Free Confidential by Jack Parker

delight. It kind of made me feel better; I was afraid I would have to live with the most peppy overgrown sorority girl I've ever met.
    "Whose Patrick?" I asked curiously.
    "Sorry, I forgot. You know him, Detective O'Connor." She waved her hand as if it was nothing.
    "Anna…" I looked at her pointedly. "Can you think of no reason why he would baby you?"
    She put her glass down on the table with a little more force than necessary. "Did he tell you?" She was flustered and a little exasperated. "That is none of your business to know, it doesn't compromise my ability to protect you at all-"
    "Whoa, Anna. I was talking about his major crush on you."
    "What?" She was puzzled. "So you don't know about…."
    "No. But I would like too." I flashed my best smile.
    Glaring at me, she went back to picking at her one, single, pancake. I looked down at my own mess of butter , syrup and carbs.
    "Are you excited for school?" Anna asked, casually trying to change the subject.
    "No." It automatically came out of my mouth, before I even had a chance to take it back, because Anna gave me a look of pity. "Relax. It's not because I'm in Iowa. It's because school is boring."
    "How about I do your hair and help you pick out your outfit for your first day of school?" She offered hopefully.
    I consented. Only because I realized that she was just as unfamiliar with this place as I was. She was the real actress here, not me. She was starting a job that she had no qualifications for. She was used to doing whatever it is she does for the police, and definitely did not want to be babysitting me for an unpredictable period of time. The least I could do was let her play with my hair.
    Saturday and Sunday came and went much too fast. Before I knew it, Anna woke me up an hour earlier than I had intended, and yanked the doors to my closet open.
    My closet was overflowing with the clothes I had; dresses, skirts, tops, shoes, pants, all found a way to hang up or get shoved ever so neatly into the little cubby under the rack bursting with clothes.
    I was not, however, going to be persuaded by this bubbly blonde creature standing in front of my closet.
    "Your clothes are amazing! Heidi!" She squealed. How does she work for the police? Or fight crime? If I was a criminal, I don't think I would be very intimidated.
    It took a couple more minutes before I gained enough consciousness to drag myself from my bed, and I stood next to Anna, while she pulled out this and that, holding it up to me while chatting lightly about all the neighbors that had come and visited us this weekend, all bringing baked goods.
    But one neighbor in particular I couldn't help thinking about. Camdon, with his blue eyes and dimpled smile. I've never met a guy like him before. I had only just met him of course, so he was probably putting on an act. This whole weekend, I considered the possibilities of what kind of guy he really was.
    No one, especially not a guy, was that good hearted. Right?
    "Heidi…" Anna waved a hand in front of my face. I snapped back to reality and stared at her. "What about this one?" She grinned.
    It was a dress I got from urban outfitters, one I forgot I owned, but I definitely loved it. I reached out to the strapless dress, which was a purple and yellow floral print.
    "And here," Anna grabbed a gray cardigan to wear for the chilliness I wasn't used to, that worked well with the dress, and I grabbed some strappy sandals.
    I admired her style. And appreciated that she was doing all this for me, I wasn't really in the mood for thinking, I just didn't have the same drive to gussy myself up in the morning.
    Anna proceeded to blow dry my now blonde hair, and let my loose waves fall lightly themselves. She put some product in, and braided a small piece of hair to clip away from my face, and smiled, proud of herself. I looked good, really good. I couldn't have done it better myself. Which was saying a lot, because I usually don't let people dress me.
    "Just let me get dressed