Monday came and Elliot went to work. As did Aunt Mary and Uncle Harry. And Harley went to school. So I was left at home all alone to my own devices, and boredom hit me hard.

I watched TV but then I got bored of it, read a book but then I got bored of it, and I even took a nap until I got bored of it too. I didn't have a phone to call Elliot, and I didn't know his number by heart to use the landline.

So in a nutshell, I had nothing to do. I needed to find something to do.

****

I didn't find anything to do, and when the landline suddenly started ringing, waking me up from what felt like my 100th attempt at taking a nap, I rushed downstairs, desperate to interact with someone other than myself. I glanced at the clock as I ran past it and almost stumbled when I saw the time was 9 am.

It was only 9 am?!

"This is Zara from the Fraid household, how may I help you?" I asked once I picked up the phone, and only when I found myself searching for a pen and paper did I realise what I was doing and how formally I had just answered the landline. There was only silence on the other end. "Hello?"

"Sorry, that greeting just took me by surprise."

"Elliot," I felt as my lips curved into a grin.

"How bored are you on a scale of 1 to 10?" He suddenly asked.

"Bored enough that the scale broke," I answered, and I heard Elliot's chuckle. "I honestly need to find something to do."

"Something to do like a job?"

"That would be ideal but I have no idea what I did or what I'm good at," I admitted.

"Judging by the way you answered the phone, I think I have an idea of what you're good at," Elliot told me. "I'll see if I can make a plan."

That phrase sounded like a farewell of sorts, but before Elliot could cut I quickly shouted, "wait, Elliot!"

"Zara," Elliot groaned. "The phone was right on my ear, you didn't have to shout."

"Sorry," I apologised. "It's just that, for the sake of my sanity, I need you to talk to me."

"I am talking to you."

"Talk to me for longer," I instructed.

"I need to get back to work," he told me. "But if you're that bored, try taking a nap."

"I just came from napping."

I could hear Elliot's smile as he said, "then nap again," and cut the call.

****

After what felt like years, I heard the front door open.

I rushed out of my room and down the stairs but the last person I expected to see was Jess.

"Oh, hey Jess," I greeted, continuing down the stairs.

"Ah, Zora."

"It's Zara," I corrected her. "What are you doing here?" The last time she was here she had come to announce the details and prices of the wedding, but no one had seemed excited about it.

She reached into her purse—which I had no doubt cost hundreds of dollars—and pulled out a pile of what looked to be invitations. They were designed with some golden fabric and silver lace and the handwriting on the front was cursive.

"I've already done the guest list, I sent it to Elliot," she told me then extended the invitations in my direction. "These are extras, just in case I missed anyone."

I took them. "Thanks, I'll make sure to let him know."

"Good," she said and then turned to leave but the door opened before she even touched the handle, and as soon as I saw that Harley and Elliot were on the other side, I couldn't help but feel awkward.

Elliot and Jess stared at each other for a long moment, and I felt like now was a good time to leave.

"Hey, Harley," I said awkwardly. Elliot had brought her from school, and now she stood right between him and Jess. "Let's, umm..." I paused, thinking of a not-so-obvious excuse to leave. "Let's go do your homework, I'll... I'll help you with your math."

Harley brought a hand to her mouth to cover her laugh but she failed to mask it. "Sure." She squeezed past Jess and followed me up the stairs.

I looked back at Elliot just as he glanced at me. I offered him a smile and a thumbs-up before disappearing up the stairs.

****

"First of all, loved your excuse," Harley said, plopping down onto her bed. "Very original," she chuckled. "Are you still going to help me with my maths?"

"Only if you want to fail, sure."

"Do you really remember nothing in terms of maths?" She asked me.

"I know how to do addition, multiplication, fractions and all that simple stuff," I told her. "But if you ask me about diagrams and trajectory and whatnot, you can guarantee I know nothing."

"You and I both." She hopped off of her bed and started unpacking her bag. "Second of all, Elliot got you this."

She pulled out a phone box and handed it to me.

"He got me a phone?"

"Yeah, it's not anything fancy but it works. He's already set it up for you too, all of our numbers are in there," she told me. "He said that when he called you on the landline he remembered you didn't have a phone. You must have had a jolly day without a phone."

"So jolly," I answered sarcastically. "I suppose you had a jolly day too?"

"The jolliest," her sarcasm was ten times more sarcastic than mine and I couldn't help my laugh. "What's not to love about school, am I right?"

"So right," I said and Harley laughed this time.

She made her way to her wardrobe and took out a simple outfit to change into. "Jess always tells me to bathe twice a day," Harley began. "Once before school, and once after."

"So you're going to bathe again?" I asked.

"Nope," Harley smiled. "First of all, bathing is a chore more than anything else so I wouldn't want to bathe twice." I couldn't help but agree with her on that one. "And second of all, I never listen to what Jess says anyway."

"Why not?"

She sat back down on her bed and looked at her shoes, "Because she never listens to what my brother says."

I noticed that the other day. At first, I thought she genuinely hadn't heard him when he said he wanted to talk but it became clear that she just decided that she didn't want to listen to him.

"All couples go through ups and downs," I told her. "I'm sure they'll work things out."

Harley looked at me then, "is it bad that I don't want them to work things out?"

I didn't know how to answer that, so I didn't. Instead, I went and sat beside her on the bed and waited for her to continue.

"I don't like Jess," Harley confessed. "I don't think she's a good match for my brother."

"Why not?"

"She's so... serious all the time," she told me. "She's rarely—if ever—laid-back, and she's so stuck up sometimes." She sighed and started pulling at the loose fabric of her bed cover. "The only good thing about her is that she's rich, but Elliot doesn't like receiving expensive gifts, and he's told her that several times but, surprise, surprise, she doesn't listen. I—on the other hand—would be more than happy to receive expensive gifts, and Elliot has told her that, but she only buys me gifts on my birthday. Little things like key chains and birthday cards. She even went so far as to buy me a spatula once because I like cooking," Harley let out a humourless laugh. "I know I should be grateful but, come on, I would also like a glow-in-the-dark Balenciaga cap."

"Shall we steal Elliot's cap, sell it and get you something with the money?" I proposed.

"That sounds like a plan," Harley smiled but sobered up quickly. "The thing is, Elliot has done that before. She got him earrings once because she thought they would look good on him, but he refused to get a piercing. He insisted she takes them back but she insisted he keeps them, so he did, but eventually, he sold them and spent the money on me. Mind you, the earrings were far from cheap."

"How far is far?"

"Far," Harley emphasised. "Anyway, he spoiled me with the money and when Jess found out she freaked. And when I say freaked, I mean freaked. Elliot said he was never going to use them, that they would collect dust if he had kept them so he'd sold them to someone who would actually wear them, but Jess refused to see sense." She started playing with the hem of her pleated skirt. "Sometimes I wonder why he's still with her."

Harley sniffed once and I immediately put an arm around her, but when she suddenly started crying I wondered if I was making things better or worse.

"It's okay," I comforted her.

"But it's not," Harley said softly. "Elliot won't be happy with her, I know that for a fact. But the idiot's too dumb to realise that. 'It'll change eventually,' he says. 'Things will change.'" She scoffed, "Nothing's going to change, and I hate that he doesn't realise that." Harley took a deep breath and wiped her tears. "The only good thing that might come out of their relationship is that they will have the cutest children on the planet, but other than that, there's nothing."

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Harley sniffed and then stood. "Out you go now, I need to change."

"Oh," was all I said before standing and walking toward the door.

"One more thing," she suddenly said before I exited. I stopped and faced her as she spoke. "Elliot might love Jess, I don't know, but what I do know is that he's not in love with her."

"And there's a difference?"

Harley nodded, "a big difference."