Then it hit her. The idea was downright brilliant. She could post ads on bulletin boards in charity Web sites, asking for cards with dollar bills inside for last_wish. She could get some money from the Gnosh, but this would get the word out much faster. She’d have the cards sent c/o the restaurant. When she had a big chunk, she’d mail them to last_wish and his mom! What a surprise that would be.

  Morgan whipped into her pajamas, excited by her idea. She might be a lousy server, but she really cared about people. Hair pulled up in back, Morgan hunched over her computer and got to work. She hit charity Web sites. Nonprofit organizations. Teen sites. Cancer support groups. Everything she could think of. Her message about last_wish and his mom was touching, but not pushy. Single-handedly, she would make the boy’s dream come true.

  Hours later Morgan blinked several times, but her vision stayed blurry. She rubbed and kneaded the goose-egg knots on the back of her neck. She turned off the computer and headed to bed after swallowing a couple of aspirin for her ripping headache.