“Hey roomie, you ready for…” Gordon paused in the doorway looking in at the mess. “Whoa… What happened here?”

Freddy scratched his head. He felt a bump. “Ooh. That hurts.”

“Your head?”

“Yeah. I’ve got a big bump there.”

Gordon stepped into the room. Then, he stepped away from where he had just stepped. “Ugh. What’s that?” They both looked and saw a dark spot on the rug. There was an empty glass milk bottle lying on its side. Gordon stood on one leg and lifted his foot toward his nose. “Argh! Milk!” He pointed at the dark spot. “That’s gonna start to stink real quick if you don’t take care of it.”

Gordon watched where he was walking and stepped carefully over to Freddy, who was sitting on his bed. He pulled Freddy’s hand away and looked at his head. He touched the bump. Freddy winced. “Ouch! I told you it hurt.”

“Uh huh. I just had to see for myself. That’s one big bump.” Gordon stepped back and looked around the room again. “Looks like you had quite the time in the last hour or so. What’d you do.”

Freddy scratched his head. “Ouch.” He had forgotten about the bum. “I was trying to figure that out when you came in.”

“You don’t remember?”

Freddy tried to smile. “Not much.”

“Well it looks like somebody picked your room up, turned it upside down, shook it, then put it back again. The only thing not out of place is your Bible. Sitting right there on your bedside table.” Gordon bent to look closer. “Yep. It’s still got plenty of layers of dust on it.” Gordon smiled at his friend.

“We can’t all be saints like you, Gordo.”

“Probably true.” Gordon continued to smile. Then his whole face tensed. Freddy could tell he was thinking. “Well this had to have happened while I was gone.” He looked at his watch. “Just over an hour or so. I left while you were talking to your sister. She had brought over that bent up bicycle tire for you to fix.” He pointed at the tire on the floor. “Chloe was just about to knock on the door when I opened it to leave. She stepped in, and I closed the door behind me.”

Freddy hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. “Now I remember.”

Gordon twirled the seat of Freddy’s computer chair around and sat down to face his friend at eye level.

“Gina had brought over the tire for me to fix. She said it was all wonky and since I had the tools to adjust it… Well…”

Gordon laughed. “That’s just how she always asks you for favors.”

Freddy smiled. “Yeah. I know. Anyway, I was telling her that she should dress more appropriately, you know, not show everything to everybody. She called me a prude and old fashioned.”

“I heard that just before I opened the door.”

“Well, she said the words, but she was pulling her sweatshirt on and I was just standing there sipping milk from the bottle…”

“Which is a bad habit, by the way.”

“So now you’re my mom?” Freddy grinned. “Anyway, that was when Chloe walked into the room. She took one look at Gina, and the next thing I know the whole room explodes. Gina tries to stop her, but Chloe was on a rampage. Throwing this and that and everything all over the place. Then, she hauls back her purse and smacks me on the head. I don’t know what was in there but it clocked me good.”

“Thus, the big bump.”

“Thus, the big bump.” Freddy rubbed his head out of reflex. “Well, that dazed me enough to make me drop my milk, but not enough for me to black out or anything, but since the two girls were arguing, I played possum. I fell onto the bed and just stayed there. I closed my eyes like I had been knocked unconscious. I heard them take the argument out of the room. Then, I must have fallen asleep. Next thing I know, you’re standing at the door. I assume, with pizza in the front room.”

Gordon smiled. “Getting cold as we speak.”

The two friends turned toward Freddy’s door. The front door had opened. They continued to watch the door as they listened to two pairs of footsteps nearing. Gina and Chloe poked their heads in the door.

Gina looked at Chloe. “See, I told you he was playing possum. You clocked him good, but he was faking the rest. He used to do that when we were kids. Just for fun back then, but as you can see, he still knows the trick.”

Freddy tried to look hurt. He frowned and pouted. “Hey, that really hurt. That is one solid purse. But that does’t really matter.” He looked around the room. “What was that all about?” He looked at the two young women standing together arm in arm. “And what is that all about?”

Chloe looked at Gina. “I thought you were messing around with some skank. And you telling me you’re all serious with me and all. I mean I walk in here and she’s pulling on that sweatshirt over her tiny camisole. What was I supposed to think? Well, you know me. A bit hot headed. Act first, then ask questions. So…” Chloe looked around the room at the mess she had made.

Freddy motioned his head toward the two. “And the best friend bit?”

Gina smiled. “Well, when you started playing possum, I took Chloe out to the other room. She was still mad, but I started laughing. Not at her, but she got madder because she thought I was. Then, she finally calmed down a bit. We stepped out of your apartment and I explained it all. I figured you’d fall asleep in your possum pose, so we went for coffee and had a great time before we came back for pizza.”

“And that’s it. Tantrum… Mess… Fight… Coffee... Now, you’re best friends.”

Chloe and Gina looked at each other, smiled, then nodded together. “Yep.”

Gordon smiled. “Just as it should be.” He stood. “Let’s go eat that pizza before it gets any colder.”

The girls laughed and turned away from the door. Gordon took a step toward the door. “Ugh.” He turned back to look at Freddy. “You better clean up that spilt milk. But no use crying over it.” He winked then turned toward the door.