Listen to Freaking Me Out by Ava Max

Diane Jewel

"Piss off, Jason! Pretty girls are not your type." 

That was the voice of my best friend, Lena, turning down a date proposal from The Jason Ziegler.  The boy was the football captain, the Vice President of the Quiz club and the hottest guy on campus, according to popular belief.  

But Lena simply wasn't falling for it.     

"Then what is my type?" he desperately asked.

Lena skillfully flicked her shiny brown hair with manicured fingernails.  "Not.  Me."

His startled eyes gazed my way, pleading for backup.  I scoffed, folding my hands around myself.

The college's favourite boy wants my help now? Ha! I bet he doesn't even know my name.

Sensing that I was no help, his thick shoulders slumped like a sinking Titanic.

"Next time, bro!" I said, waving goodbye at his retreating figure. "Damn!" I said, shifting my gaze to Lena.  "That was hilarious.  But Len, I think he's genuinely interested in you."

"Diane!" she laughed, putting both arms on my shoulders. "You clearly know what he wants from me."

"Fill your mouth with his cock?" I clarified as she sat beside me on the bench, snickering.

"That's right, Dirty Mouth.  But I heard he's small.  You know what I mean?"  Lena wriggled her brows.

I rolled my eyes.  "You're disgusting.  Why are you obsessed with huge dicks?  Penis size doesn't matter."

"Whatever."  She shrugged, ending the conversation. 

Lena and I were hanging out at our favourite spot in the unending college campus; the stone bench by the colossal water fountain. The white marble fountain is the most popular location (in fact a heritage spot) in the entire city.  

Just then, a crow cawed noisily, landing on the marble to sip some water.  After quenching its thirst, it flapped its shiny black wings to shake off the water.  

The fountain was not even the reason why everyone adored this place.  Thick, untamed rose bushes majestically circled around the entire circumference of the fountain.  Their wild outgrowth made it almost impossible to touch the flowing water.

At this precise moment, I saw the stark difference between nature and art. The fountain was a piece of art that tries to replicate beauty, but the roses plainly exist and had every passerby's attention.

"Nature is a haunted house--but Art--is a house that tries to be haunted," I muttered, lost in the moment.

"Who said that?"

"Emily Dickinson."

"Damn poets!  Anyway," she brightened as if she had just remembered something.  "Talking about poetry, have you enrolled for the Feminist Literature workshop next semester?  Today's the last date to register."

My face fell at the mention. "I can't go."

She frowned. "Owww, sweetie!" she reached for my hand. "I'm really sorry your cousin broke her leg. But I'm sure she'll be okay by then." Lena's smooth voice was like a balm to my breaking heart.

"It's not just that, Len. Dixie hurt her head when she fell in the bathroom," I responded in a monotone. "She is dizzy all the time. Plus, the workshop is really expensive. I can't afford that right now."

"I can lend-"

"Nope!" I immediately declined.

She grimaced.

A long silence consumed us before she broke it. "You know what, D? I wish you'd smile more. You know...on a daily basis."

"Fuck off, Len."

"Nah! You seriously look..." she searched for the exact word in the air, "like an angel...when you smile."

"Thank you," I bluntly replied.

Smiling wasn't a trait I possessed.

"Anyway, I'm gonna apply for the cashier job at McLeon's," I said to deflect the topic. "Simon told me they're hiring."

Lena's head turned in a swift move. "Who's Simon?" Her perfect eyebrows danced curiously to feed on some gossip.

A silvery voice interrupted us from behind before I could reply. "Are you two talking about me?" Our heads turned in unison. A sweep of my dark, raven hair fell on my face at the movement and I swiftly brushed it away to witness Simon's beaming face.

Lena immediately put on her I-am-so-tired-of-men tone. "Who are you?"

"I'm Simon," he replied, walking confidently forward, thereby saving me from a neck injury. He ignored Lena completely after that. I tried to hide my surprise since men usually have a problem peeling their eyes off her.

I noticed that Simon's hazel eyes held a wild electricity in them. Suddenly, I found myself not wanting to miss a nuance from him, not even a flicker of an eyelid.

He suddenly surprised Lena and me by scooting between us in our bench, bringing me back from my hallucinations. "Hey, Dy. Found a job yet?"

Dazed, I shook my head.  "I'm going to McLeon's today. I need the money. I would literally do anything for a can of soup."

"Anyway, why do you need the money?"

"Umm...I..." I searched my brain for a good enough reason. Simon stretched his arms to encase my shoulders in a side hug.  

My skin prickled in the way it always does when someone I wasn't familiar with touched me.  But today, I let it go, awkwardly smiling up at Simon.

"None of your business, nosey pig," served Lena.

_

When I came back home with all shades of vexation pasted to my face, I saw Dixie sitting on the front porch, nibbling on leftover pizza.  I took a step back in surprise.  "Did you walk from your room to the porch with this?" I pointed at her crutches that rested on the porch steps.  

My cousin chuckled before nodding.  "Anyway, why are you late?" she asked, wincing as she stroked the bandages around her ankle.  My eyes darted to the swelling on her head.  It bothered me that it hadn't eased yet, but I decided not to mention it.

"I went to McLeon's to apply for the cashier job.  That sexist manager chose the only guy who applied for the job," I complained, sinking beside her to examine the swelling on her leg.  "God, I feel like a loser."

Dixie's hand reached to stroke my hair, her fond eyes smiling at me.  "It's okay. You're still young."

"I'm twenty-three.  It sounds like a lot of years to me, Dix.  I wish I already had a college degree by now.  Will people at least hire me then?"   

"Just don't bother yourself.  I'm going back to work from tomorrow."

"No," I screeched, slapping off her hand in shock.  "That's absurd.  Your leg hasn't healed yet."

But Dixie shot me a stern look that silenced me.  

I minced my words so that she won't hear me.  "You're being stupid." 

Dixie was my elder cousin, and I've been with her since I was eight.  She was more like a parent to me than a cousin.

"I just don't want you to strain yourself, Dix."

She wordlessly pushed her pizza plate towards me, offering me the last slice. When I ignored it, she replied. "I can manage it."

Her bosses refused to give her paid leave till she recovered. I knew there was a serious chance of her getting fired if she didn't go back to work, but this was too risky.

"Can we sell this house?" I asked in an impulse.

"No!" Dixie gasped, staring right at me. "This is the only thing our parents left behind for us. And we grew up here, Cous. By ourselves. We can't...right? We can't sell this house."

My blood boiled. I made a valient effort to hold back my anger.  "Why do you care so much about them, huh?  Why do you keep defending our parents?  They didn't think once before leaving us."    

Both of our parents weren't satisfied with their life at that time, so they struck a deal to pool in all the money they had to start a restaurant chain that included a menu of foods from all over the world. So they packed up to tour the entire world to learn all they could about international recipes. Our parents believed in 'Live it before you replicate it.' I was left behind with Dixie with a promise from my mom that she'll be back within a month. They went to Brazil, China, Mexico and the Philippines and experimented with all sorts of foods. From all the messages and phone calls I got, I could tell they were revelling their tongues in heaven's own taste. But then we didn't hear from them for more than two weeks. Then a month. And just like that, they were gone. The police couldn't track down where they were and later pronounced them dead. Whether it was true or not, we'd never find out.

The business ended before it even started.

Look around yourself, Dixie. All these people..." I motioned at the neighbours' houses, "they're rich. We are no longer rich. It's time to move on."    

Dixie crossed both hands around herself with a warning look.  I instantly realized what I had said.  Shit!  She always gets mad when I degrade our parents like that. At the moment, if there was a way to stable my tongue, I would have done it.  She slowly pulled herself up and dusted her palms.  "I'm just gonna pretend you didn't say that," she said.  "I'm going in to sleep.  Bolt the door when you come inside."

"Do you want help getting to bed?" I cautiously asked, handing her the crutches.

"No, I'm good."

As I glanced at Dixie's potted plants that decorated our porch, I groaned.  It had been a week since Dixie's bathroom accident and I had completely forgotten to water them.  The rotten leaves that had fallen on the ground danced aimlessly with the wind. 

I wondered if this was how hard raising me felt like for Dixie.

Dixie was then only eighteen and had just moved out of her parents' house at that time. She didn't think twice before taking me in. I would be indebted to her my whole life for that. 

But we somehow made through the sudden "parentless-ness" situation and worked up a beautiful relationship. 

As I let my mind toss one thought after another of Dixie and money, I watched a white Nano slowly come to halt in front of our gate. I quickly became suspicious, because we seldom had visitors, and I had never seen a Nano in my neighbourhood before. I heedfully watched with my eyebrows creased. 

A tan woman in an oversized grey hoodie stepped out of the car. She held a cigarette to her red-lipstick mouth and swayed towards our neighbour's door. She seemed as old as Dixie, who was in her early thirties. After ringing the doorbell twice, she casually looked around. 

Her admiring eyes and the pixie haircut totally gave it away that she was alien to this place. Her ear studs and nose ring gleamed like diamonds as she realized that a figure resting in the neighbouring porch was spying on her. 

We both locked eyes, and took in each other presence like a long swig of vodka before the door opened and her concentration wavered. 

Mr Bagwat popped his head out. Even from the distance, I could tell he was sweaty and nervous. He quickly ushered her in, peeked left and right at the deserted road before shutting the door behind him. He didn't see me. 

Mr Bagwat was a successful businessman, but he wasn't a winner in family life.  For as long as I could remember, his marriage with his wife had been broken.  I would call him a person of clean records, but something about Mr Bagwat today was sneaky.

Why was a strange woman that didn't fit into this neighbourhood here at the Bagwat household? It suddenly clicked when I remembered seeing Mrs Bagwat leave home in her car as I came back home. I knew she was sleeping at her mother's place because lately, the friendly old granny had been really sick and needed help sleeping. I came to a conclusion.

Mr Bagwat was hiring a prostitute.  

Please vote and make me smile.

Question:  Would you rather have out-of-control body hair or a really stinky body odour?
H

ow did you like Diane?  Thoughts on Lena? On Simon? Will Diane have something to do with the prostitute as the plot moves?

(Hey!  The first three chapters might be quite long because here's where I introduce my three protagonists.  The preceding chapters will be quick-reads.)