ENID

I woke up to the smell of pancakes. I loved eating pancakes. But there was one problem though. It was 2 days to Christmas. In my family, there are several traditions. Just like the movie night on December 20th and now on the 22nd, my parents have their colleagues over for breakfast. That means I could not have a share in the pancakes I was smelling.

I was in my bathroom when I heard Esme walk into my room. "Enid!" She called. I walked out of my bathroom with my toothbrush in my mouth. We've all had that situation. "Come on, you know what happens on Dec 22. Mom and Dad want us out of the house. Let's go shopping." I only stared at her. I didn't know what to feel or do. Because I grew up under the shadow of Esme so I didn't know what it's like to get things easily. Nevertheless, I was excited.

I got dressed quickly and I was aiming for a Harry free day. I didn't want to see him or even think of him. But deep down, I knew I could not hold up that aim. Esme and I walked to the bus stop while discussing the series we started the day before. As expected, my mind wandered to Harry. I didn't exactly know how to stop him from entering my mind. Apparently, the bus ride was kind of interesting because a group of teenagers that looked like Esme's age rode with us. And it was kind of funny to see Esme try to relate to them.

It turned out they were going shopping too. Esme literally wanted to shit herself and I was beyond excited to see how she would react to that. We ended up tagging along with each other. Esme didn't shop for frilly skirts this time though. I went about my usuals but this time I indulged in getting sportswear. Esme didn't object. I scanned the racks of sports bras when I heard a snicker behind me. I turned to look at the stranger behind me. To be honest, I had my hopes up for it to be Harry. But it was a store attendant. He only mentioned, "That's your section. You're in the wrong one." He signaled to my chest.

I opened my mouth in anger. I stomped over to the small-sized bra section. It wasn't my fault I had small boobies. I felt harassed even though he didn't touch me. That I was grateful for. I finished off my shopping and met up with Esme who had established a stable friendship with them. I was surprisingly happy for her. Besides, I caught her staring at one of the guys. I decided to play cupid in December. I wished I had someone to play cupid for Harry and me.

We were about to go to the paying section. I walked to the side of this guy and said. "Hi, I'm Enid. I'm sure you knew already and you're?" I conversed. He raised an eyebrow at me. Probably confused about why I was talking to him. "Joseph." I gave him a sweet smile. I want this nice to strangers. And I feel knowing and feeling something for Harry has really changed me. I never thought I could meet and relate with someone else and I was pretty sure it was all because of Harry. "Can I borrow your phone for a sec? I need to take a pic with my sister right now. Mine's dead." I lied blankly. He shrugged and gave me. Although I didn't miss the glance that stayed on Esme before he looked away. It was starting to get like one of those cliche romance films. Total cringeworthy moment!

I rushed to meet Esme and took a pic with her. I was hoping to get this over with and no doubt I looked horrible in it. I rushed to Joseph and returned his phone. "Kindly send it to this number please." I always had a paper with Esme's number scribbled on it for emergency reasons. It finally paid off. He only nodded and looked back at Esme. I tried to hide my smile as I walked faster to the cash out section. We paid and surprisingly still had money left. Meaning, we could still come back for more shopping later.

It was time to say our goodbyes. We had to go home and they had a place to be obviously. No words were uttered between Esme and me as we walked to the bus stop with once again full bags of clothing from Primark. I glanced at my phone half of the ride home in hope that Harry would send me a text. He didn't. He probably not feel anything for me. Jenny's words made their way to my mind.

Harry doesn't really show emotions.

I remained quiet on the ride home and Esme didn't bother me. There was another awkward silence between us on the walk to the apartment. I cleared my throat for an unknown reason. She looked at me and smiled. "I know what you did." I frowned for a while then remembered. I gave her a toothy smile. "Thanks." She said finally and we arrived at the front door. It was quiet so there was a possibility that Mother and Father were asleep.

"Esme," I said as she reached for the doorknob. She looked at me. "If Mom and Dad are asleep, can we finish up that series?" I mumbled quietly but loud enough for her to hear me. She smiled at me again for the umpteenth time that day. "Sure!" We entered and as expected, they were asleep already. It wasn't even past 6 then. I hurried to my room to dump my clothes and crashed on the couch in front of the Curved TV with Esme by my side.

Before I paid total attention to the series, my thoughts wandered to him and I couldn't help but let myself feel the pain.