ENID

It was on December 21st. Three days to Christmas and I was still nowhere near ready for Christmas. I sat on the couch with my sister who was engrossed in the film while I glanced longingly at my phone. I wanted to know his reply. I lost interest in finishing up my bowl of cereal and I got up to dispose of the remains. I took my phone along with me. I opened it and read his message.

I like how you look at me. Now, let's see how you talk.

I froze as I read it over and over again. He wanted to talk to me, meaning he wanted to know me. How did I look at him? I started overthinking. I gripped the counter as my stomach started to churn. I thought about what I was going to reply as I washed my bowl and stashed it away. I walked back out to join Esme in the living room. She was already in the second episode. I couldn't care less. I was rather held up thinking about what to reply. He said, "Let's see how you talk."

He wanted to hear my voice, no, that was too literal. He wanted to talk to me? Understand me? I didn't know. Those thoughts slowly left my head when the show started to seem interesting. I ended up watching till noon until I realised Mother and Father were not home. Esme got tired of watching and decided to continue binging later in the night. I sighed and got up to go to my room while Esme crashed on the couch. I got to my room door when I received a text from Jenny. "It was nice to have you over yesterday. Would you like to hang out today? We're all going sightseeing!" I wanted to go but then I had not replied Harry yet.

I sighed as I entered my room and I started to fret over what to wear and how I was going to leave the house. I wasn't exactly scared of leaving. I was just worried about what Father would do to me if he found out I left again. I pushed those thoughts aside and I ringed Jenny up. She picked up on the third ring. "Hi, Jenny speaking." I played with my bedspread as I replied. "Um, it's Enid. Yeah, I would like to go sightseeing with you actually." I put her on speakerphone when I decided to look for what to wear.

"That's great! I'll let Harry and Ava know because you related with them more yesterday." She said. I smiled and pretended to hide the fact that my heart skipped a beat when she mentioned his name. "Okie, I'll be at your house in 30 minutes." I cut the call when I finally figured out what to wear.

I smiled at myself in the mirror as I was dressed in some washed up jeans and a cotton tee shirt on which I had a thin Christmas jumper that I got at Primark too. I went to the living room to write a sticky note on the fridge. Esme was still asleep on the couch as I wrote 'hi, it's Enid. Went sightseeing with friends. Won't be back for a while.'

I smiled as I placed it on the fridge. That's what they always did. I turned and headed for the door. I put on my jacket and went to the bus stop. I sat down and waited for the bus. My fingers hovered over my phone as cars flew by wheezing cold breeze on my face. I licked my lips and sighed. The bus was taking time to get there. I played with my fingers as I waited still. The bus came shortly after that. I rolled my eyes as I got on it and sat down. I was really pushing myself here. I wasn't used to going out like, on a daily basis.

I didn't scan the bus this time, to avoid any weird occurrence. The bus ride was really swift because I was standing in front of Jenny's house in no time. I walked to her porch and rang her familiar doorbell. I sighed as the cold was getting overwhelming. Ava answered the door. "Hi Enid, you're here. That's good cause we were about to take off. Harry is running late. I doubt he's going to come." I tried not to let it show that I was a bit disappointed.

I nodded and walked in. Then I spotted a familiar girl on the couch. She looked back at me. I realised where I knew her from. She was the girl in Mc Donald's with Harry. All of a sudden, I loathed her. She smiled at me. "Nice to meet you Enid, I'm June." I forced a simple smile at her. I had trouble holding my mouth, " I think we have met before, have we?" She knew what I was getting at. Shit, I made a rival. "Yeah, you were looking at Harry in Mc Donald's." She said.

That little bitch.

And at that moment, everyone stopped to look at me. Even Jenny. I stammered, "I wasn't exactly looking at him." I looked down. It was dead silent, as no one knew what to say. No one seemed to hear the door open, but we all heard it close. Harry heard everything. I felt really flushed. "Yeah, she was looking at me." He said as he walked into the living room. "Why?" He asked as he slumped on the couch near me. He looked at June before looking at me. "Because I was looking at her too."

June was so shocked to hear what Harry just said. I was beaming with a fuzzy feeling in my abdomen. May I add, his gaze on me was heavy and it made me more flustered. I couldn't say anything as I rushed out of the house and into the cold. He was really confusing me. At Mc Donald's, he wasn't looking at me. In fact, he didn't hold eye contact. But then again, he was looking at me?